2 ASPARAGUS 



vated in Italy for the support of the vines, and that 

 they should be burned in the spring of the third year, 

 as the ashes would a<St as a manure to the future crop. 

 He also recommends that the plants be renewed after 

 eight or nine j-ears. 



The usual method of preparing asparagus pursued 

 by the Roman cooks was to selecl; the finest sprouts 

 and to dry them. When wanted for the table they 

 were put in hot water and cooked a few minutes. To 

 this prac5lice is owing one of Emperor Augustus's 

 favorite sayings: " Cz^iks qjiani asparagi coquoitur^^ 

 (Do it quicker than 30U can cook asparagus). 



While the indigenous asparagus has been used from 

 time immemorial as a medicine by Gauls, Germans, 

 and Britons, its cultivation and use as a vegetable was 

 only made known to the people by the invading 

 Roman armies. But in the early part of the sixteenth 

 century it was mentioned among the cultivated garden 

 vegetables, and Leonard Meager, in his "English 

 Gardener," published in 16S3, informs us thj\t in 

 his time the London market was well supplied with 

 ' ' forced ' ' asparagus. 



The medicinal virtues formerl}- attributed to as- 

 paragus' comprise a wide range. The roots, sprouts, 

 and seeds were used as medicine. The fresli roots are 

 diuretic, perhaps owing to the immediate crystalizable 

 principle, " asparagine," which is said to be sedative 

 in the dose of a few grains. A syrup made of the 

 young shoots and an extracft of the roots has been 

 recommended as a sedative in heart affections, and the 

 species diiiretica — a mixture of asparagus, celery, pars- 

 ley, holly, and sweet fennel — was a favorite preparation 



