12 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[January, 



one crop, is absurd. No sensible man under- 

 stands any one to advocate any such a theory— 

 we might properly say such nonsense, but if one 

 has at command any material with which he 

 can cheaply top dress under his orchard trees at 

 this season of the year, he will lind that this 

 plan of growing trees is one of the best ever de- 

 vised. If he has not the material for top dress- 

 ing, the next best thing is to keep the harrow 

 going all summer to keep down the weeds, so 

 that the roots have all the benefit of what little 

 food there may be in the soil. As a general 

 rule, however, it will be found, that where a 

 man's time is worth anything, the labor spent 

 in continual harrowing is worth what would be 

 spent in procuring top dressing material. 



Vegetables also require rich food. In getting 

 ready for spring vegetables, do not fear to pile 

 on the manure. It is the rank rich growth which 

 gives the agreeable tenderness to them, and 

 without an abundance of manure this cannot be 

 done. Deep soil is also a great element of suc- 

 cess. Though we do not favor subsoiling and 

 underdraining for fruit trees, we regard it as 

 very profitable in vegetable gro\Ying. 



Asparagus beds may have the soil raked oflf 

 them a little, if it was thrown up from the alley- 

 way in the fall. It allows the sun to get to the 

 roots earlier, and the crop is forwarded thereby. 

 If the beds are poor, they may have a dressing 

 of guano, or superphosphate, which has been 

 found very beneficial to this crop. It has become 

 almost a stereotyped recommendation to have 

 "salt applied," but there is a good deal of the 

 humbug about it. In dry, sandy soils it does a 

 little good, and a little in whatever manure is 

 applied is acceptable to them, but more has been I 

 made of the salt theory with asparagus than it 

 deserves. Asparagus beds may be got ready as 

 soon as the ground is sufficiently dry to admit of 

 working. A deep soil is all-important; two 

 feet, at least, and a situation should be chosen 

 that is warm, and yet not too dry. The roots 

 should be set about four inches under the sur- 

 face, twenty inches or two feet from each other, 

 and the rows eighteen or twenty inches apart. 

 Large, fine Asparagus cannot be obtained by 

 crowding the plants ; strong two and three year 

 old plants are the best ; although in good, rich 

 soil, one year old plants will often bear a good 

 crop the year after planting. The length of 

 time Asparagus requires to come into bearing 

 depends much on the soil. It is useless to 

 attempt raising it in poor ground. 



This is generally supposed to be the pruning 

 season. Orchard trees generally get too much 

 pruning. In young trees only thin out so as not 

 to have the main leaders crossing or interfering 

 with one another. Or when a few shoots grow 

 much stronger than the rest, cut these away. 

 Insist on all the branches in young trees grow- 

 ing only on a perfect equality. On older trees 

 which have been in bearing a number of years, 

 it will often beaefit to cut away a large portion 

 of the bearing limbs. By a long series of bear- 

 ings, branches will often get bark bound and 

 stunted, preventing the free passage of the sap 

 to the leaves. In such cases the sap seems to 

 revenge itself by forcing out vigorous young 

 shoots a long way down from the top of the tree. 

 It is down to these vigorous young shoots that 

 we would cut the bearing branches away. One 

 must use his own judgment as to the advisa- 

 bility of this. If the tree bears as fine and lus- 

 cious fruit as ever, of course no such severe work 

 need be done, but if not, then now is the time. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



PRICKLEY COMFREY. 



BY MR. J. GRIEVES, PATTERSON, N. J. 

 Eym%>liijtum asperrimum. — Referring to the close 

 of my note in March last, viz : " that it is not all 

 valuable alike," and thanking you for the com- 

 pliment paid me as being a conscientious cultur- 

 ist, etc., I confess I like to be accurate in my ob- 

 servations and investigations, striving at all 

 times only to acquire and note facts, hence 

 the delay in referring to this topic. I again 

 visited Europe this fall, and have taken some 

 pains to collate the principle facts obtainable 

 regarding this forage plant, both past and pres- 

 ent. The name Comfrey is derived and was ap- 

 plied from its supposed strengthening qualities, 

 and the property it possesses of curing wounds. 

 There are at least ten different species of 

 it which Messrs. Jaques & Henriq describe in 

 their Manual des Plantes, and the following seven 

 were published in 1818 in the Hortus Suburbans 

 Londinensis by Robert Sweet, F. L. S. : Sym- 

 phytum officinale, native of Britain ; S. tubero- 

 sum, Britain; S. Bohemicum, Bohemia; S. ori- 

 entale, Eastern ; S. tauricum, Tauria; S. corda- 

 tum, Transylvania, and S. asperrimum, Caucasus, 

 the latter being the true Prickly Comfrey. This 

 variety was first introduced into England in 

 1790, and was named Prickley Comfrey in dis- 



