ICO THE GxVRDENER. [April 



point : and moreover, to have good Asparagus, it is essential that the 

 eai'ly growths are not broken over by high winds. When such is the 

 case, tlie later growths do not come so strong, and also lose time in 

 coming to maturity. Planting in single rows enables workmen to get 

 easily among the plants, to stake and tie them when necessary. The 

 above distance will be found none too wide to allow strong Asparagus 

 to develop itself. Another point should be attended to when strong 

 Asparagus is grown to be forced, that no seed be allowed to swell on 

 the plants — certainly none allowed to ripen. This is as essential 

 as cutting the flowering shoots off Seakale or Rhubarb. 



No one will think of planting Asparagus without first trenching the 

 ground and manuring it heavily throughout, and more especially in 

 the top spit of soil. In planting, the roots should be spread out 

 horizontally in a circle, it being the most natural position : they radiate 

 in all directions just under the surface, and are ever ready to appropriate 

 nourishment spread over them. The crowns of Asparagus have a 

 tendency to grow out of the surface of the soil, and to have them 

 washed bare with rains. To obviate this, and also to take advantage 

 of it, we have grown the Asparagus in 4-feet beds, sunk 9 inches below 

 the general surface instead of being raised that height, with raised 

 ridges where the alleys should have been. The beds were annually 

 top-dressed in the autumn with good manure, and well supplied with 

 water in summer, and it was decided that they did considerably better 

 than the raised beds : the roots in this way were never laid bare by the 

 rake or by rain. 



On heavy soil we have found burnt clay a most excellent dressing to 

 be incorporated with the soil along with the manure, as the trenching goes 

 on. We are at this moment engaged in trenching out an old Asparagus 

 quarter, and find the roots are down plentifully to the depth of nearly 

 3 feet, which shows the necessity of deep and thorough cultivation. 

 Much stress is often laid on salt as a manure for Asparagus, probably 

 because it is a seaside plant : we have repeatedly tried it, but very 

 much doubt its influence for good or bad, except that it kills for the 

 time any surface weeds. Do the French use salt to produce their 

 colossal heads of Asparagus 1 or is it plenty of room in a rich soil, and 

 particular attention to watering in summer, that is the secret ? 



Once secure good crowns, and the forcing of Asparagus is a very 

 simple matter indeed. Our own plan is that usually followed, lifting 

 the plants with all the roots possible, and packing them close on a bed 

 of leaves in a heated pit with leaf-mould over and about the roots, care 

 being taken that the heat does not rise too violently. In about a 

 month, the grass will be fit to cut ; this is for the earliest lot, put in 

 the end of October. Succeeding beds are made up on the top of the 



