THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK 



April manure and leaves may be made up in the manner 

 I' ^5 previously advised, and a mound of soil a foot deep put 

 on the top, in the centre. A plant raised in a pot in a 

 warm greenhouse or hot bed in the manner recom- 

 mended in an earlier chapter, and with three or four 

 rough leaves, may be planted out, and the tip removed 

 to encourage side shoots to form. Superlative is one 

 of the best varieties for frame culture. 



Vegetables 



Successions of Broad Beans, Peas, Turnips, Spinach, 

 Carrots, Onions, Celery, Tomatoes, and Leeks may be 

 sown. (See previous chapter.) 



Artichokes. — The Globe, Jerusalem and Chinese Arti- 

 chokes may all be planted now. (See table in Chapter I. 

 for distances.) 



Planting Asparagus. — Beds of this delicious vegetable 

 may be made now, and heads will be yielded next spring 

 if the "roots" are strong. They should not be less than 

 two years old. As a guide to size, I may say that a 

 "root" of which the fibres form as large a mass as can 

 be grasped tightly in one hand, and six to nine inches 

 long, is a good one, and ought to yield a nice crop a year 

 after planting. It is worth while to take special pains 

 with the bed. A low, damp site should be avoided, as 

 Asparagus never thrives in close, sodden soil. The soil 

 should be drained, so that no stagnant water can ever 

 lie within two feet of the surface. Light, friable, loamy 

 soil suits the crop better than heavy, adhesive clay, but 

 the Asparagus-lover who has heavy land need not de- 

 spair. I have myself grown very satisfactory crops of 

 Asparagus on clay, so that I know it is possible. The 

 ground should be dug not less than two full spades deep, 

 and rich, decayed yard manure at the rate of about three 

 i86 



