chap, vl] asparagus beds. 123 



which are best set apart for the lasting crops. 

 The part to be sown annually should be always 

 divided into regular square or long narrow 

 compartments, in order to manage properly the 

 rotation of crops. 



Asparagus Beds. — Of all the permanent 

 crops grown in a garden, the one which re- 

 quires most preparation is asparagus. It is not, 

 perhaps, generally known that this plant is a 

 native of Britain ; but the fact is, that it grows 

 wild in several places both in England and 

 Scotland. The cultivated plant is, however, of 

 course, very different from the wild one; for, 

 while the latter is meagre, insipid, and very 

 tough, the former is not only succulent and 

 finely flavoured, but grows to an enormous size. 

 There are two sorts of asparagus grown for the 

 London market : the one having a thick whitish 

 stalk, only just tipped with a pinkish head ; 

 and the other having both the stalk and the 

 head green and slender. Asparagus is always 

 raised from seed ; but, as the stalks are not fit 

 to cut till the roots are two or three years old, 

 persons wishing to plant an asparagus bed 

 generally purchase plants one year or two years 

 old from a nurseryman. 



Asparagus plants require a light, rich, sandy 

 loam, and the ground in which they are to be 

 planted is always first trenched from three to 

 four feet deep, or even more, and plenty of 

 stable dung is buried at the bottom of the 

 trench ; the beds are then marked out four feet 

 wide, with paths two feet wide left between 

 them, and the plants are planted in rows, about 

 six inches deep (the crown of the root being 



