104 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



quantity to furnish a sinsjle <too(] dish. For a 

 large /iimily, about twelve or eix een rods are 

 generally ke[U in a productive state. 



Noihinij jLiriher will be required durinj^ the 

 punimer, than !o keep the beds perlecily clear Crom 

 the weeds ; and the Ibllowing winter to cover them 

 with some rotten manure, to preserve the crowns 

 fi'om the Irost ; if, in the spring, the earth istbund 

 to have setdeil in any part, which in new-made 

 beds is often the case, the deficiency must be 

 made up with moie mould. 



The crop is permitted the two first years, and a 

 great portion of the tiiird, to run up to stalks, the 

 beds being kept free Irom weeds, and the surface 

 etirred. It is a common practice to sow onions, 

 lettuces, or radishes upon the beds ; but the 

 author considers tliis practice injurious to the 

 asparagus, especially alter the first three years, 

 Rs it must necessarily rob the ground ol' a large 

 portion of its nourishment. 



If very large heads of asparagus are required, 

 (hey may be produced by plantmg them twelve 

 or iourteen inches apart ui the rows, and fifteen 

 or eiffhieen inches between the rows. The 

 ground must also be very rich and highly ma- 

 nured. The author con.-iders this to be the 

 meihod by which the giant asparagus is produced ; 

 as in the course of his practice, by pursuing the 

 same plan, lie has met with the same results. 



After the beds are arrived at maturity, which is 

 generally the thir(1 year after they are planted, 

 they will require the Ibllowing systematic mode of 

 treatment : — 



From about the middle of October to the latter 

 end of Novenfiber, is the time to give the as- 

 paragus beds their winter dressing. This con- 

 sists in cutting down the decayed stalks of the 

 plants, close to, or within an inch of the ground, 

 and clearing the beds from weeds, drawing them 

 off at the same time with a rake into the alleys 

 to be buried, and spreading some of the earth 

 upon the beds, which is called landing up. Then 

 proceed to line out the alleys, the stakes that are 

 placed at the corners of the beds forming a guide : 

 the alleys must be duir one spade deep, and a 

 good portion of earth spread over each bed, two 

 or three inches thick, and then nicely levelled 

 with the rake. It may be supposed by some, 

 (hat in annual landing up the beds, they may in 

 several years be considerably raised ; but by the 

 eprinij forking and raking, together with the 

 repeated hoeings and clearing off weeds in the 

 summer, and at the lime of preparing for landing 

 up in the autumn, a considerable portion of the 

 earth is annually drawn off again into the alleys. 



About the end of March, [January,] or to- 

 wards the middle of April, {February,} before the 

 buds begin to advance below, proceed to loosen 

 the surface of the beds; introducing (he fork 

 slanting two or three inches under the surface, 

 turn up the top earth near the crown of the roots, 

 with care not to wound them. Thpn rake the 

 surface of the bpds level, and draw off the roucrh 

 earth and hard clods into the alleys ; also trim the 

 edjjes of the beds, and surface of the alleys regu- 

 larly and even. Loosening the bod in this man- 

 ner enables the shoots to rise in free growth, 

 admits the a r, rains, and sunshine, into the 

 ground, and encourages the roots to produce buds 

 of a handsome, full size. 



In general, transplanted asparagus comes up 



but slender the first year ; it is larger the second ; 

 and the third year a lew shoots may he fit (or 

 gathering ; and the fourth, the crop will be in 

 good perleQtion. 



The best method of cutting them is to scrape 

 away a little of the eanh from each shoot ; then 

 with a sharp-pnmted knife, made on purpose, 

 with a narrow blade, six inches long, and finely 

 sawed at the edge, cut of! the shoot slantingly, 

 about three inches below the surface, taking care 

 not to wound the younger buds, advancing 

 below in dillerent stages of growth. Asparagus 

 is in the best condition (or cutting when it projects 

 three or four inches above the ground, and while 

 the top bud remains close and plump. 



The cutting season usually commences towards 

 the latter end of April, [March.] and should never 

 be continued beyond midsumn)er. 



Asparagus beds, wiili good culture, will con- 

 tinue to afford plentiful crops for twelve or fourteen 

 years, after which the stools usually decline in 

 feriiliiy, and the shoots in quality ; but the author 

 has known instances of becis producing large and 

 fine asparagus lor a much longer period. 



I iiave frequently observed in many gardens the 

 depth of the alleys, which should always be kept 

 filled up to within eight inches of the surface of 

 the bed, as the roots of the plan's extend as well 

 as descend ; if the alleys are left deep, by cutting 

 down the sides of the beds and deep digging, the 

 plants are ma'erially injured. 



The following hints may be useful to the young 

 horticulturist. A bed twenty yards long, with 

 four rows of plants, at one foot apart each way, 

 will take two hundred and forty plants which at 

 lour years old will produce above one hundred 

 shoots daily throughout the season ; and the 

 quantity will increase every year. The author 

 has had more than fifty buds in the season, pro- 

 duced from one single roof, the bed being in a 

 high sla'e of cultivation, according to the method 

 previously advised. From the above statement, 

 a calculation maybe made as to the quantity of 

 land required to be planted to supply the wants of 

 the family. 



Where asparagus hens run east to west, or 

 north to south, and the alleys are well filled up 

 they may be planted on the warm side, with a 

 row of kidney beans of an early kind, wliich will 

 not interfere with the cutting of the grass, and 

 will produce sooner by a week or ten days than if 

 sown in the open ground ; or, occasionally where 

 ground is scarce, a centra! row of early spring- 

 sown cauliflowers may be p'anted, at thirty inches 

 apart. The author has gunvn them remarkably 

 fine in such situations, without any detriment to 

 the beds. 



Asparagus beds should be enriched with an 

 addition of good rotten dung, once every two 

 or three years at farthest ; the benefit of which 

 will be evident in the quantity, ns well as the size 

 and quality of the pniduce. The dung for this 

 purpose should be completely r iited, like that of 

 old cucumber or melon beds. It should be applied 

 alter the stalks are cleared ofi", and spread two or 

 three inches thick over the suiface of each bed, 

 and a double portion in the alleys; the beds being 

 then slightly (oik-digged to bury it; after this, 

 dig the alleys in the usual way, and spread a 

 portion of the earth evenly over the beds. In this, 

 way the enriching quality of the manure will be 



