230 General Notices. 



imparts to the plants ; indeed, all other things being suitable, they seem to 

 revel in it with that luxuriance that makes them really delightful to look 

 upon. 



So far my directions have been addressed to the productions of fine exhi- 

 bition specimens, but now we will consider the management of the tribe 

 where there is only a greenhouse to grow them in. Here, then, if very 

 large plants are required, it will only be necessary to spur the young shoots 

 in, retaining the old wood or stem ; but if dwarf plants are preferred, cut 

 the old plants down to the pot in autumn, reduce the roots, and re-pot in 

 smaller sized pots, using the same compost as before. These plants may be 

 placed under the greenhouse stage during the winter, and be kept tolerably 

 dry, and by this time in the new year they will be pushing young shoots. 

 Remove them to the warmest corner of ihe greenhouse, and expose them to 

 light, and as they progress in growth, re-pot them as frequently as they 

 seem to require room. They will not be in bloom so early as better grown 

 ones, but will make very nice plants for the autumn decoration of the green- 

 house. Young plants struck in March and April, if properly encouraged 

 by the necessary pot room and liquid manure, will also make very useful 

 stuff; for the autumn plants, so managed, are generally the best for setting 

 about in the flower garden or vases, as, being less brittle, they are not so 

 liable to be broken by the wind as more luxuriantly grown specimens. — 

 {Gard. Cliron. 1846., p. 180.) 



Cultivation of Asparagus. — As it is true in gardening as well as in phi- 

 losophy, that ex nihili nihil fit, you must take caie that your asparagus bed 

 is well supplied with plants, before you proceed to a treatment which will 

 make the plants robust and productive. Sometimes there are gaps of sev- 

 eral square feet, or the plants are thinly spread over the whole bed. Rec- 

 tify this as soon as you can, by marking, in the growing season, all such 

 vacancies, and filling them up in the autumn or the spring. About 9 inches 

 apart is a good average distance, although probably a foot would secure a 

 larger product. Having secured a good plant, as agriculturists express it, 

 the next thing is to make it vigorous. Lay down this rule as having no ex- 

 ception — that if your beds have not a vigorous growth in the summer, you 

 will look in vain for fine asparagus m spring. As the succulent shoots 

 proceed from the buried root, their size must be in direct proportion to the 

 healthfulness of that root, or to the quantity of organizable matter that root 

 has stored up. How, then, can the root be brought into a proper state for 

 producing large shoots ? By giving every advantage to the plant during 

 the summer and autumn ; so that if your beds this summer are covered 

 with a tall and strong vegetation, the abundance of solar light, &c., will 

 convey a proper supply of matter to the root for next season, and you will 

 cut fine asparagus ; but, on the other hand, if there appears only a stunted 

 and weak growth, your produce will be small. 



If the principle just laid down is correct, the mode of treatment must 

 consist in judicious cutting, and the application of proper manure. I know 

 many beds which have been ruined almost by an unsparing cropping, and 

 in cases where there has been no deficiency of manure. If the bed has been 



