414 On the Bed of the German Ocean and Brilisk Channel, 



reaches the bottom of the shoot, where the cut is to be made. 

 At tlie end of lour years the great and small oues may be taken 

 iadisciiminatcly. The cutting should cease about the end of 

 June. 



At the beginning of winter the stems are all to be cut away, 

 and the beds covered with dung and sand in the manner above 

 described. If muddy sand from the sea-shore can be procured 

 for the several j)urposes above described, it is the best ; other- 

 ^vibe, river snnd may be used ; and if that cannot be procured, 

 fine earth must be sul)stituted. 



The a'?paragus bed now described will generally last thirty 

 years ; but if tliey be planted in such abundance as to require 

 cutting onlv once in two years, half the bed being always in a. 

 state of reservation, it vvili last a century or more. The turf ubcd 

 in making the beds sliould be very free from stones. 



Care nuist be taken not to tread on the beds, so as to condense 

 the earth in planting the asjjarapus; and to prevent such an ac- 

 cident happening on any other occasion, a j.'lank should be used 

 to tread on. It nnist be remembered, that the division of the 

 beds, which is formed by thick turf, is intended to prevent the 

 condensation of the earth Ijelow, in conseciuence of the neces- 

 sary walking among the beds. As in the course of time this 

 condensation will gradually take place, the turf ought to be re- 

 newed every three years, for the purpose of stirring the ground 

 below • and in applying the winter coat of manure, it must be 

 remembered, that even these walks are to be covered. If these 

 circumstances are not attended to, or if the earth below the walks 

 has not originalllv been constructed in the way described above, 

 the asparagus plants which grow near the walks will be much less 

 fine than those in the middle of the beds. 



*^* I understand that this plan has been put in practice by- 

 Mr. Allan, of Tweedside, with success. 



XCV. Observations vpon the Alveus or General Bed of the 

 German Ocean and Brilhli Channel, and on the Encroach- 

 merits of the Sea on the Land. By Mr. Robert Steven- 

 son, Cioii Engineer, Edinburgh. 



v_/BSER Vatic Ns upon the wasting of the land by the encroach- 

 ment of the sea might, with great propriety, be made upon the 

 sliores of Ireland, of which I have seen many instances on the 

 western, northern, and eastern coasts, from Loch Swillv in the 

 eounty of Donegal, to the Tusker rock off the coast of Wexford. 

 But, witliout enlarging upon these shores, we shall now turn our 



attention 



