266 GARDENING FOE THE SOUTH. 



size of the tuber will be very muck increased by the ad- 

 mission of air and light. This is doubtful. 



Use. — The roots are eaten boiled, mashed with butter, 

 and are considerably nutritive, nearly as much so as the 

 Irish potato. It has a moist, soft texture, and a tolerably 

 agreeable taste. It is, however, rather a second-rate dish. 

 They are better pickled in vinegar. The plant is most 

 useful in feeding cows and pigs, affording large quantities 

 of food from quite poor soils. 



ASPARAGUS.— ( Asparagus officinalis.) 



This plant has been cultivated as a garden vegetable 

 for at least two thousand years. Cato, one hundred and 

 fifty years before Christ, gives a full detail of its mode of 

 culture among the Romans. Its culture originated 

 probably in Greece, for its name is pure Greek, and signi- 

 fies a bud not fully opened; and it is known throughout 

 Europe by names derived or corrupted from the Greek. 



The wild asparagus is found on the sea coasts of most 

 parts of Europe. Its stem is not thicker than a goose- 

 quill. From this wild plant, by the aid of manure and 

 culture, our delicious garden varieties were raised. Miller 

 has succeeded in effecting the same result in modern 

 times. 



There are only two varieties of any importance — the 

 green and the red-topped. The latter, with purplish green 

 shoots, is the one principally cultivated. There are some 

 sub-varieties, but these derive all their merit from 

 superior cultivation. R. Thompson states there is really 

 but one sort of asparagus. 



Asparagus, like some other plants, has the power of 

 substituting the other alkalies, lime and potash, in the 

 place of soda. All the analyses exhibit large propor- 

 tions of chloride of sodium, or its elements, chlorine 

 and sodium, also of phosphoric acid. In asparagus, over 



