THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



103 



comp,iratively a vegetable of luxury. It occupies 

 a iari;fe proportion ol' a genlieniairs jrarilcn, ar.d 

 i^ seiiium vseon in iliat of the cottnger. The 

 vounfT pIiooIs are l>()ile,d a lew m nutes, uniil they 

 become polt ; lliey are [irincipally served to table 

 on a toast witli nieiied biiiier; seasoned, tliey 

 also make an e.xcelient soii[). 



This vegetable is culiivaled very exlcnsivcly 

 for the London niarUeis; and it must appear 

 almost increditile to those who have not witnessed 

 the loads of this article daily hea|)ed on the green 

 stalls of the meiropoits for the space ol" three 

 months, ihat Ibrty acres are under asparagus in 

 the neighborhood of London at one time. Wil- 

 mott, a great grower, at Deptlbrd, has liad eighty 

 acres entirely under this cro|). 



Until towards the end of the seventeenth 

 century, a large quantity of remarUat)!y fine 

 asparagus was exported Irom I]olland, the deep, 

 rich, moist soil ol" that country being genial to its 

 growth. 



Asparagus is propagated only by seed, which, 

 as well as one and two or three-year old plants, 

 may be purchased of the nurserymen or seeds- 

 men ; when a new plantation is Jcirmed, the latter 

 practice is generally adopted in order to save 

 time. 



There are three varieties of the asparagus 

 named in the seedsmen's catalogue, but there is a 

 great similarity between them, and I doubt il 

 these supposed varieties were cultivated in the 

 .same soil and atmosphere, whether there would 

 be Ibund any dili'erence between them, except, 

 perhaps, in the color. The tbilowing is a descrip- 

 tion of them : — 



1. Battersea is famed for producing fine aspara- 

 gus, the heads being larire, full, and close, and 

 ihe tops tinted with a reddish green color; this 

 is the sort generally cultivated by market gar- 

 deners. 



2. The Gravesend asparagus is more green 

 lopped, and not generally so plump and close, hut 

 is reckoned better flavored. Both varieties are 

 held in sreat estimation. 



3. The Giant asparagus is greatly extolled by 

 the l^ondon seedsmen, on account of its size ; but 

 the author considers the secret to lie in the quality 

 of the soil, for occasionally buds of immense 

 thickness are produced in common beds ; and in 

 the Gardeners Magazine there is an account 

 of sixty buds haviui^ been cut near Leeds, in 

 Yorkshire, which weighed nearly seven pounds. 



Caliure. — The middle ot March, {_ February,'] 

 or thereabouts, if the weather is suiiat)le, will be 

 found a good tin)e to sow the seed in quantity, 

 according to the number of plants required Ibr a 

 small garden. A pound of seed will produce a 

 requisite number of plants. 



The seeds are generally sown broadcast on a 

 four-foot bed, but by far the better way is to sow 

 it thinly in drills about two inches deep and fifteen 

 inches from row to row. It should be sliirhtly 

 trodden in, and the bed made smooth with the 

 rake ; the ground tTiust he kept as free of weeds 

 ae possible, and siirred with the hoe two or three 

 times during the summer. If the soil is not very 

 rich, some good rotten dung must be dug in belbre 

 sowing the seed, as strong one-3'ear's plants are 

 the best for transplanting. About the end of the 

 following October some stable litter should lie 

 spread over the ground to protect the young roots 

 from the frost. 



The beet ground for asparagus is a light, rich, 

 saiuiy loam. The soil should not be less than two 

 and a half feet deep. Belbre planlinii, it should 

 always be trenched to the depih of twoli^et, and 

 plenty of dung buried at the bottom, as no more 

 can be applied there after the beds are planted. 

 The ground can be scarcely be too well manured : 

 Ibr, although the plants naturally grow in a poor, 

 sandy soil, it is lound that the sweetness and 

 tenderness of the shoots depend very much on 

 the rapidity of the growth, which can only be 

 promoted by the ri('hness of the soil. 



The (rround being well trenched, mantircd, and 

 levelled, the quarter must now be divided into 

 beds Ibur leet wide, with two (eet alleys, as being 

 the most convenient for cutting the shoots and 

 weeding, &c. The work should all be done in 

 fine weather, as the ground can be more easily 

 worked, and the planting better performed, than 

 il the ground is wet anil cloggy, it is also a 

 good plan to prepare and trench the ground a 

 month or six weeks belbre hand. Afier the beds 

 are marked out, and before the plantins com- 

 mences, a layer of rotten dung should be spread 

 over the beds, and regularly dug in with the 

 spade, taking care to reject all the stones which 

 appear, as ihey are hurtful to the plants, and 

 occasion inconvenience in cutting the buds. 



The beds being prepared, and a strong slake 

 driven in to the depth of two or three feet at each 

 corner, about the middle of March, [any time 

 during winter, hut if possible it should not be 

 delayed later than February, though ihey will 

 succeed even as late as March,] il ihe weather 

 is dry commence the planting. Take up the 

 plants carefully wi(h a fork from the seed-bed, 

 and expose them to Ihe air as short a lime as 

 possible; and, at the time of plantinix, place 

 them in a covered basket, with a little silted earth 

 mixed with them. 



The distance at which they are commonly 

 planted is nine inches in t!ie row, and one foot 

 between the rows ; so that, if the piece of ground 

 to be planted is perfectly level, and the rows quite, 

 straight, every Iburth row can be left to l()rm the 

 alley. The crowns of the plants are generally 

 covered two inches with mould. 



The method of planting is as fbllows : — Stretch 

 a line lengthwise along the bed, nine inches from 

 the edge, and with a spade cut out a small trench 

 about six inches deep, turning the displaced earth 

 to the other side of the trench, on the bed ; and 

 having the plants ready, set a row along the 

 trench, nine inches apart, with the crowti of the 

 roots two inches belo\tr the surface, drawing a 

 I little earth upon them, just to fix them as placed. 

 Having finished planting the row, cover them 

 directly with the earth taken from the trench, 

 raking it back regularly an equal depth over the 

 crown of the plants. Proceeci then to open an- 

 other trench, a foot from the first ; plant it as 

 above; and in the same manner plant three or 

 four rows to each bed. Tjien lightly rakins the 

 beds lengthwise, draw off any stones or hard 

 clods, and dress the surlace neatly and evetdy. 

 Let the edges be lin<'d out in exact order, allowing 

 two feet to ,each alley. If the weather at the 

 linte of planting is very dry, water them occasion- 

 ally, till the plants are er^fablished. 



An asparairus quarter should not contain less 

 than a rod of ground, as it often requires Ihat 



