1887] History of Garden Vegetables. 131 
amya, marchoobeh ;* in India, marchooba, nagdoon, or asfuraj ;* 
Hindustanee, /z/yoon, nagdoun ;* in Persian, margeesh ;* in Japan, 
kikak kosi ;3 in the Mauritius, asperge.s 
The expression of Parkinson, 1629, “a delectable sallet- 
herbe,” implies the consideration in which for many centuries 
it has been held. Its culture in Italy was, as we have seen, quite 
general in ancient times. We have no records of its first appear- 
ance in the various countries of Europe, but it is mentioned in 
England by Turner in 1538, and as under cultivation by Gerarde 
in 1597. In Frances it was well known in 1529. In America 
“ Sparagus” is mentioned in Virginia in 1648,° and in Alabama 
in 1775, and in 1785 Cutter mentions asparagus as if it was then 
a well-known vegetable in Massachusetts. 
The wild plant is indigenous to Europe; as an escape from 
gardens it is often noted in America, not only in waste places on 
the coast, as Gray states, but also inland. There are no essen- 
tial points of difference between the wild and cultivated forms; 
such as are noted between the escapes and the garden plants are 
only such as come from protected culture and rich soil; the fig- - 
ures in the ancient botanies do not indicate other variation than 
this, and the few varieties, so called, of our gardens have no es- 
pecial importance, the differences being but in minor points, and 
but indicative of a careful selection and high culture, the ordinary 
variability of a variety furnishing plants which are propagated by 
division. 
The point I wish to make regarding this vegetable is this, that 
although under high cultivation now for over two thousand 
years, under diverse climates and treatment, yet it has remained 
constant to type. The directions given by the Roman writers to 
plant the seed of the wild plant might be followed to-day with 
our escapes without detriment. It has given no variety types 
that have been recorded from the time of Cato up to this present 
year of grace. Where, then, is this boasted power of man by 
which he is supposed to modify our wild plants into improved 
types? It probably does not exist. The types of our cultivated 
plants have been apparently taken from nature, as produced by 
t Birdwood, Veg. Prod. of Bomb., 
2 Speede, Ind. Handb. of Gard., 1 hed ‘160. 3 Thunberg, Japan, 139. 
4 Bojer, Hort. Maur., 1837, 350. 5 Ruellius, Dioscorides, 1529, 124. 
6 A Perfect Desc. of Va., 1649, 4. + Roman’s Nat. Hist. of Fla., i. 115. 
