ASPARAGINOUS PLANTS.— ASPARAGUS. 



125 



ral supply of food, must reasonably be 

 considered as placed in a very different 

 position as regards their capability of 

 production." — Practical Gardener. 



Forcing in permanent pits, as practised in 

 the Royal Gardens at Frogmore. — The plants 

 while young are planted in brick pits 

 4 feet in depth, and in a rich loamy soil 

 peculiar to the locality, and highly en- 

 riched with rotten stable-yard manure. 

 These pits are 7 feet in breadth, and 

 separated by trenches walled up on the 

 sides in the pigeon-hole manner, and 20 

 inches across. In these spaces hot-water 

 pipes are made to traverse {vide fig. 639, 

 vol. i.), the bottom parts of the spaces 

 being filled up with soil similar to the 

 beds ; and the upper part, also 2 feet in 

 depth, is left open that the heat from the 

 pipes may radiate freely and find its way 

 into the pits, which are span-roofed and 

 covered with boarding. The spaces be- 

 tween the pits in which the pipes are 

 laid are covered with Yorkshire pavement 

 to prevent the escape of the heat, as well as 

 from its being comfortable to walk upon. 

 The plants are excited early in Decem- 

 ber, that a supply may be obtained by 

 the end of that month, the temperature 

 ranging between 50° and 60°. During 

 the forcing period, the plants are assisted 

 by occasional supplies of rich manure in 

 a liquid form. For early forcing this 

 plan is liable, to a certain extent, to the 

 objections stated above— modified to some 

 degree, however, inasmuch as the heat 

 can be maintained at the roots till a late 

 period of the season; and the latent or 

 weak buds may thus be induced to spring 

 and throw up stems, by which sufficient 

 excitement is thrown into the roots to 

 cause them to form a fresh series of buds 

 for succeeding crop. The advantages of 

 the system of permanent beds are held by 

 many as important. It prevents, as they 

 say, the great sacrifice of ground in the 

 production of roots, which require at least 

 two or more years' expensive culture to 

 prepare them for a single return. We 

 should, however, take into consideration 

 the importance of what is called rotation 

 in cropping; and for this the destruction 

 of a few beds of asparagus yearly offers an 

 excellent opportunity. In our own case, 

 we have about an acre of ground under 

 this crop for the purpose of forcing alone. 

 This space we have in three sections, one 



VOL. II. 



of which is taken up every winter, and a 

 corresponding quantity planted every 

 spring from the seed-beds of the previous 

 season. 



The great supplies sent to the London 

 markets are produced during winter by 

 the taking-up mode, and are for the most 

 part forced upon beds of fermenting ma- 

 terial. Our own opinion is in favour of 

 this plan, and next to it that of growing 

 in pits heated upon the principle shown 

 in our improved asparagus-pit, described 

 p. 455, vol. i., and covered with a glass 

 roofing, to be kept on until the reserved 

 stems become fully matured and the buds 

 ripened, when it may be removed until 

 required again the ensuing season. 



The London market-gardeners' mode of 

 forcing asparagus is by placing the fully 

 matured roots on beds of fermenting dung, 

 placed in trenches 2 feet deep, having 6 

 inches of mould to plant in. These are 

 then hooped over, and covered with mats 

 or otherwise to blanch them, and make 

 them look fine and white, to suit the 

 taste of the market. In private families, 

 however, this white colour is no recom- 

 mendation, a fine healthy green being pre- 

 ferred, and this can only be attained by 

 growing it in the light; therefore the pri- 

 vate gardener's practice is the best, and 

 to attain it so, he has to employ glass 

 sashes for protection, and to admit abun- 

 dance of air during its growth. Mr Cuth- 

 ill was the first, we believe, who attacked 

 the old and absurd practice of blanching, 

 and his views were aided by several sen- 

 sible writers in " The Gardeners' Chron- 

 icle," and amongst them the talented 

 editor of that paper. 



Amateur forcing. — Forced asparagus is 

 not, as is supposed, confined to the tables 

 of the rich, and those only who have 

 extensive forcing accommodation. Any 

 amateur who has the command of a cart- 

 load or two of tree-leaves or stable- litter, 

 or who is in the neighbourhood of a tan- 

 yard, where he may often get tan for 

 taking away, may have as good asparagus 

 in March, or even earlier, as his richer 

 neighbour ; and with the aid of a one or 

 two light frame, he may have it at his 

 Christmas dinner. The way to proceed 

 is, First get your roots, which can often, 

 for so small a supply, be obtained from a 

 neighbour, or bought from a nursery or 

 market-garden. Many amateurs, how- 



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