122 



CULINAEY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



depth of 3 or 4 feet at every flow — a 

 depth that scarcely any manurial applica- 

 tion, applied to the surface, could reach, 

 or at least to the extent of being very 

 beneficial. 



The London market-garden practice 

 is thus described by Mr Cuthill : " Au- 

 tumn arrives, and when the haulm is 

 cut, the whole of the ground is forked 

 over, and planted with cabbages, 'cole- 

 worts, or winter greens ; then in spring 

 the beds are largely supplied with mould 

 out of the alleys, covering the crowns 

 from 8 to 10 inches deep. The finishing 

 of the cutting must be left to the grower. 

 A fair crop of heads must be left, after 

 four or five weeks' cutting, in order to 

 grow the buds for the next year's gi-owth, 

 and to restore to the roots what has been 

 taken from them intheshapeof acrop; but 

 not one head must be allowed to grow until 

 you leave off cutting entirely, at the end 

 of the fourth year. When the haulm gets 

 ripe, it is to be cut down, and the mould 

 thrown into the alleys, and there enriched; 

 and the whole of the beds and alleys are 

 planted again with cabbages, greens, &c." 



The exact season for cutting down the 

 haulm must ever be governed by circum- 

 stances. In early soils and situations, 

 the haulm will be ripe about the middle 

 of October, and this is known by its 

 becoming of a yellowish colour, and by 

 other evident signs that vegetation has 

 ceased for the season, at which time it 

 may be safely cut down. In Scotland 

 generally, in consequence of our late 

 springs, and consequent late autumns, 

 the plants drag out a weary existence to 

 the middle of November, unless some 

 early autumnal frost intervenes to put a 

 stop to growth, which of itself is tanta- 

 mount to cutting too early, because in 

 both cases the supply of elaborated sap is 

 cut off from the roots. Cut the haulm 

 off in a dry day, and tie it up in bundles, 

 to be kept dry till spring, when it will be 

 found one of the best protections to 

 dwarf standard and other fruit-trees, for 

 which see Fruit-garden. 



In Holland, all the asparagus is 

 blanched, which is effected by covering 

 the beds early in spring with fine sand, 

 which no doubt produces the shoots of a 

 milky whiteness, and of a considerable size 

 and tenderness, but totally devoid of its 

 natural flavour. Not a single bud is to 



be seen above ground, the surface of which 

 is kept as smooth as possible; and the 

 state of the crop is ascertained by the 

 buds pushing up little hillocks of the fine 

 sand, when the owner, constantly on the 

 watch, slips down his knife, and outs ofi" 

 the shoot near its bottom, being guided 

 as to its position by the upheaving of the 

 sand. In defence of their practice, the 

 Dutch say they have the whole shoot in 

 a state fit for the table, while we have 

 only a couple of inches. 



Asparagus roots may be removed, with 

 very good success, if carefully done, even 

 at the age of eight or ten years, but it 

 would be unadvisable to cut any of the 

 buds during the following year. 



Soil and Manure. — The asparagus is a 

 native of sandy beaches often overflowed 

 by the sea, having its roots watered by 

 the spring-tides, yet not kept in a state 

 of continual wetness, on account of the 

 ready means the water has of escaping by 

 filtration. This seems to point out certain 

 principles in its cultivation — namely, a 

 deep, pervious, light soil, perfectly dry 

 at bottom, but capable of being subter- 

 raneously irrigated at times — the depth 

 and lightness of the soil being favourable 

 for the long delicate roots penetrating it 

 in search of food. Such are the natural 

 conditions of its growth. The artificial 

 ones should in some degree assimilate to 

 them, with the addition of abundance of 

 manure to increase its size and expedite 

 its growth ; for on its large size and ra- 

 pidity of growth much of its delicacy and 

 flavour depend. A deep light soil can 

 in many cases be formed for it, and sub- 

 terranean irrigation would even be a more 

 simple affair. On these conditions much 

 of the extraordinary success of the growers 

 along the banks of the Thames depends; 

 and were there even doubts of that, other 

 evidence could be adduced— as that of 

 the well-known fact that the finest aspa- 

 ragus grown in France is produced in a 

 small sandy island in the Oise, where the 

 surface of the beds is not more than 2 

 feet above the level of the river, the soil 

 being a coarse gravelly sand, saturated 

 with water at the depth of 3 feet from the 

 surface. The banks of the Danube and 

 Euphrates, as we have already stated, are 

 celebrated for the size and quahty of their 

 asparagus. Many years ago we saw, for 

 several consecutive seasons, very fine crops 



