118 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



ordinary virtue attributed to this plant is given 

 by Antoine Mizold, " Cent. 7, Memorab. Aph.," 

 34, and Schenck, "Obs. Med. L.," L— "If the 

 root is put upon a tooth that aches violently, it 

 causes it to come out without pain." Modern 

 dentists do not believe in this — nor do we. In 

 Queen Elizabeth's time, asparagus was eaten 

 " sodden in flesh-broth, or boiled in fair water, 

 and seasoned with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, 

 then served at table as a salad." It makes ex- 

 cellent soup, and is also used when ragoued. 

 The part used is 3 or 4 inches of the 

 young shoots or buds, taken just as they appear 

 above the ground, which is generally in May 

 and June. It is most esteemed when of a nice 

 fresh green colour. The French blanch it, but 

 they destroy the flavour peculiar to it by such 

 means. 



Propagation. — In the first instance, all 

 asparagus is originated by seed. It is 

 then replanted when of one or two years' 

 growth : the first, if the roots are strong, 

 is preferable. 



Sowing and planting. — March is the best 

 season for sowing. Some recommend sow- 

 ing broadcast in beds ; we have a penchant 

 for the drill system, and in this case would 

 recommend it. Prepare the ground by 

 copious manuring, and deep-digging or 

 trenching. Draw the drills a foot apart, 

 and 2 inches deep. Sow thin : the seed 

 is in general good, so there need be small 

 allowance made on that account. One 

 quart of seed will be quite sufficient to 

 sow a bed in the broadcast manner of 

 from 36 to 40 square feet. If sown to 

 remain on the same ground (a practice 

 seldom thought of in first-rate gardens), 

 then a pint of seed will sow a bed 4^ feet 

 broad by 30 feet in length. If the plan- 

 tation is to be formed of roots from last 

 spring's sowing, then 160 plants will be 

 required for a bed 4J feet wide and 10 

 yards in length. This is the age at which 

 they should be planted. The above cal- 

 culation is made presuming that the usual 

 practice is followed of setting four rows 

 in a 4|-feet bed, and the roots 9 inches 

 apart. We would rather plant three rows 

 in such beds, and give the plants 12 inches 

 from plant to plant, which will reduce 

 the number of roots required, and tend 

 greatly to the future welfare of the crop. 

 Plants of one year's growth we prefer; but 

 much depends on the way they have been 

 grown, for sometimes one-year-old plants 

 are stronger and better than three-year- 

 old ones, where little attention has been 

 paid to them. In this case, as in most 

 others, plants sustaining a check in their 



early growth from starvation are seldom so 

 luxuriant or so long-lived as those which 

 hav£ been carefully nursed. In sowing 

 for permanent crops, it is best to sow in 

 feet beds (three rows say, 18 inches apart), 

 and when they have advanced to the 

 height of 6 or 7 inches, to thin them out 

 to 12 inches in the line ; or, as we have 

 often practised, sow in single rows 3 feet 

 apart all over the piece, and thin out the 

 plants to a foot apart in the line. It is 

 usual— and we find no fault with the 

 practice — to sow a crop of onions along 

 with the seed the first year : the onions, 

 being sown broadcast, will not much in- 

 jure the asparagus, while they will repay 

 for the culture of the whole. For per- 

 manent crops we prefer the single-drill 

 system; but for growing for two, three, or 

 four years, for the purpose of taking up 

 the roots for forcing, it is possible that 

 the 4i- feet bed, with three rows in each, 

 may be preferable. This is certainly the 

 case in petty gardens, where a bed of the 

 above breadth, and 10 yards in length, 

 may be the extent to which the owner's 

 means permit him to extend. This is, 

 however, scarcely a crop for manse gar- 

 dens; the small return only sets the mouth 

 watering, and may lead to a breach of what 

 is forbidden by the tenth commandment. 



Whether the seed is sown broadcast or 

 in drills, with a view to be transplanted 

 afterwards, it will be requisite the spring 

 following sowing to prepare the ground 

 and beds for transplantation ; and in this 

 it matters little whether the roots are to 

 be set in single lines, or two or three rows, 

 in beds of the above breadth. The whole 

 ground should be prepared alike, and the 

 plants carefully removed to it. 



In preparing the ground, we need 

 hardly say it cannot be too highly en- 

 riched or too deeply trenched, the roots 

 often extending 3 feet under the surface. 

 It should be trenched to that depth, and 

 a supply of manure placed in the bottom 

 of each trench after it has been broken 

 up with a pick — a foot more in depth, if 

 the soil admits of it. As the process of 

 trenching goes on, other layers of manures 

 should be laid on each respectively, as it 

 is from a foot to 3 feet in depth that the 

 roots will be in search of food. The more 

 lasting and permanent the manure applied 

 the better, so that its decomposition may go 

 on slowly as the roots require it. Some, and 



