THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
93 
planted in light soil on well-made hotbeds, or beds heated 
by hot-water pipes. A gentle heat suffices, and indeed the 
slower the forcing the better the produce. As the glass pro- 
tects the plant from frost, it may enjoy light aud air, except 
when the weather is severe, and therefore need not be much 
moulded up, the object being to obtain short, plump, dark- 
green shoots of the most tender and richly-flavoured kind, fit 
to “set before a king.” A large, deep bed of leaves, with a 
sufficiency of old lights and walls of turf, or loose bricks, or 
stout boards set on edge with pegs to hold them, afford 
machinery enough for the production of the finest forced 
asparagus, provided only there is a strong plantation of some 
years’ standing to begin with for the supply of stools for the 
purpose. As a matter of course, the gardener who has to 
provide largely for a family will take measures to insure a 
succession, and this book is not intended to teach him his 
business. 
COMBINED GRAPE AND STRAWBERRY IIOIJSE. 
