The Canadian Horticulturist. 83 



two widths of domestic muslin. Provision should be made to keep water away 

 from the furnace. If the ground isn't steep enough a ditch should be dug to 

 drain the water off. An old stove-casting or piece of sheet-iron will make a door 

 to the furnace. It must be carefully guarded when not in use or vermin will 

 burrow in the flues. When the bed is wanted it will be necessary to start the 

 fire several days in advance, but when the ground is thoroughly heated, com- 

 paratively little fire is required. To learn the temperature of the earth, I make 



Fig. 20— fire uot bed. 

 Stations for testing it by plunging into their brims old fruit cans. By dropping 

 the^ thermometer into these cans, I can learn the temperature at once. The top 

 of the furnace can be used to good advantage by covering it with earth for 

 raising plants or for heating a tank full of water, which is always useful about the 

 garden. Be sure not to get the bed too hot. 



St. Clair County, III. J. B. Matthews, in Farm and Home. 



ASPARAGUS.— II. 



the plantation for home use. — Continued. 

 ry^ SHOULD have said, earlier, that in our climate the best time for planting 

 rj\ is in spring when the garden is made. 



C\^ A knife should never be employed in gathering the product. The 

 stems should be broken off as far beneath the ground as they will snap readily. 

 Then no injury will be done to other buds, and the whole stem may be used for 

 cooking. The consumer who purchases asparagus at the stores, of which one half 

 the stalk is white and woody, will appreciate the advice to use no knife in 

 gathering the stems. 



If the soil above the crowns is kept loose and friable, the shoots will be 

 straight and tender. 



In our climate, where we are likely to have sharp frosts during the asparagus 

 season, the precautionary measure of having a little coarse litter along the row 

 of asparagus, to be hastily drawn over the tender shoots when the temperature 

 drops, is a wise one. Often a picking that would otherwise be entirely destroyed 

 may be saved by this thoughtfulness. 



The gathering of the product, after the bed is in full bearing, should be 



