12 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Flowers pendent, small, greenish yellow, succeeded by spherical 

 berries about the size of a pea, which in autumn assume a very 

 vivid vermixion colour. Seeds black, triangular, large, preserving 

 their germinating power for five years at least. 



Culture. — Asparagus, which is one of our earliest spring 

 vegetables, is also one of the most widely appreciated and exten- 

 sively cultivated. In many districts, and notably in the neighbour- 

 hood of Paris, the cultivation of Asparagus for market is a branch 

 of industry of the highest importance ; and although there are, 

 undoubtedly, some soils and localities in which its cultivation is 

 attended with special success, there is hardly any place in which 

 a plantation of this vegetable may not be made, if only some pains 

 are taken in establishing it and keeping it in order. A light and 

 well-drained soil is the best for this purpose, but a plantation may 

 be successfully made in any soil which is not either absolutely wet 

 or impermeably stiff ; stagnant moisture being, above all other 

 things, fatal to this plant. 



In order to establish a plantation, the cultivator may either 

 raise his own plants or purchase them ready for use. In the first 

 case, the seed should be sown in March or April, in good, rich, 

 mellow soil (in drills preferably), and lightly covered with soil, 

 leaf-mould, or compost (a covering from J to | in. deep will be 

 quite sufficient). After the seed is well up and the plants have 

 begun to gain some strength, they should be thinned out, if neces- 

 sary, so as to leave a space of about 2 in. from plant to plant in 

 the drills. It is very important for the ulterior favourable develop- 

 ment of the plants, and for the satisfactory appearance of the crop, 

 that they should never suffer from the want of nourishment caused 

 either by an insufficiency of manure or by the plants being placed 

 too closely together. During the rest of the summer and autumn, 

 water should be given copiously whenever there appears to be need 

 of it, and the ground must be kept very clean by the use of the hoe, 

 which should be carefully handled, so as not to injure the roots of 

 the plants. Plants treated in this way will be ready to be planted 

 out permanently the following spring ; they will strike root sooner, 

 and give better results than plants of two years' growth, while the* 

 crop which they yield will come in quite as soon. 



Those who do not wish to take the trouble of raising plants 

 themselves in this way can easily procure them from seedsmen. 

 Young Asparagus shoots may be kept for several days, and even 

 weeks, out of the ground, without any detriment either to their 

 striking root or to the appearance of the crop which they will yield. 

 The raising of these plants for sale has become an important 

 industry. 



It has been already stated that, in order to establish a plantation 

 of Asparagus, a light and well-drained soil should, if possible, be 



