100 THE AMERICAN GARDENER. [Chap 



use ; for, I know a gentleman of that country, who^ 

 being at New York, on his first trip from home, 

 began eating at the stem in place of the point. 

 Writing, as I now do, to those, whose country 

 produces, with the least degree of trouble, the 

 finest Asparagus that I ever saw, and probably the 

 finest in the world, no description of the plant, or 

 of its uses, is necessary. But, some remarks on 

 its propagation and cultivation are not wholly un- 

 necessary ; for, though it demands less trouble in 

 America than elsewhere, it demands some ; and, in 

 proportion as it is valuable and esteemed, it is de- 

 sirable that the means of procuring it should be 

 well and generally understood. — It is propagated 

 from seed. Gather the seed, when it is dead ripe. 

 Sow it thinly in drills a foot asunder, and two 

 inches deep, three weeks, or about, before the frost 

 sets in. Press the earth well down upon the seed 

 and, as soon as the frost sets in, but not before, 

 cover the ground with muck, or litter, a foot deep, 

 and lay some boards, or poles, to prevent its blow- 

 ing off. As soon as the frost breaks up in the 

 springs take off the litter ; and you will have the 

 plants quickly up. (See Paragraph 159.) When 

 the plants are fairly up, thin them to four inches 

 asunder ; for, they will be four times as strong at 

 this distance as if they stood close. Keep them 

 clean, and hoe deeply between them all the sum- 

 mer. — To have beds of Asparagus, there are two 

 ways of going to work : first, sowing the seed in 

 the beds, at once ; and, second, making the beds, 

 and removing the plants into them. It is desirable 

 to have the beds about four feet wide, that you may 

 cut the asparagus by going in the paths between 

 them, and not trample the beds. As to the first 

 method, if the soil have a dry bottom, trench in the 



