212 KITCHEN GARDEN. 



to procure a supply of ready-grown plants, it is thought 

 preferable to keep up the stock of asparagus by sowing. 



The sowing is made in March, in slight drills ; and, 

 as a portion of the seed often fails to germinate, it is a 

 good precaution to employ about double the quantity of 

 seed that may be ultimately necessary. If the plants 

 come up too thickly, they may be thinned out towards 

 the end of the first summer, to the distance of about six 

 inches in the rows.. The ground is hoed and kept clear 

 of weeds. It is a common practice in England to take 

 slight crops of onions, lettuce, cauliflower, or turnip, 

 between the lines of asparagus during the first, and, if 

 the rows be wide, also in the second year. The young 

 heads or stalks, the part used, should not be cut before 

 the third spring, and they are not in perfection till the 

 fourth or fifth. 



The asparagus quarter can scarcely.be oyer-manured. 

 The proper time to perform this operation is in the end 

 of autumn, when the annual flower-stalks are removed, 

 preparatory for winter. When beds are employed, their 

 surface should be stirred with a fork ; a layer of well- 

 rotted hotbed dung is then laid on, and the whote 

 covered with a sprinkling of earth from the alleys. If 

 the plants are grown in rows, the manure is simply dug 

 in by means of a three-pronged fork, care being taken 

 not to injure the roots. This operation is repeated an- 

 nually, and no. other culture is required. I^ is necessary 

 to,observe a due moderation in reaping the crop, as the 

 shoots, when much cut, become progressively smaller 

 and less valuable. Hence it is a general rule with gar- 

 deners never to gather asparagus after peas have be- 

 gun to come into season. Thus managed, a. bed will 

 continue productive for a number of years. 



