172 THE FORCING GARDEN. 



the thermometer, above the outside temperature, for a 

 fortnight. Keep the sashes close. In the course of a 

 fortnight the thermometer may rise to 60 and then to 

 65, at which it may stand, with a rise of 10 during 

 sunny days. Keep the sashes closed, water with tepid 

 water, and sow some salt over the bed once or twice. 

 This will wash in, and help the Asparagus. It will be 

 necessary to treat the beds in the usual way before 

 commencing to force, viz. fork the surface over, and 

 then rake it off fine, so that the heads may come 

 through freely. It is necessary to stop cutting before 

 the plants get exhausted ; the cutting must not there- 

 fore be continued too long, and the heat may be dis- 

 continued as soon as it is done, air being then admitted. 

 It will be advisable in frosty weather to cover the 

 sashes with mats. If the roots are not driven beyond 

 their strength, the bed will last many years. 



A small elliptic boiler of twenty-four inches will 

 heat a pit of one hundred feet long, costing 21. 3s. 

 The two hundred feet of three-inch pipe will cost 

 71. 10s. carriage and all; four elbows, at 2s. 8d. each, 

 10s. 8d. The fixing of the boiler, bricks, &c. will cost 

 21. ; the india-rubber rings for fitting the pipes, 5s. per 

 pound. Here then is a good, simple, and effective 

 apparatus for sufficiently heating such a pit for a 

 little more than 10L The cost of the pit, sashes, &c. 

 may be compared to the Melon pit, frames, &c. 



SEA-KALE. 



Many methods are adopted to get early Sea-kale, 

 but I know of none to equal covering up the roots 

 where they stand. Sea-kale will not bear a great dry 



