ASPARAGUS. 



ASPARAGUS. 



possible, for it obviously must weaken the : 

 plants, and be particularly detrimental to such ' 

 young plants. For the sake of convenience, ! 

 one drill should be made at a time, and the j 

 plants inserted and covered completely before I 

 another is commenced; the two outside drills 

 must be each -six inches from the side of the 

 bed. When the planting is completed the bed 

 is to be lightly raked over, and its outline dis- 

 tinctly marked out. Care must be had never 

 to tread on the beds they are formed narrow 

 to render that unnecessary for every thing 

 tending to consolidate them is injurious, as, 

 from the length of time they have to continue 

 without a possibility of stirring them to any 

 considerable depth, they have a natural tend- 

 ency to have a closer texture than is beneficial 

 .to vegetation. Water must be given occasion- 

 ally in dry weather until the plants are estab- 

 lished. The paths between the beds are to be 

 two and a half feet wide. Throughout the 

 year care must be taken to keep the beds clear 

 of weeds. In the latter end of October or com- 

 mencement of November the beds are to have 

 their winter dressing: the stalks must be cut 

 down and cleared away, and the weeds hoed 

 off into the paths, care being taken not to com- 

 mence whilst the stems are at all green, for if 

 they are cut down whilst in a vegetating state, 

 the roots are very prone to shoot again, and 

 consequently are proportionably weakened. 

 This habit might perhaps be taken advantage 

 of in assisting our forcing this esculent ; cut- 

 ting down the summer-produced stems of such 

 stools as are intended for the hotbed, a consi- 

 derable time before they lose their verdant co- 

 lour, would give them a natural tendency to 

 shoot again, and consequently assist the effect 

 of the artificial heat employed. It is generally 

 recommended not to add any manure until the 

 bed has been two or three years in production, 

 and then only to apply it every other year; but 

 I consider it much more rational to manure 

 regularly every year from the time of forming 

 the bed, though in less quantity than if done 

 every other year. I put on about two inches 

 of well decayed hotbed. By this means a con- 

 tinued and regular supply of decomposing 

 matter is kept up, which is not so perfectly 

 effected by the usual mode ; and from the ex- 

 periments purposely instituted by Miller^ we 

 learn, thaf on the richness of the ground and 

 warmth of the season the sweetness of aspara- 

 gus depends ; in proportion to the poverty of 

 the soil it acquires a strong flavour. The 

 dung needs merely to be laid regularly over 

 the bed, and the weeds, as well as some ma- 

 nure, to be slightly pointed into the paths, 

 some of the mould from which must be spread 

 to the depth of two inches over the dung just 

 laid upon the beds. In France the asparagus 

 beds at this season are covered with six inches 

 depth of manure and four of sea sand if pro- 

 curable, otherwise, of river sand or fine earth. 

 No forking is required ; but the boundaries of 

 .the bed must be marked out distinctly, as they 

 Jhould be kept, indeed, at all times. In the 

 end of March or early in April, before the 

 plants begin to sprout, the rows are to be 

 stirred between to a moderate depth with the 

 asparagus fork, running it slantingly two or 

 122 



three inches beneath the surface, as the object 

 is merely to stir the surface and slightly mix 

 it with the dung. Great care must be taken 

 not in the least to disturb the plants. Some 

 gardeners recommend that the beds should 

 only be hoed again, so fearful are they of the 

 injury which may be done to the stools ; but 

 if it be done carefully as above directed, the 

 fork is the best implement to be employed, as 

 by more effectually loosening the soil, it is by 

 far the most beneficial in its effects upon the 

 plants. This course of cultivation is to be 

 continued annually, but with this judicious 

 modification, that earth be never taken from 

 the paths after the first year, but these merely 

 be covered with dung, and which is only to be 

 slightly dug in ; for every gardener must have 

 observed that the roots of the outer row extend 

 into the alleys, and are consequently destroyed 

 if they are dug over ; and rather than that 

 should take place, the beds should have no 

 winter covering, unless mould can be obtained 

 from some other source, as asparagus does not 

 generally suffer from frost, as is commonly 

 supposed. In May the beds are in full pro- 

 duction of young shoots, which, when from 

 two to five inches high, are fit for cutting, and 

 as long as the head continues compact and 

 firm. Care must be taken, in cutting, not to 

 injure those buds which are generally rising 

 from the same root, in various grades of suc- 

 cessional growth within the ground. The 

 knife ought to be narrow-pointed, the blade 

 about nine inches in length, and saw-edged : 

 the earth being carefully opened round the 

 shoot, to observe whether any others are 

 arising, the blade is to be gently slipped along 

 the stalk until it reaches its extremity, where 

 the cut is to be made in a slanting direction. 

 It almost always occurs that the same stool 

 produces a greater number of small heads 

 than large ones, but the latter only should be 

 cut ; for the oftener the former are removed, 

 the more numerously will they be reproduced, 

 and the stools will sooner become exhausted. 

 Great attention must be paid to the seed. For 

 the obtaining it, some'shoots should be marked 

 and left in early spring, for those which are 

 allowed to run up after the season of cutting 

 is over, are seldom forward enough to ripen 

 their seeds perfectly. In choosing the shoots 

 for this purpose, those only must be marked 

 which are the finest, roundest, and have the 

 closest heads ; those having quick opening 

 heads, or are small or flat, are never to be left. 

 More are to be selected than would be neces- 

 sary if each stem would assuredly be fruitful ; 

 but as some of them only bear male or unpro- 

 ductive blossoms, that contingency must be 

 allowed for. Each chosen shoot must be fas- 

 tened to a stake, which, by keeping it in its 

 natural position, enables the seed to ripen 

 more perfectly. The seed is usually ripe in 

 September, when it must be collected, and 

 left in a tub for four or six weeks, for the pulp 

 and husk of the berry to decay, when it may 

 be well cleansed in water. The seeds sink to 

 the bottom, and the refuse floats and will pass 

 away with the water as it is gently poured off. 

 By two or three washings the seeds will be 

 completely cleansed ; and when perfectly dried 



