ASHES. 



ASPARAGUS. . 



all agricultural or horticultural investigations: 

 they have been lauded as equally beneficial to 

 every description of soil, and in all situations ; 

 or they have been condemned, with equal 

 fo|ly, by the results of blundering trials be- 

 gun in ignorance, continued without care, and 

 perhaps nearly forgotten in the hurry of a con- 

 clusion. 



They furnish ingredients, such as the car- 

 bonate of lime, carbonate of potash, charcoal, 

 phosphate of lime,- sulphate of lime, &c., 

 which, in limited quantities, enter into the 

 composition of all plants, as an absolute con- 

 stituent part ; and for these they must, accord- 

 ing to the natural deficiency of the soil in 

 these ingredients, be extremely useful. They 

 absorb moisture from the atmosphere, too, in 

 quantities much superior to what is generally 

 believed, and in this property the ashes of 

 burnt clay and coal ashes considerably ex- 

 ceed both chalk, lime, gypsum, and even 

 crushed rock salt, as will be seen by the re- 

 sult of the experiments given under the head 

 MANURES. 



Some very valuable comparative experi- 

 ments on the influence of ashes upon the 

 growth of potatoes were made by the Rev. Ed- 

 mund Cartwright, of Hollenden House, in 

 Kent. (Com. Board of Agric., vol. iv. p. 370.) 

 " The soil on which these experiments were 

 made was previously analyzed: 400 grains 

 gave 



"Silicious sand, of different degrees of 



fineness - - . - - - - 280 grs. 



Finely divided matter - - - - 104 

 Loss in water ------ 16 



400 



" The finely divided matter contained 



"Carbonate of lime ----- 18 grs. 



Oxide of iron .---- 7 



Loss by incineration (probably vegetable 



decomposing matter) 17 



Silex, alumina, &c. 62 



104 



"It will appear," says Mr. Cartwright, "from 

 the above analysis, that these experiments 

 could not have been tried upon a soil better 

 adapted to give impartial results; for of its 

 component parts there is no ingredient (the 

 oxide of iron possibly excepted) of sufficient 

 activity to restrain or augment the peculiar 

 energies of the substances employed." The 

 beds were laid out and planted on the same 

 day, the 14th of April ; they were manured as 

 in the following table. These beds were each 

 forty yards in length, and one yard wide. 

 Every bed was planted with a single row of 

 potatoes, "and, that the general experiment 

 might be conducted with all possible accuracy, 

 each bed received the same number of sets." 

 The potatoes were taken up on the 21st of Sep- 

 tember, when the produce of the beds were as 

 follows : 



Bushels. 



Land without any manure produced, per 



acre - - - - 157 



with 60 bushels of wood-ashes - - 187 



60 bushels of wood-ashes, salt 8 



bushels - - - 217 



peat 363 bushels 159 



peat ashes 368 bushels, salt 8 



bushels - - - 185 



peat 363 bushels, salt, 8 bushels - 171 



120 



Another series of experiments was made by 

 Dr. Cartwright, upon a cold, wet, tenacious 

 clay, with burnt clay, wood-ashes, and soot; in 

 all of which the clay ashes had a decided supe- 

 riority of effect. The following table show's 

 the quantity of manure applied per acre, and 

 the produce of the land thus fertilized. (Trans. 

 Sue. Arts, vol. xxxvi.) 



The operation of burning clay produces but 

 a slight chemical alteration in the composition 

 of the clay ; its tenacity is merely destroyed, 

 and a portion of soot and of carbonized animal 

 and vegetable remains are diffused through 

 the ashes; added to which, the ashes of the 

 wood employed for the burning, which usually 

 contain a quantity of phosphate of lime and 

 potash, are mixed up with the mass. (Johnson 

 on Fertilizers, 296; Brit. Farm. Mag., vol. i. 

 p. 58.) 



ASPARAGUS (from the Greek ctvrr*p*.y6e, a 

 young shoot before it expands). There are 

 only two varieties, the red-topped and the 

 green-topped; the first is principally culti- 

 vated. There are a few sub-varieties which 

 derive their names from the places of their 

 growth, and are only to be distinguished for 

 superior size or flavour, which they usually 

 lose on removal from their native place. The 

 soil best suited to this vegetable is a black, 

 fresh, sandy loam, made rich by the abundant 

 addition of manure ; it should be neither tena- 

 cious from the too great preponderance of 

 clay, nor too dry from a superabundance of 

 silica, but should be retentive of moisture 

 chiefly by reason of its richness. To raise 

 fine roots for hot-beds, they may be raised in a 

 much moister soil (Miller's Dictionary); but 

 for natural productions this will not answer, as 

 such plants are much shorter lived. The site 

 of the beds should be such as to enjoy the in- 

 fluence of the sun during the whole of the day, 

 as free as possible from the influence of trees 

 and shrubs, and, if choice is allowed, ranging 

 north and south. The subsoil should be dry, 

 or the bed kept so, by being founded on rubbish 

 or other material to serve as a drain. The 

 space of ground required to be planted with 

 this vegetable for the supply of a small family 

 is at least eight rods, if less, it will be incapa- 

 ble of affording one hundred heads at a time 

 (Marshall says six rods will afford this quan- 

 tity), so that part must be kept two or three 

 days after it is cut, especially in ungenial sea- 

 sons, to allow time for the growth of more to 

 make a sufficient number for a dish. Sixteen 

 rods will, in general, afford two or three hun- 

 dred every day in the height of the season. 

 To raise plants the seed may be sown from the 

 middle of February to the beginning of April ; 

 the most usual time is about the middle of 

 March. The best mode is to insert them by 

 the dibble, five or six inches apart and an inch 

 below the surface, two seeds to be put in each 



