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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTDRB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ March 12, 18«8. 



This subject has hrought to my remembrance a singiJar freak 

 of nature which occurred in my garden last year. I received 

 from the Royal florticiiltural Society, through our local Society, 

 my share of a distribution of choice seeds, &c. ; and among them 

 were some half-dozen small black Beans, named Black Wax 

 Eunners, about the size of the) white dwarf Bean. These I 

 planted carefully ; and in order to make a line, I put in with 

 them some fine large white Eunners. Guess my surprise, on 

 opening the ripe pods of these latter for seed, to find jet black 

 Seans the full size of the white ones. I can only account for 

 this by supposing the bees to have been busy among the blos- 

 soms, and to have carried the pollen from flower to flower. 

 Would this be your opinion, and is it a rare occurrence ? — Alf. 

 Tibet, Manor Cottage, Noirmont, Jersey. 



[Mr. T. A. Knight, the distinguished first President of the 

 Eoyal Horticultural Society, observed a similar effect produced 

 on Peas by cross-impregnation. — Eds.] 



FEENCH ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



ASPARAGCS, as everybody knows, is grown very extensively in 

 France. Every individual in possession of a piece of ground 

 devotes a portion of it to its growth ; so that, travel where you 

 will — from Dunkirk to Perpignan, or from Strasburg to Brest 

 — it is more or less seen. In fact, everybody grows, cuts, and 

 sells it. The department of Seine-et-Oise, however, is the most 

 talked-of portion of France, as having produced the largest 

 heads of this vegetable. The Lherant family of Argenteuil 

 jbave shown them 4 inches in circumference ; but I do not look 

 on this as the criterion of good cultivation — quite the contrary, 

 21S I know from experience that those overgrown heads of 

 Asparagus, like all coarse overgrown vegetables or fruit, are 

 not near so relishable and well-flavoured as the medium-sized, 

 that have been grown on more wholesome and less-manured 

 ground. Many French gourmands, however, think otherwise, 

 and relish these coarse Asparagus with great gusto, more par- 

 ticularly when they hear that the Imperial Horticultural 

 Society of France has crowned them with a gold medal, which 

 they do frequently. 



It is not my purpose here to criticise the flavour of this 

 wholesome vegetable. Some are very fond of it ; others, again, 

 have an aversion to it. I think all wUl agree that we have a 

 much more wholesome and nutritious vegetable in the Marrow- 

 fat Pea — altogether a cheaper and more serviceable vegetable 

 for the people. This is a vegetable quite unknown amongst 

 the people of France ; so also are the Scarlet Runner Bean, 

 the Sea-kale, a good spring Cabbage, and Broccoli ; scarce also 

 are a decent Onion, a good Potato, a fine Cucumber, and — 

 about the most useful of all for poor people — a good Leek. 

 The Asparagus Kale, a most profitable hardy spring vegetable 

 — nearly as good to my mind as Asparagus itself — is never to 

 be met with. A good Turnip also is a scarce vegetable. These 

 are a few of the good things that are to be found in nearly 

 every cottage garden in Britain, while in France they are either 

 scarce or nearly unknown. As a rule, the vegetables most 

 common in England are scarce in France, and vice versa ; but 

 not to the same extent in the former, for I know of no vege- 

 tables common in France and comparatively scarce in England, 

 except Asparagus and Lettuce, and the latter only so in winter. 

 I had nearly forgot to mention the Rhubarb as also another 

 excellent addition to our English spring dainties when well 

 grown. I remember my wife once giving a spoonful or two of 

 this vegetable, stewed with sugar, to a Frenchman, who de- 

 clared he never tasted anything so nice in its way ; eaten as he 

 ate it — with a piece of bread, and with a flavouring of Cloves — 

 it is certainly as nice as stewed Pears or Apples. 



The culture of Asparagus having become quite a mania in 

 3?ranee, it may reasonably be supposed that the mode of cul- 

 tnire adopted by the French gardeners is perfect. I believe it 

 lO be so ; but, at the same time, the soil of Seine-et-Oise is 

 peculiarly well suited to the requirements of the Asparagus root ; 

 just as the soil in the midland parts of France is suited to 

 the requirements of the Vine ; and with the hot sunny days 

 and cool dewy nights, with ordinary care in destroying weeds, 

 aB9 a few other minor attentions, it lives and flourishes to a 

 VS*y prolific degree, and continues doing so, with little or no 

 Bfttinre, for thirty years. I have seen the roots of Asparagus 

 8 'feet deep in the inexhaustible calcareous beds of soil so com- 

 mon in this department. It will be seen, then, that the system 

 in vogue is very greatly aided by nature, whatever may be said 

 to the contrary ; of course I am speaking of out-door culture. 



In forcing an aspergerie, as it is termed here, or a field of 

 Asparagus, if Vines have been growing on the land previously, 

 no outlay is necessary further than lining the groimd off 

 and throwing out trenches 4 feet apart, measuring from the 

 middle of the trench. The depth is regulated according to the 

 consistency of the soil — or, in other words, the lighter the soil 

 the;deeper the trench, and the heavier the soil the shallower 

 the trench ; in either case it must not exceed 18 inches in 

 width ; this allows the ridges to be cropped with light crops of 

 Haricot Beans, early Potatoes, and the like. 



Every grower raises his own roots by sowing selected seed. 

 The largest and earliest ripened seeds are chosen. A bed of 

 sandy unmanured soil is lined off, forming little furrows 

 12 inches apart, and the selected seed finger-and-thumbed-in at 

 least 4 inches apart. After the rake has been drawn over all, 

 the seeds will be 2 inches from the surface. This operation is 

 done on a dry day in February. By the end of March, a hoe- 

 ing before the seeds germinate tends to keep the seed beds 

 clear of weeds, after winch the young plants soon begin to show 

 themselves above ground. The end of April and beginning of 

 May bring hot dry weather. A slight mulching with decayed 

 manure is now applied. After this nothing more is required 

 but a little hand-weeding and repeated waterings in very hot 

 weather throughout the year. At the period when they may be 

 termed yearlings with half an inch of growth, which wUl be 

 about the end of March, is the time when the planting in the 

 aspergerie takes place. 



The previously prepared trenches, having been well sea- 

 soned by a winter's frost, are now run over with a coarse rake, 

 levelling the coarse clods of soil, which fall to pieces like slaked 

 lime, and at the same time a good portion of this aired soil 

 from off the ridge is sent into the trench. With this and a 

 little rotten manure, little molehills are formed 16 inches apart. 

 Three persons are necessary for the work. One takes his place 

 at the seed bed, lifting carefully with a fork the young roots 

 and laying them in a basket, screening them from sun or winds 

 with his blouse, and carrying them to the principal in the 

 trench. This individual takes them one by one, and in a very 

 neat and expeditious manner lays each root on a molehill — 

 every root being laid out like an expanded hand. The third 

 individual comes behind with a basketftil of dry prepared rich 

 soil. A good double-handful is placed gently over each root, 

 and the planting is terminated. 



About three weeks after this the young roots are pushing 

 vigorously, and the three-pronged hoe-rake is again brought 

 into use and run through on the ridges, allowing again a Uttle 

 of the soil to fall into the trench. The trenches are then in 

 turn gone over with the same instrument or a common draw- 

 hoe, levelling the soil, and cutting up at the same time any 

 weeds ; any such found around the crown of the Asparagus root 

 are pulled out with the hand. With these slight earthings-np, 

 and an occasional hoeing, nothing more is required for this 

 year. The ridges, of course, are planted with Potatoes, salads. 

 Beans, or Carrots, which require at the same time attention. 



In the month of December, if a good day can be found, the 

 soU that has accumulated on the roots by the hoeing and walk- 

 ing on the ridges, is taken away by a short broad- bladed hoe 

 and laid again on the ridge. The crowns of the Asparagus are 

 laid bare, and again a handful of light rich soil is put on them. 

 Some prefer a quantity of rotten manure for this purpose. 

 Nothing more is done till the month of February of the second 

 year, when the ridges are again dug and cleaned for the year's 

 cropping. — H. K. (in Gardener.) 



(To be contmned.) 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



I SEN-D you a box of Mushrooms, and as my mode of treat- 

 ment is s'omewhat different from " G. Egerton's,"' and I have 

 practised it successfully for many years, a few explanatory 

 words may be acceptable to some of your many readers. 



In the first place we procure as much horse dung, long and 

 short together, as will make one-half the bed ; we next obtain 

 enough droppings to cover the bed all over 2 inches thick ; then 

 we throw each together in separate heaps. In a few days the 

 heap will require turning, which is repeated here three times 

 during a fortnight, or, if thought necessary, a foiurth time, 

 when it is thought sufficiently sweetened. 



We make the beds in the following manner :— We use, as 

 fresh as can be obtained, enough dung from the yard to make 

 the bed nearly 1 foot deep, shaking out some of the longest 



