396 THE GARDENER’S ASSISTANT. 
ever, can always be readily obtained, and being 
of all artificial manures the one most frequently 
employed for Asparagus, it is necessary to say 
a few words respecting its application. It may 
be applied at the rate of 2 lbs. per square yard. 
This we consider a good dressing. The best 
time to apply it is in spring, before active 
vegetation takes place. It should be scattered 
over the bed, to be washed into the soil by the 
rain. Thus applied, it has the effect of amelio- 
rating and rendering the soil more friable, so 
that the shoots can push through with facility. 
We have seen it more advantageously applied 
in this way than in repeated waterings with 
solutions. If weeds are troublesome, solutions, 
strong enough to kill them, may also be occa- 
sionally employed in summer. For this pur- 
pose, independent of its manuring properties, | 
salt is very useful; and it is also particularly 
so for the destruction of wireworms and other 
pests which injure the roots of Asparagus, and 
ultimately kill the plant. 
Salt should not be applied to clayey soils, 
as it causes these to “run” badly, lowering of 
temperatures and summer-cracking being the 
effects; nor to plants recently removed, for all 
such, however carefully transplanted, must have 
wounded roots; and it is doubtless to its ap- 
plication under these circumstances that the 
injurious results which have in some cases 
followed its use are to be ascribed. Again, 
salt should never be applied when the plants 
are dormant, as they catmot avail themselves 
of the nourishment it affords. 
Planting.— According to the season, planting 
should be performed late in spring or early in 
summer. It should not be done whilst the 
ground is too cold, or before the plants begin 
to push. If possible, advantage should be 
taken of mild cloudy weather, when the air 
is moist; and the planting should only be 
carried on when the ground is in good working 
order. Planting was formerly done in March, 
but May has proved more satisfactory, some | 
even preferring June. 
It is stated by Mr. Fleming, as an instance 
of the success of late planting, that after having 
made a new plantation with the greatest pos- 
sible care, about the middle of March, he found 
that many of the plants had perished after 
planting. It was June before he could take 
any decided step to remedy the evil; he then 
procured several thousands of two-year-old 
plants, took up those that had not died, and, 
beginning entirely anew, had the ground dug 
over again, and replanted with the fresh plants, 
| apart. 
and although they had tops 8 or 10 inches 
high, scarcely one failed. ‘‘ Many of the tops, 
indeed, withered and turned brown, but were 
in all cases succeeded by fresh growth. The 
plants were taken up carefully, the roots were 
immediately covered with moss, and kept moist 
till the moment of planting. In the course of 
the season the beds received several copious 
waterings with salt-water; and in the follow- 
ing spring, before the shoots made their 
appearance, the beds were sprinkled with salt 
sufficiently thick to make them white; the 
waterings with salt-water were repeated several 
times through the summer season, and by Sep- 
tember the shoots were 5 feet high. Since the 
15th of April we have gathered daily a good 
supply of fine shoots from these beds. It 
may appear that Asparagus planted in March, 
and having the whole season to grow in, must. 
have a better chance of doing well than that 
which is transplanted in the middle of its 
growth; but I conceive that whatever advan- 
tages may arise from early planting are counter- 
balanced by the ground being cold and wet, 
and the roots of the plants being so tender 
that many of them perish before. they start 
to grow.” 
In the Asparagus plantations near London 
the beds were formerly in general 3 feet, and 
the alleys 2 feet wide. At the present time, 
however, many beds 5 feet wide with 2-feet 
alleys are laid down. These widths we consider 
the best, and would recommend that in making 
a new plantation some of the beds should be 
3 feet and others 5 feet wide. The reason for 
having some of the beds so much narrower 
than the others is, that the narrow ones are 
sooner heated by the sun’s rays, and conse- 
quently an earlier production is induced. 
The distance between the rows may be regu- 
lated as follows:—Where the beds are 3 feet 
wide, two rows may be planted along them, 
each row being a foot from the edge of the 
bed; the rows will consequently be a foot 
In beds that are 5 feet wide three rows 
should be planted, one along the middle, and 
one on each side, a foot from the edge of the 
bed; the distance between the middle row and 
those on each side of it will consequently be 
18 inches. The distance from plant to plant 
in the rows should not be less than a foot; 
at this distance good-sized heads are produced, 
but if very large heads are desired, the plants 
may be 15 or even 18 inches apart in the rows. 
The 3-feet beds should be traced out to run 
east and west, or so as to present the side of 
