442 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
which is undeniably and universally pronounced much better if 
grown, as gardeners call it, " naturally," that is to say, earthed 
up in the same way as Asparagus should be. I do not advocate 
a very large quantity of mould being placed upon the beds, but 
they should be made up 5 or 6 in. above the roots. The 
French, Dutch, and Spa;nish growers blanch their Asparagus 
much more than we English gardeners do. 
If required. Asparagus may be had all the year round ; but to 
obtain it from October to April it would be necessary to force it 
during these months, and I shall not attempt in the present 
paper to describe the various methods of forcing. But supposing 
that it is desired to continue cutting Asparagus after midsummer 
a portion of the ground should be marked off, and all the buds 
cut, say, every other day. It will then continue to throw up 
buds until September, though, of course, becoming weaker and 
weaker as the season advances. It is then best to destroy 
the plants entirely, and start again with fresh ones. On one 
occasion I gathered a few bundles of good Asparagus in the 
month of November from the open ground, and they were sold 
at a good price in Covent Garden market ; but, of course, this 
was very exceptional. 
The French method of growing Asparagus is somewhat 
different from ours. They plant it in trenches deep or shallow 
according to the whim or fancy of the cultivator, but at a much 
greater distance apart than the English grower, and by this 
means much larger buds or heads are obtained, though not in 
such quantity. A large part of the Argenteuil Asparagus is said 
to be grown in the vineyards and orchards in clumps or as single 
plants ; and doubtless this method has its advantages, as it fills 
up many gaps in the vineyards that otherwise would be left bare. 
It is said that these isolated plants in the vineyards continue to 
produce good buds for thirty or forty years. But I am not at 
all sure that it would be wise to adopt this plan in England ; 
indeed, I think our climate is too sunless for good Asparagus to 
be grown in our orchards. However, I certainly think good 
results might be obtained by adopting a modification of the 
French plan, provided, of course, that we arc satisfied with a 
small quantity of large heads, instead of a larger number of 
smaller ones. Wc might grow it in clumps of three or four 
plants, or even singly, in rows about 8 ft. apart, placing 
