1044 



Gardening for Amateurs 



March. Plant out at 3 feet apart in each 

 direction. Protection by means of rough 

 litter or bracken must be provided during 

 severe weather in winter or many of the 

 plants will succumb. 



Artichoke, Jerusalem. The tubers of 

 this vegetable are greatly in demand dur- 

 ing a hard winter, the price usually being 

 from 3s. to 5s. per cwt. Of course, there 

 are winters when the roots are almost un- 



A good type of French Bean. 



saleable. Deep cultivation and heavy manur- 

 ing tend to produce big crops of large roots. 

 It is true that this plant will grow and to 

 some extent crop in very rough ground, but 

 it will pay for good treatment. The tubers 

 can be left in the ground all the winter and 

 be dug as required for market. Plant out in 

 February in rows 3 feet apart, the sets being 

 18 inches asunder. 



Asparagus. This is a most profitable crop 

 wherever it is successful. It is becoming 

 more and more the custom to grow the 

 plants on one -row beds. Seeds are sown in 

 March and April in shallow drills 6 inches 

 apart. By the following April the plants 



are ready to put out in their permanent 

 quarters. Single rows are placed 3 feet 6 

 inches asunder, and the plants are put 

 out at 1 foot apart. The first two years 

 crops of Peas, Dwarf Beans, Green Onions 

 and Lettuces, etc., are all grown to help in 

 paying rent and labour. The third season 

 the beds may be cut over, but ought not 

 to be cut for the same length of time as older 

 beds would be. Usually very fine Aspara- 

 gus is secured from these young beds. 

 Cultivation consists of keeping the beds 

 thoroughly free from weeds. Here it may 

 be well to mention that land for Asparagus 

 should always be absolutely clear of twitch 

 and other deep-rooting weeds. The second 

 year after the tops have been cut down in 

 autumn a little soil may be drawn over the 

 plants with a draw hoe. This is the begin- 

 ning of the ridge. After the beds are 

 formed the winter and spring work consists 

 of lightly pulling down the ridges with a 

 reversed fork to make room for the spits of 

 soil which are dug from the alternate alleys. 

 The other alleys, which are not dug up in 

 this manner, serve for pathways for cut- 

 ting the Asparagus, and for some years cer- 

 tain crops are secured from them. Where 

 Asparagus is grown largely in heavy land 

 the chief manure used is soot, which is put 

 on when the alleys are forked up. During 

 February or March, according to the state 

 of the weather, the soil placed on the beds 

 is slightly forked over, and stones, roots of 

 weeds, and old stems are picked off. The 

 actual cutting is usually done with special 

 knives, and tying is considerably assisted 

 by means of specially constructed scoring 

 boxes. The heads or " buds," as they are 

 technically called, are tied in bundles of 

 twenty by women, whose rate of pay is 

 usually 6d. per thousand when not paid 

 per day. These are passed to the men, who 

 make them up in hundreds six bundles 

 of twenty going to the market hundred. 

 The mistake too frequently made in grow- 

 ing Asparagus for market is that the plants 

 are insufficiently fed and too severely cut ; 

 the consequence being that beds do not 

 last as long in a profitable state as they 

 otherwise might. We are often told 

 that Asparagus should be fed during the 

 cutting season, but my advice is to feed 



