12G THE GARDENER. [March 



sense of the word. Queen of Yellows, quite worthy of the name, being the best 

 yellow extant. Mr8 Downie (improved), bright orange-shaded rose. Octoroon, 

 dark mauve maroon, immense flowers and handsome spike. Mrs P. Bruce, B. 

 ■J'od, rose peach, first-rate. David Marshall, dark rose, a good flower and spike. 

 Earl of Rosslyn, brilliant scarlet, splendid form of flower and spike. 



Then there are, among hundreds of others, the following, all excellent, but we 

 cannot afford room to describe them. Beanty of Mitf<trd, Andrew Goodfellow, 

 Archbishop David Henderson, James Anderson, Mrs Bolton, Model, Ruby 

 Queen, Queen of Primroses, K B. Laird, Richard Dean, Sovereign, 



A. Kerii. 



MAKING ASPARAGUS-BEDS. 



AsPARAGUS-BED-MAKiNG, like many other garden operations, ought not 

 to be regulated by one uniform rule through the length and breadth 

 of the land. It will be readily admitted that there is a great diversity 

 of soils and subsoils, not only in districts wide apart, but in the same 

 locality. I have seen Asparagus-beds in some districts made so high, 

 that they stood above the natural level of the ground to the height of 

 1 foot and 18 inches, besides having ditches between each bed to the 

 depth of 2 feet. What could be the ruling idea in making such 

 beds I cannot take upon myself to say. In low situations where the 

 subsoil is a tenacious clay, it is well to make the beds somewhat above 

 the ground-level, so that the roots may have sufficient depth to extend, 

 without penetrating an uncongenial subsoil. This may be well enough 

 understood by those who have been accustomed to execute such work, 

 but may not be sufficiently explicit to those who are beginners or 

 amateurs, in behalf of whom, I conceive, ' The Gardener ' takes a lively 

 interest. 



Although Asparagus is a native of this country — and being so, it is 

 a hardy plant — it has often to put up with very indifferent culture 

 and rough usage at the hands of those who would like to produce it 

 in good usable condition without first making themselves acquainted 

 with the details of preparing beds that will give satisfactory results. 

 I have frequently seen Asparagus sown upon a piece of ordinary gar- 

 den ground without any further preparation than that of merely 

 digging it. Very seldom is a piece of ground found of sufficient depth 

 and richness to grow the vegetable properly without any further pre- 

 paration or addition. Indeed, to have Asparatrus in a condition to be 

 worth the room it occupies, the ground requires a very thorough and 

 careful preparation, more so than in the case of any other vegetable. 

 If the situation be low, with a tenacious subsoil, the ground should be 

 deeply drained to begin with ; for although Asparagus is found in its 

 wild state growing near the seashore, where it of necessity receives, 



