224 



PEOPITABLE GARDENING. 



CHAPTEB XIV. — ASPAEAGUS, SEA-KALE, AND EHUBAEB. 



I CLASS two tilings of similar charac- 

 ter witli one that is very dissimilar, 

 because they are crops that occupy 

 a permanent place, and will gene- 

 rally be allotted a compartment where 

 they are to remain side by side, 

 and there undergo nearly the same 

 course of culture. For these three 

 most useful things the best piece of 

 ground you have must be set apart ; 

 it can hardly be too rich, too deep, or 

 two fine in tilth ; for, of either of them 

 a poor crop is worse than a poor crop 

 of most other things. Cabbages are 

 good when they have but a few leaves, 

 so are lettuces ; celery is eatable, and 

 certainly useful for soups, if ever so 

 small, and lettuces are welcome even 

 from the seed-bed. But asparagus, 

 sea-kale, and rhubarb ought to be fine, 

 else a man gets sick of growing them, 

 and in shame at his own produce, and 

 vexed at the remarks of the cook and 

 the visitors who may partake of them 

 at dinner, there is a fear that he may 

 come to a conclusion that anything 

 higher than French beans is out of his 

 reach. Now, rhubarb is a thing to be 

 met with everywhere, and a right good 

 thing it is for at least eight months 

 in the year, though commonly used 

 during only three. A skilful cook can 

 make of it one of the best preserves ; 

 for ordinary use, in tarts and pud- 

 dings, it is invakiable where there are 

 children, the juice can be converted 

 into a wholesome and acceptable wine, 

 and in cooking it can be mixed with 

 almost any kind of fruit to advantage. 

 About London the culture of aspa- 

 ragiis for market is an important part of 

 the routine of a market-garden. As is 

 the case with many crops grownfor sale, 

 there is a more anxious desire to please 

 the eye than the palate, and most of 

 that sent to Covent-garden and Spital- 

 fields is coarse, overgrown, and defi- 

 cient of colour and flavour. In a pri- 

 vate garden the endeavour should be 

 to produce plump, short, tender, and 

 highly-coloured stalks ; not the rank 

 growth (in the fashion of drum-sticks) 

 that too many people are ready to pro- 

 noxince "fine." The market-grower 



knows pretty well how to grow it; he 

 is obliged to produce it for market in 

 a way not promotive of its highest 

 excellence at table, but, as you have 

 nothing to do with professional pack- 

 ing and market usage, you can have it 

 doubly delicious from your own bed 

 by taking the crop just at a certain 

 moment of its perfection, which the 

 market grower dare not do. 



Having selected a very open posi- 

 tion, with a deep light soil, trench it 

 two and a-half spits deep, turning in 

 plenty of manure at the first trenching, 

 and in making up the bed adding more, 

 so that every movement of the soil 

 shall help to mix it thoroughly. If 

 the ground is a little sandy, the plant 

 will like it better, but, if heavy, a good 

 deal of sand and broken old mortar 

 should be mixed with it, for when once 

 planted, the bed remains with no more 

 deep digging, and hence it must be 

 made light, open, and very rich from 

 the beginning. If the soil is wet, or 

 the drainage inefiectual, either put 

 down a set of drain-pipes, or take out 

 the soil to a depth of four feet, lay down 

 one foot of broken bricks and build- 

 ing rubbish for drainage, and return 

 the soil on that. But a proper drain- 

 age is better than any make-shift, and 

 wiU always pay in the end. To gather 

 a hundred heads at a time, eight 

 square perches must be allotted to 

 asparagus, sixteen square perches will 

 afford two or three hundred every 

 day ; and from these figures, you may 

 judge what space to set apart for this 

 crop, according to your family re- 

 quirements, or intentions as to grow- 

 ing it for market. 



Now, the best bed of asparagus 

 ever seen by gardening eyes was from 

 seed-sown plants, not from trans- 

 planted roots ; and to make a bed this 

 way Mr. Barnes's plan is the best. 

 Get some good seed, and sow about 

 the 1st of March, or earlier or later 

 a week or so, according to the season. 

 Sow two feet apart, and in drills one 

 inch deep. This will produce a regu- 

 lar and easily-managed crop. At the 

 proper time every other row can be 



