250 HORTICULTURAL MEMOIRS. 



lour and size prevents them from having s6 

 agreeable an appearance. An iron knife, of 

 the shape here represented, is used for this 

 purpose. 



In cutting, this knife is to be slipped along 

 the stem, till it reaches the bottom of the 

 shoot, where the cut is to be made. At the 

 end of four years, the great and small ones 

 may be taken indiscriminately. The cut- 

 ting should cease about the end of June. 



At the beginning of winter, the stems are all 

 to be cut away, and the beds covered with dung 

 and sand, in the manner above described. If 

 muddy sand from the sea- shore can be procured 

 for the several purposes above described, it is the 

 best ; otherwise, river sand may be used ; and if 

 that cannot be procured, fine earth must be sub- 

 stituted. 



The asparagus bed now described, will gene- 

 rally last thirty years ; but if they be planted in 

 such abundance, as to require cutting only once 

 in two years, half the bed being always in a state 

 of reservation, it will last a century or more. 

 The turf used in making the beds, should be very 

 free from stones. 



Care must be taken not to tread on the beds, so- 

 as to condense the earth in planting the asparagus ; 

 and to prevent such an accident happening on any 

 other occasion, a plank should be used to tread 

 on. It must be remembered, that the division of 



