ASPARAGUS. 209 



beaten, to about eighteen inches above the surface of the 

 ground. The bed is also covered with prepared dung. In 

 about twelve days, when the buds have begun to appear, 

 the latter covering is removed, glazed frames are placed, 

 resting upon the brickwork, a little fine soil is sifted over 

 the plants, the linings in the trenches are raised higher, 

 and the whole treated like a common hotbed. In this way, 

 we are informed, excellent supplies may be obtained, and 

 the plants may be forced every year. 



Before leaving this subject, it may be mentioned that 

 about Bath the young flower-spikes of Ornithogalum 

 pyrenaicum, found native in that neighborhood, are used 

 like asparagus, under the name Prussian Grass. 



Much time may be saved in getting full -bearing beds, if, 

 instead of sowing the seed, the roots be set out, a practice 

 commonly resorted to in the United States, where the 

 young roots are a regular marketable article. The soil 

 should be a loam, at least two feet deep, and cannot well 

 be made too rich. The beds should be about four feet 

 wide with two feet alleys between. The roots, when taken 

 up, must not be long exposed to the air, so as to get dry, 

 and should be deposited in rows drawn with a line stretch^ 

 ed lengthwise on the bed, about twelve inches asunder, be- 

 ginning nine inches from the edge. The small trench or 

 furrows may be about three inches deep, and the roots set 

 in these about nine inches apart, are to be covered with the 

 fine earth thrown out in making the furrows. The culti- 

 vation during the first season consists merely in keeping 

 down the weeds and grass. The succeeding winter, cover 

 three or four inches deep with well-rotted manure. In 

 order to secure the formation of strong crowns, the plants 

 are allowed during the first two summers to run up to 

 stalks. After the third year, the stalks should be cut 



