THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 89 
forcing they may be eighteen inches apart ; if to remain they 
must be two to three feet apart, according to the strength 
of the ground. As we recommend giving seakale plenty of 
room, it may be well to add that a crop of onions may be 
grown between the first year, and what little they take from 
the bed may be made good by a mulch of fat manure in the 
ensuing winter. 
Asparagus ( Asparagus officinalis) may be grown in the 
same manner as advised for seakale, with a few very trifling . 
modifications, as noted already. It has been remarked that 
these valuable vegetables may be produced in fine condition 
by modes more simple than are usually followed, and we will 
give here an illustration. 
In the spring of 1870 we solved two rows of asparagus seed 
in a piece of ground occupied with raspberries, in the fashion 
of what we call a “ stolen crop.” In the spring of 1871 we 
prepared two beds, each fifty feet in length by six feet 
wide. The ground was trenched two spits deep, and a heap 
of sweepings from the poultry-house, saved for the purpose, 
was spread over and slightly forked in. The earth was then 
taken out of the alleys adjoining and thrown on the beds, 
and they were thus roughly reduced to about five feet in 
width. The plants from the previous year’s sowing were 
carefully lifted and planted in May, in rows one foot apart 
and the plants one foot asunder in the row, and the beds 
were then carefully cut to four and a-half feet in width, the 
crumbs from the alleys being spread over them. The beds 
were kept clear of weeds, and the asparagus stems were re- 
moved in the autumn, and a top-dressing put on of sweepings 
from the poultry-house, saved for the purpose. In March, 
1872, the beds were slightly pricked over with a small fork to 
loosen the top crust and destroy rising weeds, and then a 
mixture of fifty-six pounds of salt and an equal bulk of dry 
earth was spread over their surface. The growth that fol- 
lowed was tremendous, not a weed appeared ; in fact, not a 
weed could have lived with such a growth of asparagus to 
crush it. In the spring of 1873 another dressing of salt was 
given, and a still more vigorous growth followed. We began 
to cut early and left off cutting in the last week of June, 
taking from the beds an immense supply of fat, green as- 
paragus of the most delicate texture and delicious flavour. 
In the autumn of 1873 the plants stood six feet high, 
