GOOD KING HENRY 
Good King Henry (Chenopodium bonus Henricus) is 
better known as Mercury, and is probably one of 
the easiest grown vegetables we have, but not well 
known or much grown, though in a few counties 
on the eastern coast it is a great favourite ; indeed, 
in Lincolnshire there are few gardens of any size but 
grow a bed of King Henry, and I have heard it called 
Lincolnshire Asparagus. The plant is perennial, a native 
of Britain, and is found in many parts of Europe, and is a 
very wholesome vegetable, and later on when the top 
growth of the plants has become large the young 
leaves if gathered make a very good dish and is often 
used in place of Spinach. The plant well repays good 
cultivation, though I have seen it growing in the same 
spot for years, and of course grown thus the leafage is 
small. The plant grown in good soil produces shoots ; 
these, cut in a young state and tied up in bunches, some- 
what resemble Asparagus. If at all old, the skin toughens 
quickly and it is then necessary to remove the skin before 
cooking. It is in season from April till June, and should 
be grown in a warm position, doing best in well drained 
soil. Seeds may be sown in a bed in spring and the seed- 
lings planted out in rows 2 feet apart and i8 inches 
between the plants, the quarter having been deeply dug 
and manured the previous winter. I have also divided 
plants from old beds or roots, selecting the best roots, 
and these given new soil soon make headway and give a 
large quantity of shoots. It should be more grown for 
