216 



A S P E R G I L L U M. 



or bottom part produced within the ground is too 

 tough and stringy for use. The shoot?, however, 

 may be drawn to a much greater length by extra 

 coverings of any loose substance, as dry peat earth 

 or leaf mould. 



The shoots when ready for use are cut with a saw- 

 edged knife, or broken oft' from the crown by the 

 finger. When the crowns are deeply covered, the 

 knife must be used ; but when they are only hidden 

 by two or three inches of loose and easily removed 

 earth, the shoots may be forced off with the ut- 

 most facility. In both ways there is danger of 

 damaging the rising shoots ii' care be not taken in 

 the execution, and certainly less by the knife than by 

 any other means. When cut, the shoots are tied in 

 bundles of quarter, half, or whole hundreds, before 

 they are carried to market. 



Asparagus is extensively forced both in private and 

 market gardens, and usually on dung heat. It may 

 also be forced in glass covered pits, by either hot 

 water, steam, or fire flues. 



The principle of forcing such a plant as this, is to 

 do it gradually ; because, being taken from their native 

 bed, where they have been for years established, and 

 placed in a situation with which they have no pre- 

 vious connexion, they must depend on their own 

 innate vigour or store of nutriment within themselves, 

 to enable them to produce shoots from their incipient 

 buds. Excitement is almost all they receive in their 

 new place ; and, therefore, unless they are substantial 

 and in high health, the shoots produced will be few 

 and diminutive. It is for this reason that full aged 

 plants are chosen for forcing-, viz., four or five years 

 old from the seed-bed. 



Hot-beds for asparagus are made of well prepared 

 stale dung, and more or less substantial, according to 

 the time of the year in which forcing is begun. If 

 wanted for the table in February and March, the bed 

 should be made about Christinas, and not less than 

 three feet in height. When the heat has risen and 

 become moderate, the frame and lights being put on 

 as soon as the bed is made, the surface should be laid 

 so as to be about one foot from the glass, and covered 

 with about five inches of dry loose earth. On this 

 the plants are laid in rows as closely together as 

 possible, filling the openings between the crowns and 

 roots with light dry compost (sandy loam and leaf 

 mould is the best), and covering the whole therewith 

 to the depth of two inches. The steaming heat from 

 the dung will soon make the compost and roots moist 

 enough ; but if very dry, a sprinkling of water may 

 be given at planting. 



As soon as the shoots appear through the surface, 

 two more inches of compost must be put on ; and 

 after they have risen through this, another covering 

 of the same depth must be added, which finishes 

 the earthing up. The purpose of this gradual earthing 

 up is to accelerate the growth of the shoots, and to 

 prevent burning the roots, which, were the whole 

 covering put on at' once, would be likely to happen. 

 After this last addition of compost, the frame and 

 liyhts will require to be raised three or four inches by 

 placing bricks under the corners, and thick twisted 

 straw bands along between to prevent the earth fall- 

 ing out from under the frame. Some practitioners 

 think it better to fill the frame in the first place, so 

 that the roots should be no more than six inches 

 from the glass, and, as the shoots rise and require 

 earthing up, to raise the frame at the same time, so 



that the shoots shall always be as near the air and 

 light as possible. After the final earthing, tlio shoots 

 are allowed to rise towards the glass, and then i<> 

 have as much air and light as can be with safety 

 admitted, because it is these which give colour and 

 flavour. 



In the course of this method of forcing asparagus, 

 care must be taken that the heat is never at any time 

 too intense. If the dung has been duly prepared by 

 repeated turnings before made into a bed, there is 

 less fear that it will heat violently afterwards, unless 

 it be too thickly covered with mats, or not sufficient 

 air be given to allow the heat to escape. Veryevere 

 weather may be expected, and attention must be 

 paid lest the bed gets chilled. Sharp frost is kept 

 off by surrounding the bed with dry litter and cover- 

 ings of mats ; and, if needful, by hot dung linings 

 rather than the roots be checked by cold. But at all 

 times a temperate rather than a strong heat is 

 required, because the stronger the heat, the smaller 

 and more worthless are the shoots, and their running 

 spindlingly up can only be checked by admissions of 

 fresh air whenever the weather allows. Such a bed 

 successfully forced, continues to yield moderate dishes 

 of asparagus for three weeks or a month after the 

 first shoots are ready to cut. 



Asparagus may be also forced in pits built for the 

 purpose, in which there must be a full command of 

 heat, whether by fcrmentive substances, as tanners' 

 bark, stable dung, or leaves ; or by heat, given out 

 by steam or hot water pipes, or smoke flues. The 

 roots should be planted as near the glass as possible, 

 so as to allow space for earthing up and growth of 

 the shoots. 



Asparagus planted in single rows on two-feet wide 

 beds may be forwarded in the open air by having the 

 alleys between dug out to the depth of sixteen or 

 eighteen inches, and filled with hot dung or leaves. For 

 this special purpose the sides of such beds are formed 

 of boarding or open brickwork. By[thisexpedient,fine 

 shoots may be had a fortnight or three weeks sooner 

 than they can be had naturally ; and as it is only 

 exciting the growth a little earlier than would happen 

 without the application of the heating substance, 

 there is no destruction of the plants. As the full 

 effect of this mode of forcing cannot be had without 

 some kind of covering on the surface, a rank of hand 

 glasses should be employed, and these covered in tho 

 night to protect from frost, are all that is wanted. Such 

 narrow beds can only be forced in this manner ; but 

 the same should not be forced two years together, as 

 this would tend to weaken the plants too much. The 

 same beds, however, might be forced every third 

 year without injury ; and where such practice is 

 intended to be followed, a sufficient number of such 

 beds should be provided. 



ASPERGILLUM (Lamarck). SERPULA 

 AQUARIA (Linnaeus). In separating this shell 

 from the Linnaean Serpula, Lamarck has been guided 

 by the presumed distinct organisation of the animal, 

 and though the inhabitant is unknown, the different 

 structure of its shell fully authorises his having distin- 

 guished it from the Serpula and his constituting a 

 new genus of it. 



This singular formed shell is a testaceous tube (La- 

 marck calls it a testaceous sheath), somewhat curved, 

 though in most instances nearly straight; it gradually 

 tapers towards, and is open, at the upper extremity, 

 becoming rather club-shaped towards the lower end, 



