8S 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



this is done the alleys are forked over too; whilst, 

 for the sake of giving the whole a neat finish, a 

 line is put down each side of the alley, the edges 

 made up a little, and, perhaps, a few crumbs 

 from the alleys may be thrown upon the beds, and 

 and the edges mark;'d out wiih the (loint of the 

 spade. The work is then done for the winter; 

 and. of course, the asparagus beds neatly done in 

 this way give the kitchen-garden a tidy ap- 

 pearance for the winter months. 



Spring Dressing. — In the month of March 

 these beds are again forked o\"er carefully, the 

 manure and soil well broken up and mixed toge- 

 ther, and some of the rougher parts of manure, 

 with all the rakings, are forked into the alleys af- 

 ter the beds are raked over nicely, and lettuces 

 are there sown or planted in succession for the 

 summer months. 



Cutting the Produce. — Now, although I have 

 been a cultivator of the asparagus for so many 

 years, I have never been an eater of this much 

 esteemed vegetable, therefore the thought did not 

 strike me about the best way of cutting it. until 

 one dav, some seventeen years ago, when I had 

 an abundance of heads to cut from, all of good 

 leng^'h above ground, I received orders for aspar- 

 agus for a dish, and for another for soup. The 

 latter dish was to be of heads all green. I well 

 supplied the cook with heads green enough for her 

 dish required, and her soup too; and a first rate 

 cook she was. 



The next day, when I waited upon her for or- 

 ders, we had a little talk about the green aspara- 

 gus for the table, when .she told me the asparagus 

 i had brought in the day before was the best she 

 had ever dressed for table — it was large, of good 

 flavor, and the whole eatable. This was a good 

 hint for me, for it opened my eyes greatly as to the 

 management of the asparagus beds altogether. 

 But the matter did not rest here, for my employer 

 also soon found me out to praise the asparagus I 

 was then sending hini in. And thus have I con- 

 tinued ever since, year after year, continually re- 

 ceivins compliments and inquiries about it from 

 innumerable friends of my excellent employer. 



Of course, those who daily eat these kinds of 

 vegetables, must be the best judges of their qual- 

 ity ; and in the act of cutting the grass or young 

 heads in this way, taking only the part above the 

 ground, the operator can see what he is doing; 

 and, however inexperienced he may be, he can cut 

 a dish of asparagus without any loss. On the 

 other hand, a person not used to this work, or 

 with the usual long-handled, saw-toothed knife for 

 cutting, wood make sad havoc among the under- 

 ground shoots in cutting a dish or hundreds for the 

 market ; for when thrusting the knife into the 

 trround to cut one head, he would probably break 

 off* two or three others unseen at the same time. 

 This old-fashioned saw-toothed knife I have not 

 used since I have cut my asparagus above ground 

 — that is, level with the surface of the earth; I 



use just what knife I may have in ray pocket at 

 the time, and it often happens that my pen-knife 

 is obliged to be used, from having no other about 

 me at the moment. T. Weaver, Gardener to the 

 Warden of Winchester College. Cot. Gnrd. 



Mexican Vegetation. — They left the stream 

 on the following morning, and striking northerly 

 across the country, came upon a wide expanse of 

 luxuriant plains and woodland, glowing in all the 

 splendor of tropical vegetation. The branches of 

 the stately trees were gaily festooned with clus- 

 tering vines of the dark purple grape, variegated 

 convolvule, and other flowering parasites of the 

 most brilliant dyes. The undergrowth of prickly 

 aloe, matted with wild rose and honeysuckle, 

 made in many places an almost impervious thicket. 

 Amid this wilderness of sweet-smelling buds and 

 blossoms, fluttered numerous birds of the parrot 

 tribe, and clouds of butterflies, whose gaudy co- 

 lors, no where so gorgeous as in the terra calcen- 

 te, rivaled those of the vegetable creation; while 

 birds of the most exquisite song, the scarlet car- 

 dinal and the marvellous mocking-bird, that com- 

 prehends in his own notes the whole music of a 

 forest, filled the air with delicious melody. The 

 hearts of the stern conquerors were not very sen- 

 sible to the beauties of nature, but the magical 

 charms of the scenery drew forth unbounded ex- 

 pressions of delight; as they wandered through 

 this "terrestrial paradise," as they called it, they 

 fondly compared it to the fairest regions of their 

 own land. As they approached the Indian city, 

 they saw abundant signs of cultivation, in the 

 trim gardens and orchards that lined both sides of 

 the road. They were now met by parties of either 

 sex, who increased in numbers with every step of 

 their progress. The women, as well as men, min- 

 gled fearlessly among the soldiers, bearing branches 

 and wreathes of flowers, with which they decora- 

 ted the neck of the general's charger, and hung a 

 chaplet of roses about his helmet. Flowers were 

 the delight of this people. They bestowed much 

 care in their cvdtivation. in which they were well 

 seconded by a climate of alternate heat and mois- 

 ture, stimulating the soil to the spontaneous pro- 

 duction of every form of vegetable life. Pres- 

 cott's Conquest of Mexico. 



Acclimatizing Exotic Plants. — Let no one 

 imagine they will successfully acclimatize an exo- 

 tic plant without paying strict regard to the cir- 

 cumstances of the plant in its native habitat, such 

 in part as situation, aspect, elevation of site, tem- 

 perature, humidity, time of flowering, seasonal 

 changes, &.c. 



These circumstances must be all more or le;s 

 studied by whomsoever would successfully accli- 

 matize exotic plants. A plant may be a native 

 of a country warmer than our own in some de- 

 gree, yet if its native situation be a moist height cr 

 shady mountain side, we should undoubtedly do 



