113 



Asparagus was produced from beds thus formed, and 

 on a portion of them being removed three years after, 

 the roots were found to have descended a perpendicu,- 

 lar depth of five feet. {Gard. Journ. 1847, 52.) 



Mr. Cox's plan, as here detailed, is indeed excellent, 

 and, withal, economical. We would say to those who 

 have small brushwood at hand, use it by all means 

 on all occasions, less or more. Only, in clay soils, do 

 not depend on small brushwood for permanent drain- 

 age. It will act tolerably, if not too small, for a year 

 or two, but after awhile the smaller particles settle 

 into a close humus, and tend to intercept the drainage. 

 Salt. — That this should be beneficial to Asparagus 

 might be justly anticipated from the fact that it is a 

 marine plant. Such anticipation many years since 

 led to its sparing application to the Asparagus bed, but 

 it is only within these few years that its abundant 

 use has been ventured upon. What led to it was the 

 accumulation of facts such as the following : — 



Bytbe inundations of the sea, at Friesland, in 1825, 

 the oak, the mulberry, pear, peach, and others with 

 deep roots, did not suffer ; neither did the asparagus, 

 onions, celery, &c., for they were never finer, or more 

 luxuriant. But the vines and gooseberries contracted 

 a salt taste ; and the apricots, apples, cherries, elms, 

 poplars, beech, willows, &c., could not bear the over 

 dose of sea-water. They pushed out a few leaves, but 

 speedily perished. {Sharon Twmer's History , 117.) 

 I 



