40 



ON THE CTJLTUKE OF ASPAKAGTJS. 



the first spit and crumb with a full length spade into the bottom 

 of the trench, mixing the clung and soil thoroughly together 

 with a fork, then throw on the other soil, until the second 

 trench is the same depth as the first, and so proceed until you 

 come to the last trench, into which throw half the earth taken 

 back, and add dung equal to that for the first spit, mixing it 

 and the soil well together with a fork as before. Now that the 

 ground has been once trenched over, and the bottom spit 

 thoroughly mixed, tread the whole surface, and again lay on it 

 about six inches in depth of dung, shaking it well as before. 

 Then proceed to trench the ground back, leaving the bottom 

 spit that has been mixed with manure unmolested. Proceed 

 as before, after the first spit and crumb have been turned in, 

 mix the dung and soil well together with a fork, which will be 

 two-thirds of the trench mixed, throwing on the top the re- 

 mainder of the earth unmixed with dung, until you come to the 

 first spit that has been mixed, and so continue until the ground 

 has been all trenched a second time ; then throw in the earth 

 laid out at the commencement of the trenching, adding dung 

 equal to that for the spit just thrown in, and well mixing it with 

 the soil. There will now be an opening at the top, and one- 

 third of the earth left at the bottom. Tread the whole surface 

 over, and again lay on six inches in depth of dung, forking it 

 up the hill, and keeping the same opening. The whole mass of 

 earth and dung will then be thoroughly mixed from bottom to 

 top, and the opening will take the remainder of the earth thrown 

 out of the first trench. 



The work should be done in dry (not frosty) weather — say 

 in October. The ground being thus prepared, throw it up in 

 rough spits, one spade deep, to be pulverized by the frost against 

 planting time. 



My time of planting is, when I observe the plants to have 

 grown about an inch above the ground in the seed-bed, choosing 

 a dry day when the soil will work freely. After having marked 

 out my beds four feet in width, and having allowed two feet for 

 the alleys, I strain a garden line on each side, and as before 

 mentioned, with a rake draw the soil equally off the bed into the 

 alleys about two inches and a half deep. I then strain the line 

 exactly through the middle of the bed, and with the point of a 

 dibble make light marks one foot six inches apart. That being 

 done, I then strain the lines nine inches from the margins of the 

 bed, being a distance of one foot three inches from the middle 

 row, to the outside ones. These I mark in the same way as 

 I did the middle one ; but so that the plants will not be oppo- 

 site each other. Every thing being now ready, plants are 

 obtained from the seed-bed, selecting the finest and exposing 



