Sec. 80.] GARDEN CDLINARY VEGETABLES. 479 



If the stalk be cut lour inches long, and two inches beIo\7 the carth'b Burfacc, 

 about one inch and a half of the top ])art is fit for nse— no more. Aspara- 

 gus should never be cut till it is five or si.x inches out of the ground. I 

 often let it grow ten or twelve inches hii:;h. AVhcn five or six inches hi;;h, 

 it should be cut about a half inch aliovc tiic ground ; but when ten or twelve 

 iiuflics high, it should bo cut si.K or seven inclics above the surface of tlic 

 earth; or, if it be cut near the ground, all the bottom part should be 

 rejected. 



"After cutting it, take a sharp knife, and commencing at tlie lower end, 

 foci your way along toward the top, till you come to wlicre it is perfectly 

 tender, then cut it off, throwing away the lower part. 



" It is only the green, tender ])art that is above the ground tliat is sweet, 

 healthy, and nutritious, or fit to cook and eat. Tlie white, tough, and bitter 

 part, that grows below the earth's surface, is not Iialf as good iis corn- 

 stalks, and should not be allowed to be sold in any market in the civilized 

 ■world. 



" For private families, asparagus-beds should be made at considerable ex- 

 pense, and M-ith mucli care. Four or five dollars will make a bed that will 

 amply supplj', for many years in succession, a family of eight or ten i>or- 

 sons, if properly taken care of. To make a first-rate bed for that number in 

 a family, make it about five feet wide an<l twenty feet long. Dig out the 

 ground two and a half feet deep, and fill up with chips, sawdust, t;in, or 

 sticks of wood, packed close together, five or six inches from the bottom. 

 Tiien put in five or six inches of the strongest stable manure, and fill up to 

 the top with manure and dirt, about half and-half. 



" The bed is now fit to plant. Put your roots about ten inches apart, each 

 wav, over the entire bed, and then cover them about three inches deep with 

 the richest soil to be had, and sow evenly over the wliole a peck of common 

 salt and a peck of ashes, mixed together. Asparagus is a marine-plant, ro- 

 (juiring salt and alkalies for fertilizers, which should be supplied every 

 spring to make the jihints flourii-h. 



" keep tho beds clean of weeds and well manured, and for this quantity 

 of ground you will have a rich and abundant supjdy for eight or ten in 

 a faiuily, every day, if desired, from about the first of April till the last of 

 June. The yield will bo ten times as much as couhl bo obtained from tho 

 same numlier of sipiare feet planted in peas or beans. Tliere is not, among 

 all tiic "-rcen vegetables brought to market, another so productive, jmlatablo, 

 nutritious, and healthy as this plant. 



" "Wiierc it is raised for market, a warm, rich, vegetable mold should be 

 selected. A sandv loam is better than cla\\" 



539. Celery.— Tliis is another good vegetable for early spring, when there 

 is a longini; for something green or fresh from theganien, which is but liltlo 

 known U) nirmcrs in general. It is a hanly biennial, grown from »wd sown 

 in the spring, which will produce Bee<l the secon.l yoar. For the table, tho 

 Stalks only aro used, and generally raw, though good cookc«l, aiid to inako 



