438 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
also largely grown in Bedfordshire and other places too numerous 
to mention. 
Asparagus is propagated by seed, which should be sown 
about the middle of March in drills or rows* about 18 inches apart 
on good land (not wet or coarse), so as to obtain what gardeners 
call hard plants, that is well-ripened buds. The seed, which is 
very hard, should be covered with about two inches of fine 
mould. The drills or beds should have been previously prepared 
by having a good winter's cultivation, which will keep it in a 
great measure free from weeds. The very hard nature of the 
seed necessitates its lying in the ground for some considerable 
time before it germinates, hence the great necessity to have the 
ground clean. I remember on one occasion trying some seed 
with a hammer to see if it was good, and to my surprise I found 
it so hard that it actually penetrated the wood instead of break- 
ing, as I wished it to do. I have also known it used instead of 
shot in tlie destruction of small birds. 
Five or six pounds of seed will be sufficient, if sown thinly, 
to produce enough plants to plant an acre the following year 
after sov/ing. Some old gardeners advise it to be sown in the 
autumn, in October or November, but I venture to differ entirely 
from them, and say. Sow early in the spring. Others recom- 
mend the seed to be sown the first week in May, but this must 
be unwise, as sometimes we get a long continuance of dry 
weather afterwards, when it is very difficult for seed to germinate. 
The seed having been sown thinly (say 8 inches distant from 
each other), as soon as the young plants appear above the 
ground they must be hand-weeded, or hoed with a very small 
hoe, and when strong enough thinned out to about 4 inches 
apart, water them freely with diluted manure water, if the 
summer is dry, and let them have the benefit of all the sun and 
air they can. The plants under this treatment will no doubt 
be strong and good, and fit for the following spring planting. 
Soil. 
The soil of I'^ngland differs so much that this must be taken 
largely into account in the cultivation of all our plants and 
vegetables. Most of the good land near the sea coast is suitable 
foi- the growtli of Asparagus, but some of the poor sand would 
* Sonio prefer sowing it in h(!tls, wliich should bo i or f) feet wide. 
