PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING. 



517 



blanch about three inches or so of the plant. 

 Boiled in salt and water till they are ten- 

 der, and eaten with melted butter like 

 asparagus or sea-kale, the water being 

 changed when half done, the leek is ex- 

 cellent, and when used in soup they should 

 be boiled, cut into two inch lengths, and 

 wsed in plenty by stewing them afterwards 

 with the soup itself. The leek is not suf- 

 ficiently cultivated among cottagers ; and 

 some obje'^t to them on account of their 

 very strong flavor, while boiling them and 

 throwing the first water away just before 

 they are quite done, readers them as mild 

 as a Spanish onion ; whereas, there are 

 many advantages in their culture that 

 should induce them to be adopted to a 

 great extent, if not preferred for the pur- 

 poses to which onions are generally de- 

 voted, 



ASPARAGUS. 



Here we are getting to something rather 

 extravagant, but there is nothing but eco- 

 nomy to prevent its culture, and our busi- 

 ness is to show hov/ easily it can be done 

 if wanted. Trench a row of soil eighteen 

 inches wide across or along any quarter of 

 the garden that is open, put a good four 

 inches thickness of dung between the lower 

 and upper spits of earth and tread it in, 

 then throw in the top spit, which should be 

 of itself in good heart. In the centre of 

 this trenched ground draw a line tight, and 

 within a circle of six inches place half a 

 dozen seeds every eighteen inches along 

 the row ; four feet from this, do another, 

 and so occupy as much ground as you like 

 with rows at these distances. The object 

 of placing them at such a distance is to 

 have crops between. This sowing to take 

 place in February, March or April. When 

 the seed vegetates, the place may be kept 

 clear of weeds, and when it can be seen 

 which of the plants take the lead, leave the 

 strongest, two in a place, and keep them 

 very clear from weeds. In the mean time 

 the ground between these rows may be 

 cropped with anything that may be re- 

 quired, so that there be room left for the 

 young plants of asparagus to grow. When 

 the haulm turns yellow it may be cut 

 down, and in cropping the intermediate 

 ground, care must be taken to avoid injur- 

 ing the roots, which will be found near the 



surface ; a little soil may be hoed towards 

 the stems, so as to have the effect of cover- 

 ing up the roots a little, as a sort of protec- 

 tion, and forming a slight ridge, that it may 

 be seen where the rows are. The princi- 

 pal object is to keep clear of weeds. Cut 

 down the haulm at the end of the growth, 

 and slightly earth up, to keep the row con- 

 spicuous when there are no plants to show 

 it, and avoid damaging it in minding the 

 other crops. After the third year you may 

 calculate on cutting, and the only way to 

 do this with advantage, for 3'our own eat- 

 ing, is to let the buds grow a good four 

 inches above the surface, and then cut it 

 even with the ground. AH the trouble of 

 forming beds, and earthing up eight or 

 nine inches, is saved by doing without the 

 long useless stem which market bundles 

 have, and instead of being a troublesome 

 thing, involving considerable labor, to form 

 the beds every autumn, there is no more 

 trouble than there would be with a cab- 

 bage crop. For family purposes the as- 

 paragus is better, the roots are less ex- 

 hausted, the ground less interrupted or in- 

 terfered with, and, in fact, the luxury is no 

 more trouble than a crop of broad beans, or 

 a row of scarlet runners. In cutting this 

 vegetable, care must be taken to avoid 

 injuring the root. On cutting down the 

 stems after the first year's cutting for use, 

 a good dressing of dung should be laid at 

 top, and a little soil thrown on it : the im- 

 mediate effect of this is beneficial, and it 

 scarcely more than reinstates the soil, for 

 it washes away from the roots, and in time 

 would expose them altogether; but there 

 is to be no professed earthing up to leno-then 

 the buds as if they were for market, for 

 that does away with the simplicity and 

 economy of this mode of treating it, which 

 is reducing its culture to the same trouble 

 as almost any other vegetable, and the 

 quantity eatable is nearly treble that which 

 can be found in the marketed asparagus. 



CAULIFLOWERS. 



This highly esteemed vegetable is eco- 

 nomically or extravagantly grown, accord- 

 ing as it is required in or out of season. 

 If sown in March, pricked out when large 

 enough into a well dressed bed to gain 

 strength, and planted out in its final place 

 in June, there is no more trouble required 



