1869.] THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 29 



places round London, wliere it is grown in large quantities for the 

 supply of the metropolitan markets. No doubt one of the chief 

 reasons, apart from its delicate flavour, why this vegetable is so highly 

 esteemed, is, that it comes into use in the open ground at a season 

 when the finer vegetables are not plentiful, and is available daily, till 

 Green Peas take its place, as a first-class vegetable. It is also one 

 of the few vegetables which are most pliable to force for winter use, so 

 that, with very ordinary convenience, it can be sent to table for several 

 months of the year. 



Asparagus is raised from seed, and the best time to sow is the end 

 of March or beginning of April. A light dry piece of ground should 

 be selected, and trenched to the depth of 2 feet. A heavy dressing of 

 well-rotted manure should be worked in while the operation of trench- 

 ing is going on. The manure should not be applied so much in the 

 bottom of the trench as in the top 15 inches of the soil, as the plants 

 are best transplanted when the year-old manure at the bottom of the 

 trench is not so much required. The surface of the ground should be 

 well pulverised with the spade, and finally raked tolerably fine with an 

 iron rake when it is in readiness for the seed. The seed is then sown 

 in drills, 14 inches apart and about 3 inches deep ; and as good strong 

 healthy crowns the first year are the object, the seed should be sov/n 

 thinly, certainly not thicker than one seed every inch. In covering 

 the seed the surface is left rather fine, as the young plants are exceed- 

 ingly slender w^hen they first make their appearance above the ground. 

 In light sandy soils, such as are desirable for raising young Aspar- 

 agus, it not unfrequently happens that a crop of annual weeds comes 

 up before the Asparagus itself ; and on this account a stake should be 

 directly inserted at the ends of each row, so that a line can be stretched 

 exactly over them, and the Dutch hoe applied between, without any 

 danger of injuring the young plants. This is much more speedy, and 

 even safer, than hand-weeding the whole surface. 



Throughout the summer the Dutch hoe must be kept going amongst 

 the young crop, for the purpose of keeping the surface loose and clean. 

 In autumn, when the tops have become brown and ripe, they should 

 be cut over close to the ground, and a slight covering of half-decayed 

 leaves spread over the surface before severe frosts set in. 



Some are in the habit of allowing seedling Asparagus to make two 

 years' growth before it is transplanted, but it is best to transplant the 

 spring after it is sown. When allowed to remain two years in the 

 seedling rows, it is scarcely possible to lift it without severely damag- 

 ing its long fleshy roots ; whereas, when only one year old, it can be 

 moved with its roots almost entire, and it makes growths as strong as 

 two-year-old seedlings. 



