!^9 AGRICVLTVRAL ESSAYS. 



quialities are in some measure proportioned to its magnitudei 

 Frequent hoeing or stirring the ground about the plant, espe- 

 cially in the morning while the dew is on, will greatly acceler- 

 ate the growth, and increase the size of the head. 



When they are kept in the cellar for winter use, it is the 

 practice of some to hang them up with the heads downward ; 

 they may be kept also through the winter by cutting off the 

 heads, and laying them away in a cask filled with snow, and 

 keeping them in a cold place. For a spring supply, the fol- 

 lowing mode is recommended : to make a trench in a dry soil, 

 and line it with straw : set the heads in closely together, with 

 the roots upwards ; cover them with straw, and then with 

 ear!h, piled up as steep as possible. In this manner it is said 

 they will keep till May, and occasionally dug out as they are 

 wanted. 



The common white and red cabbage, the winter-green globe, 

 and the Dutch, Scotch, and Savoy, are mostly in use. The 

 white and winter green globe are best for winter use ; the 

 red for sallad, and the others are early, and have smaller 



heads. !^ 



ii 



Asparagus is one of the first green vegetables which the I. 

 opening spring presents, and for which no substitute equally 

 productive can be had till the season for green peas and beans, | 

 which are not usually to be bad until some time in the sum- 

 mer. It is an excellent green vegetable, with any kind of meat | 

 either roasted or boiled. It is usually prepared for the table j 

 ^y tying it together in bunches three or four inches in diame- 

 ter, and boiled ; its nutriment and flavor very much resemblee 

 that of the pea. 



There are various modes of cultivating it. The following ie 

 the most usual and simple. Open a trench four or five feet 

 wide and one foot deep, in the warmest part of your garaen, 

 the warmer the better. Fill the trench half full of good barn 

 dung ; level it, and scatter some good earth over it ; then lay 

 on your roots eight or nine inches apart, in their ratural posi- 

 tion: orifeeedsbe used about half the dietance apart; then 



