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LXT. On the Cultivation of Asparagus. In a Letter to the 

 Secretary. By Mr. Daniel Judd, F. H. S. Gardener 

 to Charles Campbell, Esq. at Edmonton. 



Read June 4, 1816. 



Sir, 



ii aving laid before the Members of the Society a speci- 

 men of Asparagus raised by me, and as it has been pro- 

 nounced by those who saw it to be the finest they had ever 

 seen, I presume that an account of my method of cultivating 

 it will not be unacceptable to the Society. It is as follows : 

 I select some of the finest and earliest heads, as they make 

 their appearance in the spring, for seed ; these should be 

 tied to stakes during the summer, to keep them upright, 

 for the better ripening of the seed ; in doing so, care should 

 be taken not to drive the stake through the crown of the 

 plant, which would injure it for the ensuing season. In 

 autumn, when the seeds are ripe, they should be washed 

 out of the berry, if they are to be sent any distance ; but 

 for home sowing I prefer keeping them in the berry till the 

 time of sowing, the pulp being a great nourishment to the 

 seed, which ought to be kept in a dry place during the winter. 



The seed should be sown in the month of March or be- 

 ginning of April, a rich piece of ground being first prepared 

 for the purpose, in drills drawn with a common hoe, deep 

 enough to admit of the seed being buried about an inch 



