1822.] 
[537 J 
PROCEEDINGS OF PUBLIC SOCIETIES. 
—a 
THE LONDON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Method of forcing Asparagus, practised 
by Mr. Witxiam Ross, at Wyke- 
House, near Brentford. 
R. William Ross, in the month 
of January, had some of the 
strongest asparagus ever noticed at 
that season. He senta sample to the 
general meeting of the Horticultural 
Society in February last, and gave the 
following account of his practice. 
The pits, in which his succession pines 
are kept in the summer, have at bottom 
2 layer of leaves, about eighteen inches 
deep, covered with the same thickness 
of tan, which becomes quite cold when 
the pines are removed. In one of the 
pits he spread over the entire surface 
of the old tan a quantity of asparagus 
roots, which he covered with six inches 
more of tan, and applied linings of hot 
dung, successively renewed, round the 
Sides, keeping up thereby a good heat. 
This was done in the middle of De- 
cember; and, in five weeks, the crop 
was fit for use. As soon as the shoots 
made their appearance, and during the 
day-time, he took off the lights, intro- 
ducing as much air as possible, which 
ve them a good natural colour, and 
fhe Size was nearly as large as if they 
had been produced in the open ground, 
at the usual season. 
To insure perfect success, it is expe- 
dient to have good roots to place in the 
bed; the usual plan of taking them 
from the exhausted old beds of the 
garden is bad. If they are past their . 
best, and unfit to remain in the gar- 
den, they cannot be in a good state for 
forcing. Young roots, four years old 
from the seed, are much preferable : 
they are costly, if they are to be pur- 
chased every year ; but, where there is 
sufficient space, a regular sowing for 
this particular purpose should be made 
annually, and thus a succession of 
stock secured. 
Improved Method of planting Vines for 
_ Forcing. By Mr. Danier Jupp. 
In the winter of 1817, says Mr. 
Judd, I procureda quantity of the top- 
spit of soil from a common which 
consisted of arichloam, ratherinclining 
to be gritty, which property I prefer, 
because it gives a porousness to the 
compost, thereby allowing the water to 
pass freely through it. At the same 
time I collected some lime rubbish, 
well broken to pieces and sifted, some 
MontHLy Mac. No. 369. 
old tan, some leaf mould, and a quan- 
tity of the richest old dung I could se- 
lect from the forcing-beds and else- 
where. 
These materials having been kept 
separate, and frequently turned over in 
the summer, were mixed together in 
the autumn of 1818, in the following 
portions : one-half of loam, one-fourth 
of dung, and one-fourth. of lime rub- 
bish, united with the tan and leaf- 
mould. They were well mixed, by 
frequent turnings (but were not sifted) 
during the winter, when the weather 
was frosty or dry, for this operation 
should never be performed in wet 
weather. 
It may be noticed, that I did not use 
so much dung in my compost as is 
sometimes done; for I have observed 
that an excess of it retards the growth 
of the vine, notwithstanding it is con- 
sidered to be a plant which will bear 
an extraordinary quantity of manure. 
The addition of old tan to the com- 
post, which is not usual, [ recommend, 
because I know, from experience, 
that the vines will root in that more 
freely than in any other substance. 
In March last, the border, in front 
of the vinery, was cleared to the depth 
of upwards of three feet, below which 
it was drained, and then filled up with 
the new compost to the level of the 
bottom plate of the house; this was 
done in fine weather, and the new 
mould had full two months time to set- 
tle well before the young vines were 
planted in it. 
My vine plants were raised from 
single eyes in March 1818; they. were 
treated in the usual way through the 
summer, and kept from the frost dur- 
ing winter, until March last, when 
they were cut down to one eye, and 
placed in the pine-pit in order to pro- 
duce young shoots of sufficient length 
to draw into the house at the time of 
planting. After they had made shoots 
about two feet long, they were re- 
moved to the green-house (which was 
at that time kept at a temperature of 
about 60°, for some other purposes) ; 
here they continued growing, till they 
had attained to the length of three or 
four feet ; by this treatment the whole 
plant was rendered more hardy, and 
consequently more fit for its final 
removal into the open border. _ 
Early in May, having made good 
3 Y the 
