QS6 now TO MAKE THE FARM PAY. 



Asparagus. It is so easy a matter to secure a good bed of 

 asparagus, that wo should think every farmer's garden might 

 be provided with one. The preparation of the bed requires 

 some labor, but when it is remembered that it will last for 

 twenty or thirty years, it seems small indeed. Lay out a bed in 

 the warmest, mellowest part of the garden. Throw out all the 

 soil to a depth of two feet ; throw in a layer of well rotted 

 compost, and then a layer of the soil, forking the two over in 

 the trench. When filled a little above the level, mark rows 

 icross the bed an inch deep and twelve inches apart. Soak the 

 seed in milk over night, and drop in the drills an inch apart. 

 When the plants are two or three inches high, thin them out 

 to nine inches apart in the rows. In the fall cut off the stalks 

 aud add six inches of compost, half manure and half soil. Add 

 another dressing in the spring, and each succeeding spring. 

 Xorth of New York the bed should have a fall dressing to pro- 

 tect the plants from the frost. No plants should be cut for 

 the first three years. Salt should be put on whun the bed is 

 made, and with each spring dressing. 



Celery. Sow in April in the cold frame, or May in the 

 open ground. Thin and weed the plants until July, when they 

 should be transplanted to rows three feet apart. When they 

 attain twelve or fifteen inches in height, bank them up with 

 earth from between the rows, pressing it closely about the 

 stalks. As the stalks increase in height, add more earth. For 

 winter u.se leave the stalks in the rows until there is damper of 

 freezing, then remove to the cellar, covering all but the tops 

 with dry sand. Never plant any of the large kinds. Incom- 

 parable Dwarf and " Boston Market" are the best in all respects. 



Lettuce. The universal cultivation of this plant leaver 

 little to be said. It may be sown at various times from April 



