ASPARAGUS. 19 



by thrusting the fingers and thumb down into the 

 bed; it is less likely to injure the young shoots 

 rising below than by cutting them, as in the open 

 ground. 



The forcing of asparagus in fluid pits is by far 

 the most eligible method, as these may answer 

 many other purposes ; besides, the grass is of a 

 much better colour and higher flavour than that 

 produced on a dung hot-bed. As it frequently 

 happens that this esculent is wanted in a hurry, in 

 large families, where much company is kept, the 

 conveniency of a pit will be found a great relief in 

 this respect. A pit twenty-five or thirty feet long 

 and six wide, and which one small fire can per- 

 fectly command, is large enough to force sufficient 

 asparagus for a large family from November to May 

 in a constant and regular succession ; after which it 

 may be advantageously employed in raising a late 

 crop of cucumbers or melons, or in striking young 

 pine-apple plants, &c. The consumption of fuel 

 necessary for this purpose is so trifling, even where 

 it is most valuable, that it ought riot to deter any 

 one who requires asparagus, French beans, and 

 salads, at an early season, from building so useful a 

 compartment in the forcing garden. If a scrupulous 

 attention is paid to the general design, and par- 

 ticularly to the construction of the fire-places and 

 flues, this expedient will give more satisfaction to 

 the gardener than any other hot-bed whatever, and 

 in the end will prove a saving to the proprietor. 

 The construction of this kind of pit is very simple, 

 and can be built by any bricklayer at a small cost. 

 We are indebted for the invention to M'Phail, an 

 c 2 



