ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 27 



less it requires a depth of at least 10 in., for the crown of 

 the root rises every year about \ in. It begins to yield at 

 the end of the third year, and from six years old it gives 

 good crops for from fourteen to fifteen years. After this 

 time the heads are somewhat smaller, but the crop is abun- 

 dant. When well cultivated it will continue yielding for from 

 eighteen to twenty years. 



Dutch Asparagus.— Dutch Asparagus (fig. 3) is nearly 

 always round. The eyes are arranged spirally, and are 

 narrow and prominent. The tip is sometimes conical, at 

 others elongated, and at times swollen in 

 the middle. The heads are from 1^ in. 

 to in. in circumference, measured at 

 8 1 in. from the tip. Fig. 3 shows one 

 of the finest heads of this variety, drawn 

 from nature by M. Godefroy-Lebceuf. 

 The general height of this Asparagus is 

 about 5 ft. It is neither so handsome, 

 so well-flavoured, nor so tender as the 

 two Argenteuil varieties. It also re- 

 quires a much richer and deeper soil ; its 

 cultivation in France, therefore, has 

 been given up by the best growers. 

 Among other defects which are laid to 

 its account are the following : it very 

 soon grows hard, it opens its point very 

 rapidly, and turns green in twenty-four 

 hours. This variety fetches but a low 

 price in the Paris markets, where it is 

 sold at 1 franc a bundle, while the Ar- 

 genteuil variety of the same size fetches 

 from three to four times that price. It 

 is not a good plant for cultivating on a 

 large scale, while for amateur growth it 3.— Dutch Asparagus 

 is unsuitable on account of its small 

 yield and its bitter flavour. It should only, therefore, as a 

 rule, be grown where other sorts cannot be obtained. It has 



