1816.] 



ANV HORTICULTURIST. 



Ill 



cipal were Carnations, 12 blooms, 2s. to 4s.; Gar- 

 denias, 12 bl., 12s. to 18s.; Eucharis, 12 bl., 6s. to 

 18s.; Stephanotis, 12 sprays, 9s. to 18s.; Tube- 

 roses, per dozen, 4s. to 9s. Such kinds as Cylca- 

 men. Heliotropes, Mignonette, Pelargoniums, 

 Primula, Spirea, Violets, and Roses sold a good 

 deal cheaper. 



A NEW CULTURE FOR ASPARAGUS. 



BY GEN. W. H. NOBLE, BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 



The horticultural observations and experience 

 you so "wisely invite, have worth just in propor- 

 tion as they come tested and sifted from mere 

 notions and whims. WTiat others tell us they 

 have tried or seen, gains value only through a 

 like ordeal. No one matter with which the hu- 

 man has to do is fuller of humbugs told as truths 

 than horticulture. I, therefore, sift well all new 

 ways put out as betters of the old. Under this 

 rule, asking for what I am about to tell only the 

 trust deserved by well weighed words, I relate a 

 new mode of asparagus culture, told me bj' the 

 venerable Elias Fairchild, whom all here know 

 to be truthful and exact. 



Just over our New York boundary, a hotel- 

 keeper, who was also a garden-lover, planted on 

 good, level soil an asparagus bed of some 12 by 

 20 feet. When its growth became strong he year 

 by year covered it with some two or three inches 

 of good rich mould. Up through this shot the 

 stalks and crept the roots. The method was fol- 

 lowed up every season, with the result of larger 

 growth and product, till the bed became an ob- 

 long mound of some 2 or 3 feet in height, and a 

 perfect wonder in the quality and quantity of 

 asparagus furnished for the table. That yearly 

 blanket of soil was, my friend thinks, the only 

 culture or enrichment given. The bed was never 

 dug with fork or spade. 



Have we not in this a new and better method 

 for this toothsome and healthful vegetable ? To 

 many it may not be new. It was to me. A slight 

 experience of mine, the last season, gives me 

 faith in its value. By sheer accident, some two 

 or three inches of good loam was spread over a 

 portion of my asparagus bed ; I noticed there, a 

 much more vigorous growth of the vegetable as 

 well as weeds than elsewhere on the bed. The ques- 

 tion is, if such results come simply from this 

 heavy dressing of good mould, may we not hope 

 for greatly larger when we spread on new earth, 

 full of absorbed richness from cattle yards, 



the bottoms of old stalls, or taken where the 

 wash of house or barn have soaked the soil. 



If others have known of such results from like 

 causes, I hope they will not fail to tell your 

 Monthly, to which we look for sound views and 

 new light on all horticultural matters. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



June Budding Peach Trees. — H. C. S., Green 

 Tree. Pa., says : — " Gardeners, be so kind as to 

 inform me through the columns of the Garden- 

 er's Monthly, whether peach trees, budded in 

 June, are budded from wood of the previous 

 year's growth, or of the present year's growth ; 

 and if the former, is there any advantage in bud- 

 ding the peach in June? For I see peach trees 

 budded in June recommended by several nursery- 

 men in their catalogues." 



[By June budding, if the proper time and con- 

 ditions are secured, a season is saved in getting 

 a tree. The plants are not as large as those 

 which take two seasons — not half as large,^-but 

 we have seen very good trees so raised, quite 

 good enough for extensive planting, and we 

 know no reason against the practice. — Ed. G. M.] 



The Lady Apple. — There are two varieties of 

 Lady Apple, viz.: Pomme d'Api rose and Pomme 

 d'Api noir. The black one is really black, if we 

 may term a blackberry black, and has a very 

 peculiar appearance on the dish in company 

 with its rosy-cheeked companion. Both are 

 worth growing, but I have had no experience of 

 them in this country. — Chevalier, in The Garden. 



Foreign fruits in England cannot compete 

 with the native grown. Grapes, pines, bananas, 

 — none are so good as the English raise in their 

 forcing houses. The American Newtown Pippin 

 apple is, however, the most popular in the Eng- 

 lish markets of all apples. English pears are 

 said to be superior to any. Glout Morceau and 

 Winter Nelis, are the favorites at Christmas time. 



American seedling Potatoes continue popular 

 in England, on account of their immense pro- 

 ductiveness, — ^but are produced very inferior in 

 quality to the standard English kinds. 



Two SETS OF ROOTS TO A Grape Vine. — The Gar- 

 dener's Chronicle speaks of the great success of a 

 grape grower in obtaining fine fruit, who bent 

 the top of the cane down so that it could root 

 in the ground. There were thus two sets of 



