27 

 ASPARAGUS. 



ASPERGE. Asparagus ojficinalis. 



VARIETIES. 



Gravesend. I Large Battersea. 



Large White Reading. Large German, or Giant. 



This plant is a native of cold climates, and is found 

 growing wild in Russia and Poland, where it is eaten by the 

 cattle as grass. It will endure the severity of our winters, 

 and produce its buds, when the weather gets mild ; but as 

 garden products are generally scarce after a hard winter, the 

 gardener who studies his interest will make the most of the 

 spring season, and raise all he can before the market* 

 become glutted ; to this end, he is recommended to prepare 

 for forcing this vegetable, as soon as the coldest of the 

 winter is past. (See article on Forcing Vegetables.) 



Asparagus plants may be raised by sowing the seed in 

 the fall as soon as ripe, or in March, and the early part of 

 April. It requires some of the best ground in the garden. 

 The seed may be sown in drills, ten or twelve inches asun- 

 der, and covered half an inch with light earth. When the 

 plants are up, they will need a careful hoeing, and if culti- 

 vated, and kept free from weeds, they will be large enough 

 to transplant when they are a year old. Some keep them in 

 the nursery bed until two years old. 



A plantation of Asparagus, if the beds are properly dressed 

 every year, will continue to produce good buds for twenty 

 years or more. 



New plantations of Asparagus may be made in Autumn, 

 or before the buds get far advanced in Spring, say February, 

 March, or April, according to situation and circumstances. 

 The ground for the bed must not be wet, nor too strong or 

 stubborn, but such as is moderately light and pliable, so 

 as it will readily fall to pieces in digging or raking, and 

 in a situation that enjoys the full sun. It should have 

 a large supply of good rotten dung, three or four inches 

 thick, and then be regularly trenched two spades deep, 



