THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 



105 



j which, being a bed four feet wide and nine feet 

 '|i long, will contain 180 plants. Cover the plants 

 i over with fine earth, so that the surface of this 

 earth be six inches above the crowns of the plants 

 I Proceed as to air, shelter, and covering, in the same 

 I way as directed for the cabbage-plants. In about 

 twelve, or fourteen days, you may begin to cut as- 

 paragus for the table ; and, if you take proper care, 

 I and keep your heat up by a lining (see Paragraph 

 i 93,) you may have a regular supply for a month. 

 I When the plants have done bearing here, they are 

 j of no use, and may be thrown away. Of all the 

 things that diVe forced in hot-beds, none give so lit- 

 tle trouble as Asparagus, and none is so well worth 

 ] a great deal of trouble. 



! 194. BALM is an herb purely medicinal. Avery 

 :j Sttle of it is sufficient in a garden. It is propa- 

 i gated from seed, or from offsets. When once plant- 

 I ed, the only care required is to see that it does not 

 I extend itself too far. 



195. BASIL is a very sweet annual pot-herb, 

 ji There are two sorts, the dwarf and the tall. It 

 1 should be sown in very fine earth, and, if con- 

 ' venient, under a hand-glass. The bunches may be 

 \ dried for winter use. 



1 196. BEAN.— The only species of bean much used 

 in this country, is that which, in England, is called 

 Kidney-Bean^ and, in France, Haricot. Of these 

 I shall speak in the next article. The Bean I here 

 mean is, what is called by most persons in America 



! the horse-bean. In England there are some sorts 



1 of this bean used for horses and hogs ; but there 

 are several sorts used as human food. It is, at best, 



1 a coarse and not very wholesome vegetable ; yet 

 some people like it. It is very much eaten by the 

 country people, in England, with their bacon, along 



