ASPARAGUS. 81 



Battersea is famed for producing fine Aspara^- Battersea. 

 gus, and the name is applied to the particular 

 variety there grown. The heads are large, full, and close, 

 and the tops tinted with a reddish-green color. It is proba- 

 bly intermediate between the Green and Purple Topped. 



Originated and named under like circum- Gravesend. 

 stances with the Battersea. The top is greener, Off ' 



and not generally so plump and close ; but it is considered 

 finer flavored. Both varieties are, however, held in great 

 estimation. 



This variety, as also the Deptford, Mortlake, Grayson's 

 and Reading, all originated and were named un- Giant, 

 der the same conditions as the varieties before described. 

 All are fine sorts ; but the difference between them, and, 

 indeed, between all of the kinds, if important, is certainly 

 not permanent, so long as they are offered in the form of 

 seeds for propagation. 



Mr. Grayson, the originator of this variety, produced a 

 hundred sprouts, the aggregate weight of which was forty- 

 two pounds, the largest ever raised in Britain. 



Sprout white ; the top, as it breaks ground, Giant 



, , ^ . Purpie-top. 



purple ; size very large, sometimes measuring DDTCH KED . TOP< 



an inch and three-fourths in diameter, but 

 greatly affected by soil and cultivation. 



A hundred sprouts of this variety have been produced, 

 which weighed twenty-five pounds. 



This variety, when grown under the same con- Green-top, 

 ditions as the Giant Purple-top, is generally smaller or more 

 slender. The top of the sprout, and the scales on the sides, 

 are often slightly tinged with purple. The plant, when full 

 grown, is perceptibly more green than that of the Giant 

 Purple-top. From most nursery-beds, plants of both varie- 



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