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XCI. Account of a Method of Forcing Asparagus, practised 

 by Mr. William Ross, Gardener to Edward Ellice, 

 Esq. at Wyhe House, near Brentford; with some Sugges- 

 tions for the Improvement of the general Practice in this 

 particular. By Joseph Sabine, Esq. F.R.S.fyc. Secretary. 



Read May 6, 1817. 

 Th e general appearance of the forced Asparagus, used at 

 table in the months of December, January, and February, is 

 a sufficient indication of defective management in its produc- 

 tion. When I first examined the method, practised by Mr. 

 Thomas Hogg, for forcing early Potatoes (of which an ac- 

 count is given at page 144 of this volume), it occurred to 

 me, that the same principle might be applied to raising early 

 Asparagus, viz. that of placing the roots of the plants over 

 a substratum not in a state of fermentation, and by intro- 

 ducing into the bed, the warmth necessary to force them, 

 from hot linings to the sides ; for I considered that the weak 

 and drawn state of forced Asparagus is occasioned by the 

 action of the dung immediately on its root. 



My opinions, I think, are confirmed by the successful 

 practice of Mr. William Ross, gardener to Edward 

 Ellice, Esq. at Wyke House near Brentford, in whose 

 garden, in the month of January, I observed some of the 

 strongest Asparagus I ever noticed at that season. Mr. 

 Ross sent a sample, at my request, to the General Meeting 

 of the Horticultural Society, in February last, and he has 



