ASP 



ASP 



To force Asparaffus. — Such plants 

 must be inserted in hot-beds as are 

 five or six years old, and appear of 

 sufficient stren<;;tli to produce vigor 

 ons siiools ; when, however, any old 

 natural ground plantations arc intend- 

 ed to be broi<en up at the proper sea- 

 son, some of the best plants may be 

 selected to be phmged into a hot-bed, 

 or any spare corner of the stove bark- 

 beds. The first plantation for forcing 

 should be made about the latter end 

 of September : the bed, if it works 

 favourably, will begin to produce in 

 the course of four or five weeks, and 

 will continue to do so for about three, 

 each light producing in that time 300 

 or 400 shoots, and atfording a gather- 

 ing every two or three days. To 

 have a regular succession, therefore, 

 a fresh bed must be formed every 

 three or four weeks, the last crop to 

 be planted in March or the early part 

 of April : this will continue in pro- 

 duction until the arrival of the nat- 

 ural ground crops. The last-made 

 beds will be in production a fortnight 

 sooner than those made about Christ- 

 mas. 



The bed must be substantial, and 

 proportioned to the size and number 

 of the lights, and to the time of year, 

 being constructed of stable dung or i 

 other material. The common mode 

 of making a hot-bed is usually follow- 

 ed. It is the best practice to plant! 

 the asparagus in mould laid upon the! 

 tan, which, or some other porous | 

 matter, is indispensable for the easy 

 adinissionofthe heat from the linings. 

 The bed must'be topped with six or 

 eight inches of light, rich earth. If a 

 small family is to he supplied, three 

 or four lights will be sufficient at a 

 time ; for a larger, six or eiglit will 

 not be too many. Several hundred 

 plants may be inserted under each, as 

 they may be crowded as close as pos- 

 sil)le together; from 500 to 900 are 

 capable of being inserted under a 

 three-light frame, according to their 

 size In planting, a furrow being 

 drawn the whole length of the frame, 

 against one side of it the first row or 

 course is to be placed, the crowns 

 upright, and a little earth drawn on 



to the lower ends of the roots ; then 

 more plants again in the same man- 

 ner, and so continued throtighf)ut, it 

 being carefully observed to keej) tlii>m 

 all regularly about an inch below the 

 surface : ail round on the edge of the 

 bed some moist earth must be bank- 

 ed close to the outside roots. 



If the bed is extensive, it will 

 probably acquire a violent heat ; the 

 frames must therefore be continued 

 off until it has become regular, oth- 

 erwise the roots are liable to be de- 

 stroyed by being, as it is technical- 

 ly termed, scorched or stcam-scublcd. 

 When the heat has become regular, 

 the frames may be set on, and more 

 earth be applied, by degrees, over the 

 crowns of the plants, until it acquires 

 a total depth of five or six inches. 

 The glasses must be kept open an 

 inah or two as long and as often as 

 possible, without too great a reduc- 

 tion of temperature occurring, so as 

 to admit air freely and give vQnt to 

 the vapours, for on tliis depends the 

 superiority in flavour and appearance 

 of the shoots The heat must be kept 

 up by linings of hot dung, and by cov- 

 ering the glasses every night with 

 mats, &,c. The temperature at night 

 should never be below 50°, and in 

 the day its maximum at 62°. In 

 gathering, for which the shoots are 

 fit when from two to five inches in 

 height, the finger and thumb must be 

 thrust down into the earth, and the 

 stem broken off at the bottom. This 

 excellent vegetable possesses some 

 diuretic properties. Its juice contains 

 a peculiar crystallizable sulistance, 

 which was discovered by Vauquelin 

 and Robiquet, and named by them 

 Asparngin. 



ASPARAGUS STONE. A variety 

 of apatite. See Apulite. 



ASPEN. Populiis trcmula and 

 tremuloides, species of the great ge- 

 nus of poplars, remarkable for their 

 lightness and shade. The timber is 

 white, soft, and readily decays. 



A S P E R G 1 L L U .M. One of the 

 commonest mildew plants. See Mil- 

 dew. 



ASPIDIOTUS. A genus of insects 

 resembling the bark-lice, or scale in- 



47 



