68 THE GARDENER. [Feb. 



THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 



No. 11. 



ASPARAGUS. 

 (Continued from page 29.) 



For mating a permanent j^lantation of Asparagus, tlie deepest, and, 

 generally speaking, the lightest, soil in the garden should be chosen. 

 A deep sandy loam is the best. Thorough drainage is a matter of 

 great importance, and all ground intended for this vegetable, in which 

 there is the least chance of stagnant water, should be drained to the 

 depth of 4 feet. Wet rots the fleshy roots in winter, and, of course, 

 the produce in spring is correspondingly inferior. A heavy dressing 

 of good manure should be trenched into the soil to the depth of 3 feet, 

 if the staple will allow of such a depth. Deep manuring is of great 

 importance, as the greedy rootlets soon shoot downward to the subsoil. 

 Besides this, another heavy coating of manure should be dug deeply into 

 the ground after the trenching. When these operations are performed, 

 the soil requires to be thoroughly well pulverised, and the manure 

 well incorporated with it. To give young Asparagus a good start, a 

 dressing of rotten leaves forked into the surface of the ground is 

 very beneficial. Thus prepared, it is in readiness for receiving the 

 plants. In some soils, however, the preparation of the soil for Aspara- 

 gus is a much more serious affair than I have indicated, which, from 

 its simplicity, is mainly applicable to soils which are light and naturally 

 suitable to the nature and growth of this vegetable. 



In heavy clayey soils, if success for any length of time is to be 

 attained, it is sometimes necessary to "force" or make up the soil to 

 a considerable extent, in order to make it sufficiently deep and open. 

 Where the subsoil is very tenacious and wet, it moreover becomes 

 necessary, besides ordinary draining, to bottom the beds with broken 

 stones, brickbats, lime-rubbish, or any open material that will prevent 

 water from collecting about the roots in winter, which is fatal to good 

 Asparagus culture. If the heaviest part of the natural soil can be re- 

 moved, and light sandy soil substituted, it is very desirable to do so. 

 Under such circumstances, it is a good plan to keep the beds a little 

 above the ordinary ground level, to make doubly sure of escaping the 

 evils of wet underneath. I have burned a large proportion of the soil 

 when it has been heavy, and then mixed it with the best part of the 

 natural soil, adding leaf-mould and manure, and thoroughly mixing the 

 whole together ; and in this way have succeeded in growing good As- 

 paragus without bringing in new soils, where it would have been quite 

 impracticable to have grown it without some extraordinary preparation. 

 But, after all, no matter how carefully the ground is prepared, Aspara- 



