F( ) RC1NG D E PA RTM \\ N T. 435 



fully brought to perfection by forming a bed, and 

 enclosing its sides to keep in the mould with stakes, 

 enveloped with hay or straw bands ; and covering 

 the surface over with straw and mats, to protect it from 

 the wet and frost; which practice, if commenced in 

 January, and carefully attended to in severe weather, 

 will answer perfectly well, and the fruit be ready 

 about May; as early nearly, as if accelerated under 



SEA-KALE, OR ASPARAGUS BEDS. 



The beds for forcing these favourite vegetables 

 may be constructed any length, and from three to 

 four feet wide, which should be formed by building 

 two parallel walls of open brick work, and to consist 

 of four-inch work, with nine-inch piers, at five or six 

 feet apart, to give durability to the thinner brick 

 work. These walls should be about three feet high ; 

 if the substratum is of a dry nature, they may be 

 sunk entirely under the ground level ; but, if other- 

 wise, a foot of the walls should be raised above the 

 ground, and that space filled up with light sandy 

 loam and leaf mould, for the plants to grow in. 

 The top of the walls should have a coping of wood, 

 to prevent the brick work from being displaced, 

 or injured, by the frost or wet. The spaces between 

 the beds are filled with leaves and dung mixed, or 

 either material will answer, if a sufficient body is 

 applied, which will produce a heat through the open 

 brick work, into the beds, so as to promote the acce- 

 3k 2 



