PROCEEDINGS. 



xlix 



a few remarks on the mode pursued may prove of interest. 

 The sample has been forwarded, in order to show the cha- 

 racter of the article ; not merely on account of extraordinary 

 size, but of its succulence. Many persons do not succeed 

 to their wish in its cultivation ; they heap up manures in 

 abundance over the crown, and, although the plant is a 

 gross feeder, they do not reach that amount of success which 

 so liberal an application of manures would seem to ensure. 

 This goes to show, in conjunction with other matters, that 

 the texture of soils is not regarded as it ought to be. 



" The Oulton kitchen gardens, which consist of between 

 three and four acres, are composed of a light sandy loam, 

 very light, but of considerable depth. The Asparagus 

 dislikes adhesive soils, and would, I have no doubt, thrive 

 admirably in sand and rotten manure, provided the neces- 

 sary amount of moisture could be permanently supplied 

 during the growing season. 



" Most of our experienced kitchen gardeners have a 

 course of culture founded on practice, and generally adapted 

 to the locality where the gardens are situated. I for one 

 have my rotation of crops ; and one principle I steadily 

 pursue, in the cultivation of Asparagus, is to plant a new 

 bed or beds yearly. I grow all my celery on what is 

 termed the Scotch bed system ; and have long availed my- 

 self of the superior depth and enrichment of a plot of ground 

 thus handled to follow with Asparagus. My earliest celery- 

 bed then, six feet in width, receives extra preparation to 

 this end. This preparation consists in trenching thirty 

 inches deep, in burying much vegetable matter in the bot- 

 tom of the trench, and in blending plenty of old manure 

 near the surface. 



" The Asparagus is planted in May when nearly a foot 

 high ; it is manured over each November, and in the third 

 spring, cutting commences. I plant only two rows in a 

 bed, twenty-seven inches apart, the plants about ten inches 

 distant in the row. 



" One of the main features in my plan, to which I would 

 direct special attention, is the annual digging in of much 

 raw vegetable matter, with a trifling amount of manure in 

 the trenches or alleys. I have found by long experience, 

 that the Asparagus has the power of making a series of 

 annual roots laterally, provided encouragement be af- 

 forded to their development ; and the assurance of this fact 

 has formed the basis of my mode of alley cultivation. I 

 apply salt also most liberally ; my beds were salted about 

 three times during the growing season, and at least three 



