10 



ASH 



ASP 



peas, and other pulse. They should 

 be spread evenly, and not in too 

 great quantity. 



Wood ashes is an excellent nour- 

 ishment for the roots of trees. 



Ashes of all kinds are a good in- 

 gredient in composts which are 

 kept under cover. But when they 

 are laid upon land unmixt, they 

 should be spread as evenly as pos- 

 sible. They are thought to do bet- 

 ter on the top of the surface than 

 when buried in the soil ; for there is 

 nothing in them that will evapor- 

 ate. Their tendency is only down- 

 wards ; and their salts will soon 

 sink too low, if they be put under 

 the surface. If they be spread 

 upon ground, which has tender 

 plants, it should be done just before 

 a rain, which will dissolve and soft- 

 en their acrimony : For tender 

 plants, when the weather is dry, 

 will be apt to be injured by them ; 

 at least, if they are in contact with 

 the stems or leaves. 



Ashes in their full strength are 

 certainly best for manure 5 and 

 they will not be in full strength, un- 

 less they be kept dry ; nor will it 

 be easy to spread them properly. 

 And they should not be laid on 

 lands long before there are roots to 

 be nourished by them, lest the rains 

 rob them of their salts, by washing 

 them into the hollows, or by sink- 

 ing them to too great a depth in 

 the soil. A few bushels on an acre 

 are a good dressing for grass lands 

 that are low, and inclining to be 

 mossy. But ashes from which lie 

 has been drawn have no small de- 

 gree of virtue in them. The earthy 

 particles are but little diminished ; 

 and some of the saline particles 



remain in them, especially in soap- 

 er',9 waste which has lime mixed 

 with it. 



A handful of ashes, laid about 

 the roots of a hill of Indian 

 corn, is good to quicken its 

 vegetation. But it should not 

 much if any of it be in contact with 

 the stalks. The best time for giv- 

 ing corn this dressing, is thought to 

 be just before the second or third 

 hoeing : But some do it before the 

 first, and even before the plants are 

 up. Like other top dressings, it is 

 of most service when applied at the 

 time when plants need the greatest 

 quantity of nourishment. This 

 happens, in Indian corn, at the 

 time when the plants are just going 

 to send out ears and spindles. 



ASPARAGUS, a valuable plant, 

 the young shoots of which are a 

 pleasant and wholesome food ; of 

 more account for the table than 

 any other greens which the spring 

 produces. They come up early, 

 and are consequently of the greater 

 importance. The fruit is a spheri- 

 cal, red berry, which ripens in au- 

 tumn, containing two black seeds. 



The root of this plant is esteem- 

 ed in medicine, as an opener and 

 diuretic. 



To cultivate asparagus in the 

 best manner, open a trench three 

 feet wide, and twelve inches deep. 

 If it be close to the south side of a 

 garden wall5it will be up the earlier 

 in the spring. Fill the trench half 

 full of good dung ; make it level, 

 and sprinkle a little rich earth over 

 it, and lay on the roots, in their 

 natural position, eight or nine in- 

 ches apart. Or, if you cannot get 

 roots, place the seeds at half the 



