66 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



roots must be gathered together and their extreme ends 

 clipped. The stools are then placed in the bed in such a 

 way that they may touch and support each other. They are 

 so arranged that their heads are all level. Rotten manure is 

 then thrown in between the roots, leaving the eyes uncovered, 

 and the lights and frame are so arranged that the heads will 

 find sufficient room between the bed and the glass to grow to 

 their proper length without being bent. Under an ordinary 

 light we may thus plant four or five stools, each of which 

 will begin to yield at the end of ten days or a fortnight, and 

 will last a month. This mode of cultivation produces very 

 small and short Asparagus, and it does not possess the fine 

 flavour of the other kind. These beds want a good deal of 

 looking after to avoid all danger of chilling. Fresh manure 

 must be added immediately the heat begins to decrease. The 

 frames must be kept carefully closed, and the straw mats 

 must be taken awaj* and replaced according to the state 

 of the weather. -This method of forcing, like the pre- 

 ceding, may be commenced in October and November, and 

 by using several sets of beds, may be carried on during 

 December, January, and February. Some growers have 

 attempted to force old Asparagus plants, but they soon had 

 to give it up, owing to its yielding such bad results. We are 

 consequently obliged to fall back on the young plants brought 

 up in the nursery for this special purpose ; it is, in fact the 

 only way to obtain good and abundant crops. 



The Enemies of the Asparagus. 

 The principal enemies of the Asparagus are the Asparagus 

 beetle (Crioceris asparagi) and the white worm or grub of th& 

 cockchafer. 



Crioceris asparagi is a small beetle, long in the body, 

 and of a red colour, speckled with grey and white spots. The 

 larvae are somewhat cylindrical, narrower towards the head, 

 and are of a dirty olive-green colour, fleshy and shining. It 

 only lasts in the larva state for about ten days, but during that 

 time it commits the most formidable ravages. It deposits its- 



