THE FARMER AT HOME. 2 K 



to have been obtained, in one season from an acre of ground. They 

 succeed in almost every soil ; and, when once planted, will continue 

 to flourish in the same place, without requiring much manure, or 

 much attention to their culture. The season in which they are dug 

 up for use, is from about the middle of September till November, 

 when they are in the greatest perfection. After that they may be 

 preserved in sand, or under cover for the winter. The roots are gene- 

 rally eaten plainly boiled, but they are sometimes served at table with 

 fricassee-sauce, and in other ways. Their flavor is so nearly like that 

 of the common artichoke, that it is difficult to distinguish one from 

 the other. We are informed that Jerusalem artichokes are valuable 

 for hogs and store pigs ; and that, if washed, cut, and ground in a 

 mill similar to an apple-mill, they may also be given to horses. 



ASHES. When wood is burned in a position that excludes the 

 air, the product is coal ; if the combustion is performed in open air, 

 the produce is ashes. Ashes by being leached, or having warm wa- 

 ter passed through them, are deprived of the alkali they contain, and 

 this is obtained in the shape of potash, or soda, by evaporation. Dif- 

 ferent woods, and plants, vary much in the quantity of ashes and 

 alkali they produce ; the fir, beech, and poplar, ranking among the 

 lowest ; and the box, willow, elm, wormwood, and fumitory the 

 highest. 



Leached ashes are found to be an excellent manure applied to 

 soils that are light, or such as are inclining to be sour ; the alkali 

 correcting the acid with which such soils, as the vegetation proves, 

 abound. In some instances, crops of grain, roots, and grass, have 

 been nearly doubled by their use ; and no skilful agriculturist permits 

 their waste. 



ASP. A very small kind of serpent, peculiar to Egypt and Lybia, 

 the bite of which is deadly. Its poison is so quick in its operation, 

 that it kills without a possibility of applying any remedy. Those 

 that are bitten by it are said to die within three hours, by means of 

 sleep and lethargy, without any pain ; wherefore Cleopatra chose it 

 as the easiest way of despatching herself. 



ASPARAGUS. There are thirteen species of this plant ; but 

 the only one cultivated in the garden is the common asparagus, with 

 an upright herbaceous stalk ; bristly leaves, and equal stipula. The 

 other species are kept only for the sake of variety. The plants being 

 raised from seeds, after having acquired a period of three or four 

 years' growth, produce proper sized asparagus, of which the same 

 roots furnish an annual supply for many years, continuing to rise in 

 perfection for six or eight weeks in the summer season, the shoots af- 

 terwards run up to stalks and flowers, and perfect seeds in autumn. 

 But besides the crop raised in the summer season, it may also be ob- 

 tained in perfection during the winter, and early in the spring, by the 

 aid of hot-beds. 



