102 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
the trench be filled in that compressed state 
all hut three inches, which may be filled in 
with the soil. On this soil lay whole sets of 
any early kind, whichever any honest seeds- 
man may recommend for your locality ; let 
them be a foot apart in the rows, and the rows 
two feet six inches apart : now take the soil 
from between the rows, well bruised, so as to 
have no lumps, and cover up the sets four 
inches, forming a bank ; cover these over with 
peas haulm, sufficiently thick to keep in heat 
and keep off wind and frost, without shutting 
out light and air. When these come through, 
keep earthing them up and covering them 
during frost and wind, but uncovering them in 
the sunshine and warm rains. If the weather 
be very dry, you must water, but this is not 
very likely. They will yield you a pretty and 
an early crop. Plant ash-leaved kidneys and 
other early sorts in the ordinary way, towards 
the end of the month, for any quantity you 
may be likely to want. They will not come 
up before they will bear the weather ; and 
when they do come, if they are too early, it is 
easy to cover them up with soil for a while, 
and let them come through that also. Those 
who are fond of forcing, may plant a few 
whole sets in a slight hot-bed, giving air in 
fine weather as soon as they are up, and care- 
fully covering them at night. They will, of 
course, come earlier than those in the open 
ground. 
Jerusalem Artichokes may be planted in 
rows much in the same way as potatoes, ex- 
cept that, being a straggling, tall subject, the 
situation chosen is mostly out of the way of 
other things, under the north or east side of 
hedges or fences, or any place where they 
form a blind. They should have the ground 
well prepared with dung ; have whole sets, 
about the size of walnuts with the coats on, 
placed at two feet distance, and be allowed to 
stand for three seasons without removing. 
Indeed, many only remove every other one, 
as they require the tubers for use, and return 
the small ones and ugly ones to the ground, 
and having gone all through the plantation, 
taking every other one, come back to the first 
again, and then take up the others. The return 
of the small ones and ugly ones secures a new 
stock, as it were ; and as the demand is seldom 
very great, the plantation is never materially 
altered in appearance. If these things be 
planted in more than one row, the rows 
should be three feet apart. 
Asparagus Beds. — The great object in 
preparing ground for this dainty vegetable is 
to have great heat " and richness. Sound, 
strong, but friable loam, forming the top spit 
of a meadow, renders the rotted turf of such 
field the best of all soils. , The beds should be 
trenched two feet deep, and filled with this 
compost, or as much of it mixed with the ordi- 
nary compost as can be got. By making thebeds 
three feet wide, and the alleys three feet six 
wide, you will be able to plant two rows in 
each bed, and they will be found ample. The 
part intended for the bed should be dug two 
feet deep, and the stuff thrown out. Six 
inches of turf at the bottom, and six inches of 
ordinary stuff next, and so on, until the two 
feet is full, will make a good preparation. 
After this has been together awhile, take out 
a few barrowsful at one end, and chop all 
through it, so as to mix it well, and when done, 
lay six inches of decayed dung the width of the 
beds, and put three inches of the top spit 
mentioned at first upon it ; then lay a row of 
the two-year old roots (which may be bought 
at any nursery) a foot apart, and nine inches 
from the edge, and then another row nine 
inches from the other edge, and in zigzag 
fashion ; that is, just opposite the openings 
between the other plants, thus : 
There will be eighteen inches between the 
rows, which gives each nine inches to spread 
before they reach each other, and also the same 
before they reach the edge of the bed. In 
laying these roots on the flat surface, the fin- 
gers of the roots must be spread out, and or- 
dinary soil from the alleys between the beds 
should be laid on a good three inches above 
the crowns. The alleys are to be dug out for 
all the rest of the raising, and where these 
vegetables are got for market, the soil above 
the crowns must be raised at least six inches, 
because the public look for a long blanched 
stem, but for domestic use the asparagus is 
far better without it. Again, for market the 
buds are scarcely above ground before they 
are cut, and the eatable portion is very small; 
whereas for domestic use, it is better to 
allow the shoot to make two good inches of 
green stem above ground, for there is not 
only thrice as much to eat, but that which is 
eaten is thrice as good in flavour and tender- 
ness. Established asparagus beds require to 
be forked over and top-dressed with dung, 
and the soil thrown on them out of the alleys 
to the thickness required. We should be con- 
tent to have three inches of soil over the 
crowns, and to cut all the buds just one inch 
below the surface, when they had reached 
exactly four inches above it. 
Carrots. — Sow after well digging, trench- 
ing, and pulverizing the ground. The thinner 
the seeds are sown on the surface the better, 
and they should be well raked in. As the 
seed of carrots are always woolly and hang 
together, they should be rubbed and mixed 
