12 



ASP 



AXE 



them, just to fix the plants in their 

 due position, till the row is plant- 

 ed ; when ojse row is thus finished, 

 immediately with a rake draw the 

 earih into a drill over the plants, 

 and then proceed to open another 

 drill, or trench, as before directed ; 

 plant it in the same maimer, and 

 cover in the plants as above, and 

 so on till the whole is planted ; 

 then let the surface of the bed be 

 raked smooth and cleared from 

 stones." 



The plant? should be kept free 

 from weeds, and no early crops 

 sowed amofig them, as has been 

 sometimes injudiciously practised. 

 A plantation of asparagus, with 

 p"Oj>cr management, will continue 

 to produce iiood buds ten or twelve 

 years, or longer. 



Mr. M*i>1ahon says asparagus' 

 seeds may be sown about the mid- 

 dl«> or towards (he latter end of 

 March, calculating probably for 

 the latitude of Philadelphia. In 

 the n ore northern States, perhaps 

 a somewhat later period would be 

 proper for that purpose. 



Asparagus beds should be com- 

 pletely loosened to a moderate 

 depth every spring, as soon as the 

 frost is out of the ground, with a 

 proper fork, having three short 

 tines, six to eight or nine inches 

 long. But care must be taken not 

 to go too deep, so as to wound the 

 crowns of the roots. The beds, 

 being loosened in every part to a 

 moderate depth, should be raked 

 even, before the buds begin to ad- 

 vance. 



In the 13th vol. of the " Reper- 

 tory of Arts,''"' &c. a new method 

 of rendering asparagus more pro- 



ductive, is communicated by Mr. 

 Richard Weston, who observes that 

 the male plants yield a greater 

 number of shoots than the female 

 ones ; though the former are of an 

 inferior size. He consequently 

 advises that males only be selected 

 for the formation of beds ; and to 

 prevent mistakes, they should not 

 be planted from the seed bed, till 

 they have flowered. After liaving 

 grown twelve months, Mr. W. di- 

 rects them to be removed into 

 beds, at the distance of six inches 

 from each other, where they ought 

 to remain another year, in which 

 they generally flower ; a small 

 stick must then be driven into the 

 ground, contiguous to each of the 

 male plants, in order to separate 

 them from the females, the latter 

 of which are then to be pulled. 



This plant is found growing na- 

 turally on the borders of salt 

 marshes, and even upon such 

 marshes. This is considered to be 

 its natural situation ; and this fact 

 has led to the employment of salt 

 as a manure to it with very good 

 etfect. To a bed 50 feet by 6, a 

 bushel of salt may be safely appli- 

 ed before the plants start in the 

 spring. 



AXE, a necessary tool for farm- 

 ers. A narrow axe is meant ; for 

 a broad axe is a carpenter's tool. 

 A narrow axe should have a thick 

 poll, as in that part it commoidy 

 fails soonest. It should be made 

 of the best of iron and steel, be 

 quite free from cracks and flaws, 

 and nicely tempered ; not so soft 

 as to bend, nor so hard as to break. 



Take care that you do not grind 

 your axes thin at first, till you learn 



