as it is prncUsedin France. -l^-^ 



Six in dies of sifted earth. 

 Eight inches of turf. 

 Six inches of very rotten dung. 

 Eiglit inches of the hest earth. 

 The last layer of earth must then be well mixed with the last 



of duna;. n r • i u 



The quarter must now be divided into beds five feet wide, by 

 paths constmctedof tnrf.two feet in breadth, and one foot in thick- 

 ness. Tlie asparagiis must be planted about the end of March, 

 eighteen inches asunder. In planting them, the bud, or top of 

 the shoot, is to be placed at the depth of an inch and a half in 

 the ground, wl.ile the roots must Ije spread out as wide as pos- 

 sible, in the form of an umbrella. A small l)it of stick must be 

 placed as a mark at each plant, as it is laid in the ground. _ As 

 soon as the earth is settled and dry, a spadeful of hue sand is to 

 be thrown on each plant, in the form of a molehill.^ If the 

 asparagus plants should have begun to shoot before their trans- 

 plantation, the voung shoots should be cut off, and the planting 

 will, with these precautions, be equally successful, though it 

 should be performed in this country even as late as July. Should 

 any of the plants originally inserted have died, they also may be 

 replaced at this season. The plants ought to be two years old 

 ^vhen they are transplanted ; they will even take at three ; but 

 at four they are apt to fail. 



If it be' necessary to buy asparagug plants for these beds,^ it 

 will be proper to procure twice as many as are rcciuired. The 

 best must tiien lie selected for planting, and the remainder placed 

 in some remote portion of the prepared bed, or into a similar si- 

 tuation, but without separating the plants. Here they imisc 

 first be covered with four inches of sand during the summer, and 

 as soon as the frost sets in, with six inches of diuig over that. 



The stems of the planted asparagus must be cut tlown as sopn 

 as the frost commences, and close to the ground. The beds are 

 then to be covered with six inches of dung, and four oi sand. 

 In Marcli, the bed must be stirred with a fork, taking care not 

 to apjiroach so near to the plasits as to derange them. Towards 

 the end of April, the plants which have died, may be replaced 

 with the reserved ones lately described. 



In three years, the largest plants will be fit to cut for use. If 

 the beds be'sufliciently large to furnish a su})ply in this manner, 

 the asparagus shoots should be cut as fast as they appear; other- 

 wise they must be left till tiie (piantity required has pushed fortli; 

 in whicll case the variety in colour and size prevents them from 

 having so agreealde an appearance. An iron knife is used for 

 ihis puipose. . 



lii ciitting. Ihe knife is to be clipped along the sleni, till it 



reaches 



