AS 



the Beginning of the Seafon, and 

 mark fome of the largeft and faired 

 Buds with a Piece of Stick •■, which 

 Buds, when they have branched 

 out, may be faften'd to a Stake 

 thruft into the Ground to preferve 

 it from breaking : Thefe Buds will 

 many of them produce great 

 Numbers of red Berries, which 

 fhould be luffer'd to remain upon 

 the Branches until the latter End of 

 September, when the Haulm will 

 begkf to decay; then cut off the 

 Branches, and flrip the Berries in- 

 to a Tub, where they may lie in 

 a Heap to fweat for three Weeks, 

 by which means the outer Husks, 

 will be rotten i then fill the Tub 

 with Water, and with your Hands 

 break all the Husks, by iqueezing 

 them between your Hands : Thele 

 Husks will all fwim upon the Wa- 

 ter, but the Seeds will link to the 

 Bottom, fo that by pouring ©ff the 

 Water gently, the Husks will be 

 carry'd along with it, and by put- 

 ting frefh Water two or three 

 times, and ftirring your Seed about, 

 you will make it intirely clean; 

 then fpread your Seed upon a Mat, 

 and expofe it to the Sun and Air 

 in dry Weather until it is perfe6t:ly 

 dry ; when you may put it into a 

 Rag, and hang it up in a dry Place 

 till the Beginning of Tebruciry:^ at 

 which Time you moft prepare a 

 Bed of good rich Earth, whereon 

 you mull fow your Seeds, (but 

 not too thick, which will caufe 

 your Plants to be fmall) and have- 

 ing trod your Seed into the Grbund, 

 rake it over fmooth. 



In the following Summer, keep 

 it diligently clear 'd from Weeds, 

 which will greatly add to the 

 Strength of your Plants; and to- 

 ward the latter End of October, 

 when the Haulm is quite wither 'd 



A s 



you may fpread a little rotten Dung 

 over the Surface of the Ground, 

 about half an Inch thick, which 

 will prelerve the young Buds from 

 being hurt with the Frofts, ^c. 



The Spring following, your 

 Plants will be fit to plant out for 

 good, (for I would never chufe 

 Plants of more than one Year's 

 Growth, having very often expe- 

 rienc'd them to take much better 

 than older, and to produce finer 

 Roots); you mufl therefore pre- 

 pare your Ground by trenching it 

 well, burying therein a good Quan- 

 tity of rotten Dung at the Bottom 

 of each Trench, lb that it may 

 lie at leaft lix Inches below the 

 Surface of the Ground ; then level 

 your whole Plot very exaftly, ta- 

 king out all large Stones : but this 

 fhould not be done long before you 

 intend to plant your Afparagusy in 

 which you mull be governed ac- 

 cording to the Nature ot your Soil 

 or the Seafon ; for if your Soil is 

 dry, and the Seafon forward, you 

 may plant e^rly in March -^ but in 

 a wet Soil, it is better to wait till 

 the End of that Month, or the Be- 

 ginning of April, which is about 

 the Seafon that the Plants are be- 

 ginning to flioot. I know many 

 People have advis'd the planting of 

 Afparcigus at Michaehn'as ; but this 

 I have experrenc'd to be very wrong, 

 for in two different Years I was 

 obliged to tranfplant large Quanti- 

 ties at that Sealon, but I had bet- 

 ter thrown away the Plants, for 

 upon Examination, in the Spring, 

 I found moft of the Roots were 

 grown mouldy and decaying, and 

 1 am iiire not one in five of them 

 fucceedcd, and thofe which did, 

 were fo weak as not to be worth 

 their ftanding. 



The 



