380 THE KITCHEN GARDEN. [May. 
from two to four inches above ground, and the top buds or heads 
remaining close and compact? soon after, they become open and 
of less estimation. For the proper method of cutting them, see 
page 192. 
Keep the asparagus beds perfectly free from weeds, and let it be 
remembered, to terminate the general cutting as soon as you per- 
ceive the coming up roots begin to appear small or weaker than 
usual; for if continued cutting too late in the season, it would 
greatly exhaust the roots, and the next and succeeding years' pro- 
duce would be diminished in proportion. 
Beets. 
Weed or hoe your early crops of beets, and thin them, if in beds, 
to one foot asunder, or if in drills, to eight or nine inches, plant 
from plant. Continue to sow more, especially of the red beet, for 
a succession crop, which will succeed very well if sown in the early 
part of the month. A full and abundant supply of this very excel- 
lent vegetable ought to be cultivated in every garden. For the 
methods of sowing, see page 194. 
Onions. 
The onions which were sown at an early season, with an expec- 
tation of their growing to a sufficient size for table use the first 
year from seed, should now be perfectly cleared from weeds, and 
the plants thinned to about three inches from one another, being 
careful to leave the largest and best; they should be thinned at an 
early period, and kept totally free of weeds from the moment of 
their appearance above ground to the period of their perfection. 
This work may either be performed by hand or with a small 
hoe; the latter is the quickest method, and the stirring the ground 
therewith will be of great service to the growth of the plants: have 
for this purpose a small one-hand hoe about two inches broad, or, 
in want of this, an old table-knife, bent a little at the end, about 
an inch, by heating in a fire, will answer very well for small or 
moderate crops. 
The plantations arising from seed onions should now be kept very 
clean, and also the late sown crops intended to produce small 
bulbs for next year's planting. 
Turnips. 
Hoe and thin your advancing crops of turnips, and sow some 
more of the early Dutch or early stone kinds for a succession: this 
sowing should be performed in the first week of the month, in 
order that the roots should have time to grow to a good size before 
their being overtaken by the great summer heat and drought, which 
are very inimical to them. In the doing of this, take advantage of 
moist or cloudy weather, or immediately after rain, and sow the 
seed on a bed of good mellow ground, thin and even; tread it down 
and rake it in regularly. 
