The Kitchen Garden. 89 



April to the twenty-fifth of Maj. Select an open situation. 

 If the soil be light and diy, it must bo trodden down or rolled 

 with a roller on sowing. Thin out the plants to nine inches 

 apart. Hoe frequently and thoroughly. The winter crop will 

 require the protection of a thin layer of straw during the 

 severe weather. 



2. New Zealand Spinach — Tetragonia Expansa. 



This is an annual plant from JSTew Zealand. It furnishes a 

 good substitute for spinach during the summer, when the latter 

 fails, but, as it requires to be forwarded in a frame or hot-bed, 

 is hardly worth the trouble it costs in a northern climate. 



Garden Orache (atriplex hortensis) and Garden Patience 

 {rumex patientd) are sometimes used in the place of spinach, 

 but are only Avorthy of a mere mention here. 



v.— ASPAEAGINOUS PLANTS. 



1. AsPAEAGiTS — Asparagus Officinalis. 



The asparagus plant is a native of the sea-coasts of Great 

 Britain. The varieties may be reduced to two— the Green Top 

 and the Purple Top. 



Asparagus is propagated only by seed, but in forming a new 

 bud it is the most economical plan to procure plants two or 

 three years old from some nurseryman or gardener. If you 

 purpose to raise your own plants, sow early in the spring, in a 

 seed-bed formed of rich, sandy loam, in drills an inch and a 

 half deep, and eighteen inches from row to row, pressing the 

 earth firmly upon the seed. Keep the bed free from weeds by 

 frequent hoeing. About the first of the following November 

 spread stable litter or something of the sort over the ground, to 

 keep the young plants from the frost. 



For the permanent bed, a rich, sandy loam is best. Select, 

 if possible, an open situation and a warm southern exposure. 

 Trench or spade deeply, digging in a plenty of manure, as the 

 soil can hardly be made too rich or too deep. Over a plot 

 forty feet long and twenty feet wide (which will be large 



