94 



that at Ravenna, which, be it remarked, is a sea- 

 port. Asparagus was grown so fine, that three shoots 

 weighed a pound.* Athenaeus says, that, in Getuha, 

 the stems were as strong as reeds, and twelve feet 

 high. We do not disbeheve these statements, for we 

 have seen, in England, six Asparagus sprouts weigh- 

 ing a pound, and its stems between eight and nine 

 feet in heighth. 



That it was a common and well-known dish at the 

 Roman tables, appears from the habitual expression 

 of the Emperor Drusus, when he required more than 

 ordinary despatch, " Let it be done more quickly 

 than Asparagus can be boiled." 



It is more than probable that the Romans intro- 

 duced the cultivation of this, with that of other pro- 

 ducts of the garden, into Britain. They would find 

 it wild upon our coasts as upon their own, and would, 

 probably, submit it to the same ameliorating culture. 

 Be this as it may, it is quite certain that it was culti- 

 vated here at a very early period, and that its culture 

 is detailed in the works of the earliest of our writers 

 on such subjects. 



Asparagus was cultivated in England, and known 

 as Sparage, or Sperage, in Tusser's time, for, in his 



* We particularly note that Ravenna is on the sea-shore, be- 

 cause the best Asparagus, perhaps, in Europe, is grown now on 

 the coast of Spain, and salt is found to be for it one of the best 

 of manures. 



