Foreign Notices : — - Asia. 48 S 



may not be amiss to relate my mode of cultivating asparagus here. I think 

 it may be cultivated with equal success from 18° to 24° of latitude. Al- 

 though I had seen some fine asparagus at the Mauritius from a garden of 

 Mons. Bouillard, who is famed for growing asparagus, as well as many other 

 plants j there appeared to be no method in practice for obtaining a con- 

 tinual crop of nearly eight months in the year. Considering it the chief 

 part of my duty to endeavour to bring into practice among the inhabitants 

 the best methods of producing vegetables in greater abundance, I have sue- 

 ceededin bringing the cultivation of asparagus to the greatest perfection, 

 in nowise inferior to that of Europe. Every situation, however, will not 

 admit of cultivating this plant in my way. It should be a piece of ground 

 lying dry, and upon a gentle slope, with a command of water, which is to 

 be obtained in almost every valley in the Mauritius. I trace marks 3 ft. 

 distant, so that the man may dig a trench about 14 in. wide and 8 in. deep, 

 throwing the mould taken out of the trench between the rows. The trench is 

 then filled with dung, leaf mould, and common earth, mixed together, and 

 covered over with an inch of the mould taken out of the trench. The 

 seeds are sown about 9 in. apart in the rows at almost any time. In about 

 a fortnight they begin to appear above ground ; in two months afterwards 

 they begin to show flowers, though very weak the first time. When the 

 seed berries are red, the stalks are cut down, and 2in. of light mould is 

 added to the bed. If the weather be dry, they must be irrigated, or well 

 watered (with pots), and in a fortnight they will shoot up about the size of 

 quills, and from six to eight shoots at each stem. When they ripen their 

 seeds again, the bed is well manured with dung and leaf mould, or mould 

 only, and not watered, as in the previous cutting ; by this time it will be 

 strong enough to commence forcing it (if I may be allowed the expression), 

 and upon this depends the fineness and quantity of the future crop. Accords 

 ing to the quantity required for a family, say two or more rows of asparagus, 

 that have the seeds very ripe or fallen, are cut completely down to the 

 ground, and if the mould is considered not deep enough to blanch them, an 

 inch or two of light mould is added. The water is let in upon the two beds 

 every other day, as it may be required ; in about five or seven days the 

 young asparagus begins to shoot, and will at this cutting produce many 

 stems, nearly as thick as in Europe, but too many must not be cut this 

 time. As soon as they commence shooting, two or more beds must be 

 treated in the same way, and so on to the end, keeping the beds that have 

 been previously cut, occasionally watered, until the seeds ripen again j 

 then proceed as before, adding a little manure each time. The fineness and 

 quantity of asparagus that can be produced in this way is scarcely credible ; 

 and from the time of sowing until the first cutting for the table occupies no 

 more than ten or fourteen months. I think it advisable, at the end of two 

 years, to destroy the beds, having always arranged other beds for succession, 

 as it gets weaker after five or six cuttings, and there is so little trouble 

 in preparing and keeping the beds. 



The prices of vegetables and other necessaries of life at the Mauritius are 

 exorbitant. Potatoes, from March till August, are from Qd. to Is. 6d. per lb. ; 

 the other part of the year, when the potato crop at the Mauritius and arri- 

 vals from Europe, Van Diemen's Land, &c. appear in the market, they are 

 tolerably cheap. Cabbages are sometimes cut into small slices for those who 

 cannot afford to purchase the half or whole ; I have seen cabbages sold for 

 Is. Qd. each. Peas, although always dear, are perhaps cheaper than some 

 other vegetables when in season. We can (taking care to save the seed 

 and sow it again immediately) obtain three crops of early sorts of peas in a 

 season from the same seed. Animal food is dear in proportion to vegetables. 

 You will perhaps conclude from this, that it would be a desirable place for 

 a gardener or a grazier to obtain a fortune : almost the contrary : it requires 

 a large capital, or, if credit could be had, the grinding interest of ten or 



I I 3 



