AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



123 



Asparagus con tin uu. 



unarmed. Stem herbaceous, mostly erect, rounded, very much 

 branched. h. 1ft Said to grow on "Asparagus Island," 

 Kynance Cove, Lizard, but we have never found it there, and it 

 has probably long since been exterminated. 



A plumosns (plumed).* Jl. white, small, produced from the tips 

 of the branchlets. Spring. I, true ones in the form of minute 

 deltoid scales, with an acute ultimately reflexed point ; the false 

 ones are grouped hi tufts, each being" in. to Jin. long, bristle- 

 shaped, and finely pointed. South Africa, 1876. An elegant 

 evergreen climber, with smooth stems and numerous spreading 

 branches. It forms an excellent plant when trained in pots, and 

 is invaluable for cutting. 



A. p. nanns (dwarf)-* A very elegant dwarf variety of above. 

 Stems tufted, slender, and gracefully arching. South Africa, 1880. 

 For bouquets, the cut sprays of both type and variety have the 

 advantage of much gi eater persistency than any fern, retaining 

 their freshness in water from three to four weeks. See Fig. 161, 

 for which we are indebted to Messrs. Veitch and Sons. 



A. racemosns (racemose). JL greenish-white, in many-flowered 

 axillary racemes. May. L bundled, linear-subulate, falcate; 

 branches striated ; prickles solitary. A. 3ft India, 1808. Green- 

 house evergreen shrub. 



Asparagus Beetle continued. 



fluid from the month when touched. When full erown 

 which takes about a fortnight, the larva measures about 

 two lines in length; the average length of the perfect 

 Beetle is about three lines. Although this insect does 

 not actually destroy the plants, it inflicts much damage 

 on the foliage, and checks the growth of the stems after 

 they have attained some size, in consequence of which 

 the foliage becomes much less in the next season. The 

 eggs are fixed to the shoots, and are small, dark, pointed 

 bodies. The larvae do the harm, as they feed on the 

 bark and tender portions of the plants. The mature 

 Beetles should be picked off by hand, and, by commencing 

 early enough in the season, their numbers will be greatly 

 reduced. Syringing the plants with water, heated to a 

 temperature that will not injure the plants, is found a 

 useful method for removing the grubs. 



White Hellebore. Freshly-ground White Hellebore, 

 sprinkled over the foliage while it is damp, and repeat- 



FIG. 161. ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS .NAXUK. 



1US (very branching), fl. solitary, at the tips of the 

 branchlets ; pedicels hardly perpendicular, one and a-half to two 

 lines long ; cream coloured. June. I. obscurely spurred at the base ; 

 false leaves three to eight-nate, flattened ; linear-falcate acute, 

 Jin. to Iin. long, spreading. South Africa, 1862. A wide climbing, 

 copiously branchecls slender greenhouse shrub, with very nume- 

 rous spreading or ascending branches and branchlets. 

 A scandens (climbing).* /. whitish, axillary on the ultimate 

 branchlets, succeeded by round orange-coloured berries. The 

 annual, much-branched, unarmed stems bear, usually in threes, 

 numerous small linear-pointed leaves, which on the ultimate 

 branches spread nearly in one plane. Cape of Good Hope, 1795. 

 An elegant climbing greenhouse perennial. 



A virgatns (twiggy).* A remarkably elegant feathery-lookin? 

 plant, of shrubby habit The stems, which issue from the crown 

 of the stout fleshy roots, are of a dark green colour, and bear at 

 the upper end a corymbose head of erect branches, of which the 

 lowest is the youngest or most recently developed. These branches 

 are again twice branched, the ultimate branchlets being furnished 

 with needle-shaped false leaves, iin. long, which usually grow in 

 threes. South Africa, 1862. 



ASPARAGUS BEETLE (Criocjsri* asparagi), or 

 " Cross-bearer." This beautiful little insect is blue- 

 black or greenish ; the thorax is red with two black 

 spots, and the wing-cases are yellow, with a black cross 

 on them ; the legs and antenna are black. The short grey 

 larva is flat underneath, arched on the back, and covered 

 with hairs. The sides are of an olive hue, and the little 

 legs and head are black. It ejects ft drop of blacki=h 



ing the operation at intervals of about eight days for 

 a season, will generally effect a riddance ; but the follow- 

 ing will usually be found better in such cases. Neither 

 must be applied until after cutting ceases, as they are 

 very poisonous, 



Parw Green. This, mixed and used as for Cherry Fly 

 (see Black Ply), will generally get rid of the Beetle, if 

 applied about thrice each season for two years. It should, 

 however, only be used in severe cases. 



Soot, applied in the same manner as White Hellebore, 

 and in liberal quantities, will, in a season or two, clear 

 the beds. If a bushel of salt be mixed with each twenty 

 bushels of soot, it will enhance the effect 



ASPARAGUS KNIFE. The Asparagus Knife con- 

 sists of a strong blade fixed in a handle. There are, or were, 

 three kinds employed : In one form, the blade was blunt on 



Fio. 162. ASPARAGUS KNIFE. 



both sides, straight, with a sharp tip, and not unlike a 

 small chisel. Another had its blade slightly hooked, and 

 serrated at one end. Bnt the best is that now almost 

 universally employed, and which is illustrated by Fig. 162 



