HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 377 



does not rise 75° at the most. Now, under ordinary circumstances, every 

 thing is done to keep it cold ; buried twelve or thirteen inches below the 

 surface, the influence of the sun is slowly felt, and very imperfectly into 

 the bargain. It is only when the roots are lightly covered by some rapidly 

 conducting material, that the sun can exercise his proper influence, unas- 

 sisted by artificial contrivances. Hence one of the greatest faults the 

 Asparagus-grower can commit, is to bury his plants deep. Only observe 

 Mr. Kendall's practice : his plants are just covered with soil resting upon 

 a deep bed of the most nutritious matter. The earliest rays of the sun 

 are felt in such a case, and as soon as the dormant energy of the plant is 

 roused, it continues to be exercised without a day's interruption. 



CJnquestionability the deep-planted beds that succeed well, owe their 

 success to the depth and richness of the soil rather than to the deep-plant- 

 ing of the roots. "Within three inches of the surface they would produce 

 earlier and more succulent shoots, and with proper surface-treatment, not 

 a less amount of cuttings in the course of a season. 



Buist says asparagus is a native of Great Britain, where it is found on 

 banks of sandy soil contiguous to the sea, groiving luxuriantly under the 

 salt breezes. Bridgeman aays it is found growing wild in Russia and 

 Poland, where it is eaten by the cattle the same as grass. In none of the 

 authorities that we have consulted, do we find the fact recognized, that it 

 is also a native of this country. We have so often found it growing along 

 our shores, with all the characteristics of a wild plant, that we have no 

 doubt that it is as much one of our own native marine plants, as the eel 

 grass and the rock weed that grow in the adjacent waters. It is found 

 abundantly upon the shores of Mason's Island, at the mouth of the Mystic 

 river, Connecticut, where it is sometimes gathered by the inhabitants for 

 greens. We have seen it growing on the shores of Quanituc, in the same 

 neighborhood, and also on Shelter Island, New York, New Jersey, and 

 elsewhere. 



In order to properly prepare a piece of ground for the cultivaton of this 

 plant, it is important to understand its native habits, and the food neces- 

 sary for its health. When these are understood, we may apply any mode 

 of stimulating its growth within our reach, and bring it to its desired 

 perfection. Nature places it, we see, in its wild state, among sea-sand, 

 mixed with the soft, spongy decay of marine plants, the most yielding of 

 all earthy substances, never becoming dry, never remaining loaded with 

 stagnant water, but at every tide receiving a supply of the saline particles 

 that constitute an essential part of the food of the plant. Under such 



