i:/j COI.tS CLOUTS CALEhDAR. 



tubular corolla ; and lluy arc i)t(tt\- cnouLjh in their 

 own unobtrusive \va)', lhouL;h not luarK- so striking as 

 the beautiful bii_!:;ht red berries which succeed tiieni a 

 little later on in autumn. Asj)ara;jus is a wild plant of 

 the liritish south c(»ast In- origin ; and thouL;h it is now 

 becominj^^ rather rare on our own shores, I iiave still 

 picked a few sprigs of late years on the rocky islets at 

 K)'nance Cove in Cornwall, and at some other isolated 

 ])laces aloUL,^ the l-'tv^li^h seaboard from 1 )evonsliire to 

 Wales, its Iife-histor\' is a curious and an interesting 

 one, for it forms a rare examjj'.e in our own countr\' of a 

 L;reen leafless plant, \\ith l)ranches closely simulating 

 folia^^e l)oth in appearance and function. 



The jirimitive wild asparaL,ais is a wiry herb witli a 

 matted jjerennial rootstock, in which it stores up food- 

 stuffs durini,^ each summer for the suppl)- of its succu- 

 lent L^reen shoots in the succeedin<^ sprinj^^. Under 

 tilla|;e we have made it increase from its primitive sta- 

 ture of two feet or less to an averaj^^e ]ieiL;ht of four or 

 five ; and at the same time its spriiiL^ shoots, which are 

 slender and rather strin^^^y in its nati\e sands, have 

 grown much stouter and .softer under stress of continu- 

 ous selecti(jn directed to this sinL;"le end alone. Hut in 

 order to make it send uj) vi^^orous t^rass (as ^^ardeners 

 call it) at the return of sprinij^, wc are obli<;ed to let it 

 j;row tall and bush}- durinL,^ th^. whole summer, so as 

 to elaborate plenty of rich materials, including its essen- 

 tial flavouring princi[)le asparagine, in the creeping root- 

 stock from which next year's sprouts will draw their 

 whole supply of food. That is wh)-, though wc finished 

 cutting in June, the bushes must still go on cumbering 

 the earth till they die down naturally on the approach 



