i86 The Gardener's New Director. 

 an Afparagus-fork, which will not injure the young 

 crowns of your grafs; keep them always clear from 

 weeds, and the refufe of the dung which comes off thefe 

 beds in their fpring-dreffings, may be dug into the alleys, 

 for Collyflowers and Brocoli ; but plant no Beans in 

 thefe alleys, they being a fort of poifon to Afparagus- 

 roots. By obferving the winler-dreflings in Oclobery 

 and the fpring-drelTings in March or the beginning ot 

 Jpril regularly, you may cut good Afparagus the third, 

 although it be better to defer it until the fourth year 

 after iranfplanting. 



Moll gardeners, in cutting Afparagus, take the big- 

 gefl buds, and leave the fmalleft ; but from experience 

 lam quite certain, that this is a moft erroneous prac- 

 tice ; for when the fap defcends to the root in O^ober, 

 it is in proportion to the bud that returns it ; therefore, 

 for the firft two years after you begin to cut, you muil 

 obferve, where your bed gives two large and two fmall 

 trrafs, to leave one large and one fmall one, for the fu- 

 ture welfare of the bed; and by obferving to be tender 

 of cutting in the two firfl years, your bed will hold for 

 twelve or fourteen. 



BALM. 



THE Common Balm is propagated by planting 

 flips in March, in beds of good frtfh earth, five 

 feet broad, with alleys of one foot and a half broad; 

 watering them, if the weather is dry, and to be kept 

 clear of weeds. 



There is a fort of Balm that has its leaves finely 

 variegated with yellow and white : this mufl: be plant- 

 ed in a very lean foil, that the variegation may be 



preferved. The common fort makes a fine tea by an 



infufion of its leaves, which is an excellent remedy for 

 the lownefs of fpirits. 



BALM 



