MARCH 41 



to save time, it is best to get two-year-old plants from 

 France. I recommend Godfrey le Boeuf, Horticulteur, 

 Argenteuil, pres Paris. Dig the ground three spits deep 

 that is, the depth of three spades and put in every- 

 thing you can that is good : well-rotted farm-manure, 

 the emptying of cesspools, butchers' offal, dead animals, 

 anything to enrich the soil for a long time. Cover up, 

 cut out one spit deep in trenches, and plant the Asparagus 

 a good way apart in single crowns. They do best planted 

 in single rows with other crops in between. The goodness 

 of Asparagus depends on the summer top-growth, so, if the 

 weather is dry, they must be watered or liquid-manured, 

 and should never be cut down till late in the autumn. 



It is a great mistake, when marking the nurseryman's 

 seed list, to order the vegetable described as ' giant,' 

 ' large,' ' perfection,' etc. Unless your soil is very strong 

 such vegetables do not grow large, and they do grow 

 tough and tasteless. This ' giant ' cultivation has been 

 brought about to win prizes at shows. Amongst the 

 delicious vegetables that have been ruined by growing 

 them too large are Brussels Sprouts. I consider those 

 sold in the London shops are not worth eating, they are 

 so coarse; but one can get the seeds of old-fashioned 

 small kinds. These are far sweeter, nicer, and prettier, 

 either for putting into soup, for boiling and frying after- 

 wards in butter, or for boiling quite plainly in the ordinary 

 English way. They are also far more delicate for a 

 pur6e, which is an excellent way of dressing them. If 

 fried and put on buttered toast, they make a very nice 

 second- course vegetable in winter. 



Do other housekeepers ever wonder why we are con- 

 demned invariably to eat Whitings with their tails in 

 their mouths and always skinned ? One of the reasons is 

 that small Haddocks are constantly sold by fishmongers 

 for the rarer Whiting ; and if skinned, they are not so easy 



