ASPARAGUS. 213 



Asparagus' readily admits othe'mg forced. The most 

 common method in England is to prepare, early in the 

 year, a moderate hotbed of stable-litter, and to cover it 

 with a common frame. After the heat of fermentation 

 has somewhat subsided, the surface of the bed is lined 

 with turf, to prevent the escape of vapor; a layer of 

 light earth or exhausted tan-bark is put over the' turf, 

 and in this the roots of asparagus plants five or six 

 years old are closely placed. The crowns of the roots 

 are then covered with two or three inches of soil. A 

 common three-light frame may hold 500 or 600 plants, 

 and will afford a supply for several weeks. After plant- 

 ing, linings are applied when necessary, and air is occa- 

 sionally admitted. Care must be taken not to scorch 

 the roots. Where there are pits for the culture of late 

 melons or succession pine-plants, such as the Alder- 

 ston-pit, or the succession-pit with the hot water cir- 

 culation, they may advantageously be applied to this 

 purpose. 



It has sometimes been recommended to^ force aspara- 

 gus on the ground on which it grows. Perhaps the best 

 method is that suggested by Mr. Spiers, in vol. iv. of 

 the G-ardener'^s Mac^azine. The seed is sown in beds 

 four feet eight inches wide, and there are four rows of 

 plants eleven inches asunder in the beds. The beds 

 are to have side trenches, two feet wide, ^nd two feet, 

 deep, lined by pigeon-hole brickwork — an operation 

 which We presume need not be performed till imme- 

 diately before forcing,- that is, when the plants are at 

 least three years old* In October, when the stalks are 

 cleared away, the _surface is covered with straw-litter. 

 When forcing is- commenced, the brick-lined trenches 

 are filled with hot stable-dung, well beaten, to about 

 19 



