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ground the beginning of May, commonly not much bigj^er 

 than llraw s; all fuch mud be permitted to run wholly to 'lalk. 

 During fuMimcr, they mud be kept clean from weeds by 

 fmal! hoeing or hand weeding them three or four fmes in 

 the courfe of that feafon ; and if there be a crop of onions, 

 thin them in the ufual way, cutting cut r4ll fuch as grow 

 immediattly clofc about the afparagus plants. In Oflobcr, 

 when the afparagus ftalks decay, cut them down, and clear 

 olf all weeds from the beds into the alleys, and then dig 

 the alleys two feet wide, burying the weeds therein, and 

 fpread fome of the earth over the beds. See JFinlcr Diijf- 



This is all that is ncccfTary to be done until March, at 

 which time the beds (hould be deeply hoed and raked 

 fmooth, permitting all the (hoots to run as in the firft fum- 

 tner ; and in Odober, cut down the decayed haulm as be- 

 fore, and land up the beds : in the fpring following, being 

 the fecond after planting, flightly fork-dig the beds, and 

 rake them level. See Spring DrcJJing. In this fpring, as 

 the (hoots rife of fome tolerable fubftance, begin the tirll 

 gathering of the largcll plants in the firll fortnight, but do 

 not pradlifc any general gathering till the third year. See 

 Calhcr'mg Produce, 



Winter Drrjjlng, or landing lip the Beds. — From about the 

 middle of October to the latter end of November, is the 

 titne to give the afparagus beds their winter dreffing. This 

 confills in cutting do«n the decayed ftalks of the plants an- 

 nually at the above time, and clearing the bed from weeds, 

 digging the alleys," and fpreading fome of the earth upon 

 the top of the beds, which is called landing up the beds. 

 It is done in the following manner. — The decayed ftalks, or 

 haulm, are cut down with a knife clofe or within an inch 

 or two of the ground ; then with a Iharp hoe cut up all 

 weeds, drawing them ofi at the fame time into the alkys 

 to be buried ; after this, proceed to line out the alleys, 

 ftretching the line along the edges of the beds about nine 

 inches from each outward row of plants, the ftakes that 

 are to be placed at the corners of the beds, or otherwife 

 the ftumps of the ftalks, will be a guide ; then with a fpade 

 chop the ground along by the direftion of the line, by 

 which you will form each bed four feet wide, and the alleys 

 two feet. The alleys arc tiien to be dug one fpade deep, 

 and a good portion of the earth fpread over each bed two or 

 three inches thick. As you proceed in digging, let the 

 weeds drawn off the beds be trimmed into the bottom, and 

 buried a due depth, obfervlng to land the beds all a regular 

 thickfiefs, fo as to make them about iix or eight inches 

 higher than the level of the alleys, forming the edge of 

 each bed full and ftraight. This work muft be repeated 

 every autumn. It may be fuppoled by fome that in annual 

 landing of tlie beds, they may in fevcral years be confider- 

 ably raifed ; but l)y the fpring forking and raking, toge- 

 ther with the repeated hoeings and clearing off weeds in 

 fummer and at the time of preparing for landing up in 

 autumn, a confiderable part of the earth is annually drawn 

 eft" again into the alleys. 



After thus performing the winter dreffing of the beds, a 

 row or two of cabbage plants may be planted in each alley, 

 as a place of (helter during winter, by which they will be 

 forwarded for early fpring coleworts ; or a row of mazayan 

 dwarf or other beans may be planted in November or De- 

 cember in the warmeil fide of each alley, for an early crop ; 

 or occafionally, where ground is fcarcc, fome of the bed 

 might be occupied during winter by planting a crop of 

 cabbage lettuce on it for Ipring ufe, which being all ga- 

 thered, or tranfpkinted into other places, by the begin- 

 ning of April, are fuppofed to do little harm. It m.uft, 

 however, be done with great care, and fuch crops not fuf- 



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fercd to remain long, ctherriife they may injure the afpara. 

 gus plants in a high degree. 



Spring DreJJing the Beds — The fpring dreffing confifts 

 ill fork digging the beds annually at that feafon to z mode- 

 rate depth, to Inofen the foil, that the buds may freely 

 advance and fwcll to their due ii/.e. The feafon for per- 

 forming this work i< any time in March, but not later 

 than the firtl or fecond week in April, becaufe many of the 

 buds will then be formed, and, in forward fcafons, begin to 

 advance in growth. 



This work is moftly performed with a fliort flat three- 

 pronged fork. In the tirlt fpring dreffing after planting, it 19 

 proper to loofen the furface only witli a hoc, two or three in- 

 ches deep, and then rake the beds fmooih. Eut tlie general 

 fpring dreffing is to be annually performed by fork-digging 

 all fuch beds as have been planted more than one year, three 

 or four inches deep, with the afparagus fork ; being careiul 

 to loofen all the ejuth as deep as the furlace of the roois, 

 •having regard however not to wound the crowns of them ; 

 and afterwards all the beds (hould be neatly raked, to break 

 clods, clear off ftonef, and form a level fmootli furface, 

 drawing off all rough earth, &c. into the alleys, \vhich after- 

 wards alio rake up in a neat order. 



Manuring the Beds. — Thefe (hould be enriched with an 

 addition of good rotten dung, once every two or three years 

 at fartheft, the benefit of which will be evident in the 

 quantity, as well as the fize and quality of the produce ; 

 the feafon of applying this manure is at the time of winter 

 dreffing or landing up the beds. The dung for this pur- 

 pofc (hould be perfettly well rotted, as the dung of old 

 cucumber and melon beds, or any other of fimilar quality, 

 which iliould be applied after the ftalks and weeds are 

 cleared off; fpread two or three inches thick over the fur- 

 face of each bed, and a double portion in the alleys ; the 

 beds being then flightly fork-digged to bury it ; after this, 

 dig the alleys in the ufual way, and fpread a portion of the 

 earth evenly over the beds. In this way, the winter rains 

 may wadi the enriching quality of the manure into the beds 

 and the roots, from the vegetation of the fpring. 



Gathering Produce. — As afparagus plants fomctimes, in 

 very rich ground, afford tolerable large buds the fecond 

 year, here and there, one of the largeft that happens to ap- 

 pear the iirft week or fortnight may be cut, afterwards per- 

 mitting the whole to run to ttalk ; but in the third year, a 

 more general gatJiering may be practifed, and continue a 

 month or fix weeks ; and in the fourth year the general pro- 

 duce will rife in its rrtmoft perfection. Then, and every 

 fucceeding year, gather all the buds ariilng from every plant 

 during the feafon of cutting. The proper fize of the afpa- 

 lagus for ufe, is when the fhoots are about two or three in- 

 ches above the furface of the earth, while the heads remain 

 compaft and plump. The principal feafon of cutting them, 

 is from the latter end of April, or beginning of May, ac- 

 cording to the forwardnefs of the feafon, till the middle or 

 latter end of June. They might, however, be obtained a 

 month or two longer in the feafon, by conLimiing to cut all 

 the buds, according as they attain proper ("ize ; but this 

 would be a very wrong practice, as the roots would thereby 

 continue fending up a fiefli fupply, till they in a manner tx- 

 hauft their vegetable f6od, as would be apparent by the in. 

 confiderablencfs of the future crop, and fliort duration of 

 the plants. The principal gatherings fhould therefore be 

 terminated generally towards the latter end of June, efpe? 

 cially as by that time there will be plenty of young peas to 

 be ufcd as a fnbftitutc in its place at table. 



In cutting the afparagus for ufe, it is neceffary to be fur- 

 nifhcd with a ftrait narrow-pointed knife, the blade fix or 

 eight inches long, toothed on the edge like a faw,. which is 



to 



