160 



before their transplantation, the young shoots should 

 be cut oif, and the planting will, with these precau- 

 tions, be equally successful, though it should be per- 

 formed in this country even as late as July. Should 

 any of the plants originally inserted have died, they 

 also may be replaced at this season. The plants 

 ought to be two years old when they are trans- 

 planted ; they will even take at three ; but at four 

 they are apt to fail. If it be necessary to buy Aspa- 

 ragus plants for these beds, it will be proper to pro- 

 cure twice as many as are required. The best must 

 then be selected for planting, and the remainder 

 placed in some remote portion of the prepared bed, 

 or into a similar situation, but without separating the 

 plants. Here they must first be covered with four 

 inches of sand during the summer, and as soon as 

 the frosts sets in, with six inches of dung over that. 

 {Ibid. ii. 248.) 



FORCING. 



Before proceeding with the various modes of Aspa- 

 ragus forcing, it will be well to remark, that no mode, 

 be it ever so complete or scientific, can ever produce 

 good Asparagus if the crowns are weak, or, in other 

 words, unless the plants have made strong shoots 



