S58 Hints on raising Asparagus. 



Art. Xi. Hints on raising Asparagus. By John Wighton, Gar- 

 dener at Cossey Hall. 



Asparagus, frrown in the gardens of private gentlemen, is 

 often inferior to that raised by market-gardeners. The superi- 

 ority of the latter is caused by the greater richness of the soil 

 in which it is raised. Market-gardeners being under no control 

 of masters, generally spare no expense in enriching their soil ; 

 and their beds are more frequently renewed. But gentlemen's 

 gardeners, not being always free to act as they judge most proper, 

 are often without the means of improving the soil ; their beds are 

 frequently old, and the soil in them exhausted ; when new beds are 

 made, from the want of more materials, they are generally formed 

 in the same way which prevailed fifty years ago. The soil is made 

 good about 2 ft. deep, and laid out in beds 4 ft. wide, with paths 

 2 ft. wide between them ; the plants being set in rows 1 ft. 

 asunder. Treated in this manner, no asparagus will be fit to cut 

 before three years ; and by that time the beds will have become 

 a mass of roots, and two or three years afterwards the soil will 

 be exhausted. 



To raise large asparagus, the soil should be made good to the 

 depth of 5 or 6 feet ; then laid out in beds from 4> ft. to 6 ft, 

 wide, with paths between them of the width of 2i ft. The plants 

 must be put in 2 ft. apart, and the stems not allowed to approach 

 each other much nearer than 2 ft. ; or beds 3 ft. wide, with one 

 row of plants down the centre, and the plants l^ft. asunder in 

 the rows, would be preferable. It is a very common error to 

 allow too many stalks to grow close to each other. If this be 

 permitted, however good the soil, the asparagus is sure to be 

 small ; as the stalks, when so close, draw upon each other. Weak 

 and small stems produce invariably weak asparagus ; for it is at 

 the bottom of these that the asparagus springs. 



Happening, lately, to take up some asparagus, which had been 

 planted five years, I found the roots at the depth of 6 ft., in a 

 poor sandy soil. 



Cossei/, Feb. 10. 17. 



Art. XII. On the Culture of White and Red Cabbages, Savoys, and 

 Brussels Sprouts. By Alexander Forsyth, Gardener. 



White Cabbages. — The only sort I should cultivate for 

 culinary purposes are, early York, early Battersea, and sugar- 

 loaf; not that any of the other varieties are faulty, or inferior, 

 but unnecessary ; since these, if well grown, will bring a suc- 

 cession equal to any reasonable demand. The seeds should be 

 sown in August (say 12.) for the cabbages to come to table 



