January IC, 18C8. ] 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTUBB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



U 



fewer. The nnmber of frosty days is about tbe average, and in 

 May almost unprecedented. An early frost on September 25th 

 reduced the period between spring and autnmn frosts to exactly 

 lour months, an unusually short time. Certainly the frost of 

 the latter period was not quickly followed by others equally 

 sharp, but for the most delicate of out-door plants the autumn 

 was early. Pelargoniums, Gazanias, &c., continued tolerably 

 fresh up to the beginning of December. — J. Kobson. 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



{Continued from page 22.) 



The second year the plants cannot be too liberally watered 

 with liquid manure. Once every fortnight is not too often to 

 give a good soaking, and at every alternate watering 1 lb. of salt 

 may be dissolved in each three gallons of water. The waterinf,'s 

 may commence in June, and end by the middle of September. 

 Weeds ought to be removed as they appear. In autumn the 

 stalks, when withered, should be removed by cutting them oil 

 close to the surface, and the weeds being cleared off, the beds 

 should be forked over and the loose soil drawn off into the 

 alleys. The beds are then to be covered with 3 inches 

 of well-rotted manure, which by February will be considerably 

 reduced ; then soil from the alleys should be thrown ovit over 

 the beds so as to cover them 2 or 3 inches thick, and the alleys 

 ar'e tilled with half-rotten manure quite level with the beds. 

 In March the beds are forked over, not going so deep as to 

 injure the crowns of the plants. The alleys are to be dug, or 

 rather trenched, so as to bury deeply the manure put into them, 

 and when the ground is in good working order the beds are 

 raked and made level, and the edges straightened. A dressing 

 of salt ought then to be applied, so thickly as to render the 

 surface white, or it may be at the rate of 1! to 2 lbs. per square 

 yard. This completes the second year's culture, or brings us 

 to the end of the second year after planting. 



In the third spring the Asparagus will be of a size fit to cut, 

 but I would recommend allowing the plants to grow untouched 

 another year, and more and finer heads will be secixred. The 

 summer cultm'e for the third year is not different from that in 

 the preceding season, only when the shoots are from IS inches 

 to 2 feet in height the weak ones are cut clean away, four to 

 sis of the strongest shoots being left on each pilant. The 

 strong shoots, having the lead, will thus attain more strength, 

 and will keep down the weak shoots, and the beds may be gone 

 over again early in July, removing any weak shoots that have 

 made their appearance since the first thinning. Early in May 

 another dressing of salt is given, and the beds are well watered 

 with hquid manure once a-fortnight. 



In autumn, as soon as the ground is cleared of dead stalks 

 and weeds, all the loose soil is drawn oii tho beds into the 

 alleys, and the beds dressed with 2 or 3 inches of rotten 

 manure. In February soil from the alleys is thrown over the 

 beds, covering these 3 or 4 inches thick ; and the alleys, which, 

 from the removal of the soil to put over the beds, will be 

 considerably lowered, are filled up quite level with the beds 

 with the half-rotten manure usually found in the outsides of 

 hotbeds. This is trenched into the alleys and left until March, 

 when the beds are forked over, not going so deep as to injure the 

 crowns, and the soil is well broken and made fine. The beds 

 are then raked, drawing oH a considerable portion of soil into 

 the alleys. A dressing of salt is given, as in the preceding year, 

 and again towards the close of the cutting. The lieads will 

 be large and fine in the fourth spring, and the beds may be 

 said to be in full bearing. 



In cutting, a little of the soil may be taken from beside the 

 shoot with the knife (an Asparagus knife is best), which is then 

 thrust down, but not so as to damage the crown or other shoots 

 pushing up, and turning the edge of the knife towards the 

 shoot, it is cut or sawn off. I prefer to cut off all shoots as 

 they appear, when of a sufficient length — 6 to 9 inches, until 

 the end of May, unless the plants are weak, when a strong 

 shoot is left to each plant, and this promotes root action, and 

 is conducive to vigorous growth. Half the beds aro not cut 

 after May, and dependance is placed on these beds for the first 

 cutting in the following spring. From the remainder of the 

 beds the heads are cut until the 20th of June, when cutting 

 ceases altogether, but early in the month two shoots, or at 

 least one strong shoot, should bo left to each plant, but all the 

 others of any size are cut up to the time named. 



The seasons have a great effect on the growth of Asparagus. 

 In early seasons cutting will commence early, and in that case 



it ought to be discontinued sooner than when the season ia a 

 late one. The coming-in of i'eas is generally taken as the 

 time when tho cutting of Asparagus may cease ; but 1 fear there 

 is often more of convenience in this than any regard to the 

 benefit of the Asparagus, and in some places where tho demand 

 is of long continuance the heads are cut later than is good for 

 the plants. The vigour of tho plants ought also to have an 

 influence as to tho time when cutting should cease, for if weak 

 they ought to be allowed to grow early and make as much 

 foliage as possible, thereby acquiring greater vigour for another 

 year. 



The culture in succeeding years is tho same until the beds 

 are worn out. Good culture and well-made beds at the com- 

 mencement will keep Asparagus in full bearing for twenty 

 years, and in some cases much longer ; but when the beds are 

 failing others should be made, so as to prevent a deficiency in 

 the supply. 



The mode of culture described, I may be told, is a very old 

 one ; but by it good Asparagus has been and is now grown. 

 There are other modes of culture, which some may think I 

 might have noticed, rather than have placed before your readers 

 a system practised so long and so extensively ; but my object 

 has been to explain how good green or unblanched Asparagus 

 can be gi'own. 



I omitted stating that the dressing of manure in autumn 

 may be of pigeon's dung, sand, and seaweed in equal quantities, 

 or the first and last without either of the others, in place ol 

 the dressing of rotten manure ; also that tho shoots should 

 be thinned early in July, leaving no more than four or six of 

 the strongest to each plant, these only being allowed to mature. 



In order to produce blanched Asparagus the preparation of 

 the beds and planting are not different from the practice already 

 described, nor, indeed, is there any difference until the plants 

 are strong enough for cutting ; then a quantity of sand or very 

 hght soil is placed in the alleys, and the beds are covered with 

 it 3 inches thick. It is quite soon enough to put the sand on 

 the beds when the heads are just peeping through the soil ; 

 and when they show through the first layer of sand, put on 

 another and another as the Asparagus appears, until the sand 

 is about 8 or 'J inches thick. When the Asparagus again makes 

 its appearance cutting is commenced by drawing away the sand, 

 and cutting the heads level with the surface of the beds, or 

 about 8 inches long, and the sand is levelled again after each 

 cutting. In the autumn following, the sand or light soil is 

 drawn off into the alleys, and left until spring, when it is again 

 used as above described. The beds have in autumn a dressing 

 of rotten manure, and the rougher portion of the soil is raked 

 off in spring before covering with sand. 



Another mode of blanching Asparagus is to cover the beds 

 in March to the depth of 8 or 9 inches with half-rotten leaves, 

 the cutting taking place when the heads are just peeping 

 through the covering, which should be carefully removed from 

 the stems, and after cutting replaced. In autumn the leaves 

 aro drawn oft' into the alleys and dug in, and the beds receive a 

 dressing of rotten manure 3 or 4 inches thick. 



The plants for blanching are best grown in rows 30 inches 

 apart, and the plants 1 foot apart in the rows. The object of 

 blanching Asparagus is to have it white, tender, and finer- 

 flavoured. — G. Abbey. 



XOTES FROM FRANCE AND ITALY. 



Me. Eoeson, in writing on Mistletoe, stated, "It is snid that 

 it grows in the north-west of France." I may inform him that 

 if he journey by railway from Dieppe to Iljuen he will be 

 able to see it growing abundantly on the trees on his left. I 

 cannot tell him what the trees are, but I take them to be a 

 kind of Poplar. 



Some time ago I was making a knapsack tour in the south ; 

 and on the hills above La Grande Chartreuse, on the north 

 side, I found a wild Dog Eose with a most remarkable perfume. 

 I had just come from the monastery, where I had tasted the 

 celebrated liqueur which bears its name, and I was so much 

 struck with the strong resemblance of tliis Eose's perfume to 

 that of_ the liqueur, that I felt satisfied (and my travelling 

 companion was of the same opinion), that it formed an impor- 

 tant ingredient in its manufacture. I obtained a good root, 

 which I carried for some weeks most carefully iu my sponge- 

 bag, and brought home in a healthy growing condition, but 

 the want of care or skill of tho gardener to whom I gave it for 

 planting, caused it to be lost. If you make this known to your 



