20 



BUIST'S FAMILY MITCHEN GARDENER. 



the stools. Let those of the strongest grow to produce heads, 

 the rest are removed by a pressure of the thumb or a cut with 

 the knife. Dig the whole ground level, using, yearly plenty 

 of good rotten manure. A bed will continue productive for 

 seven or more years. If the heads are not wanted for use or 

 seed, they should be destroyed from the stem, which promotes 

 the strength and vitality of the plant. Seed sown early in Spring, 

 in drills, eighteen inches apart and two inches deep, will produce 

 good plants the first season, and even be more permanent than 

 those procured from offsets. Protect them carefully the first 

 winter ; transplant early in Spring, as above directed, for offsets. 

 They will produce a few heads the following year, and there- 

 after a regular crop. If quality is preferred to quantity, the 

 head that surmounts the stem only should be allowed to grow ; 

 all the lateral ones growing on the same stalk should be re- 

 moved in their young state. 



ASPARAGUS. 



Asparagus officinalis — Asperge, Fr. — Spargel, Ger. 



This universal vegetable is supposed to be a native of Great 

 Britain, where it is found on banks of sandy soil contiguous 

 to the sea, growing luxuriantly under the salt breezes. Culti- 

 vators have found that salt brine, or a thin covering of salt 

 thrown over the beds in the Pall, before they have their final 

 dressing, proves very beneficial to its growth. Although it is not 

 considered a very nutricious vegetable, yet it occupies a con- 

 siderable proportion of every garden, and is extensively culti- 

 vated for our markets — some growers having eight or ten acres 

 under culture, and I have no doubt that in a very few years it 

 will be increased ten-fold. 



Propagation. — This is accomplished only by seeds. When a 

 new bed is formed, in order to save time, two or three-year old 

 plants may be procured from Nurserymen or Gardeners, at a 

 very low rate. There are several varieties of Asparagus named 



