202 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
t March 13, 1884. 
growths with which unpruned Roses are now furnished can 
be restored by one copious application of liquid manure, and 
this should be given wdien the pruned plants have fairly 
started into growth. 
When dwarf Roses are grown in beds, and a profusion 
of flowers of good quality is coveted rather than a limited 
number of exceptional merit for exhibition, then a number of 
the strong growths can be pegged down with advantage 
instead of shortening them in the orthodox manner. —Expe- 
KIENTIA DOCET. 
SPRING- TREATMENT OF ASPARAGUS. 
Ip well attended to in spring this favourite and valuable 
vegetable will require little attention throughout the season. 
It is a great advantage for cultivators to raise their own young 
stock, as Asparagus roots suffer much through being taken up, 
sent a long distance, and kept out of the soil for a considerable 
time. Many roots will die from this treatment, and more still 
will receive a check from which they will not readily recover. 
When everyone raises his own plants this difficulty has not to 
be contended with, as the ground may be ready for the plants 
before they are taken up, and then they need not be out of the 
.soil or exposed to the air for more than a few minutes. In this 
way they will experience no check from being transplanted, and 
the advantage of one or two years’ growth will be gained. Two 
or three hundred plants may be raised in a bed 4 feet wide and 
10 or 12 yards long. Early in April is a most suitable time to 
sow the seed, and it may be dealt with like Onions or any other 
ordinary crop. 
Transplanting the young roots into their permanent quarters 
is an operation of the greatest importance, as on this depends 
their ultimate success. Soil for Asparagus should always be 
thoroughly drained. When wet and retentive many roots perish 
every winter, and the plants are never satisfactory. Light 
manures, such as horse droppings aud gritty road scrapings, 
suit Asparagus best. The heavier the soil the more of this 
should be applied, and river or sea sand added in proportions 
according to the natural condition of the soil will be found to 
answer admirably. Wood ashes are good, but coal ashes are 
worse than useless. They may be placed in the bottom as 
drainage, but amongst the roots they are injurious. 
Asparagus roots do not run deep, but live and feed near the 
surface, and this should be remembered in making the soil ready. 
Trenching and deep digging are beneficial in helping to improve 
and drain the surface, but to manure a piece 2 feet deep or more 
is a mistake. Enrich the surface by all means and make it as 
good as possible. Fork or dig large quantities of nourishing 
manure into it immediately before planting, and the results will 
invariably be satisfactory. 
The time of planting must be determined by the condition of 
the roots. It is not any advantage to plant long before growth 
begins, and it is injurious to lift and qdant after growth has 
fully started. The best time is when the stems are commencing 
growth. In some parts of the country this may be about the 
end of February, and in others not until the end of March. 
Recently in looking over some young roots we found them just 
starting into growth, and they were transplanted on the same day. 
Asparagus beds are now out of date. They are a waste of 
ground, and no benefit to the roots or produce. The most pro¬ 
fitable way is to plant row after row on a piece of ground and 
never trouble about beds. The roots should be planted from 
2 to 3 feet apart each way, and only 3 or 4 inches below the 
surface. Roots from one to two years old will be about 1 foot 
in diameter. The holes for them must not be less than this, and 
when placed in them none of the roots should curl up. Lay 
them flat and put two or three handfuls of sand over each, then 
finish off with the soil which was taken out. Make this quite 
firm over the roots, and planting is finished. 
Older roots which have been planted some years are always 
benefited by top-dressing in winter and spring. A good handful 
of salt, guano, or a mixture of both may be shaken over each 
•crown at present with advautage to what is coming in the way of 
heads. Forking amongst the roots should never be allowed. If 
the crowns have been mulched throughout the winter this cover¬ 
ing may be taken off, placed between the rows and forked in, 
but to try and work this amongst the roots would end in breaking 
many of them, and probably injure many of the crowns. Old 
plantations which have long since seen their best days should 
not be preserved. They ai’e the reverse of profitable. Cut them 
to the last this year and then destroy them. Make a new plan¬ 
tation now in fresh ground, and the improvement in quality will 
soon be noticeable 
Owners of young plantations are often puzzled as to when to 
begin to cut Asparagus. Must it be two, three, or four years old ? 
Our plan is to cut as soon as the “ grass ” produced is strong 
enough to use. Two-year-old plants will sometimes throw up 
heads which are cut without fear, but poor roots badly m naged 
would show nothing worth having for a long time. Leaving the 
weak and cutting the strong is a good method. Were they all 
left the strong would remain so throughout, and the small ones 
would never come to anything. By cutting and using the finest 
the small growths are forced to develope, and so a crop is obtained 
and the plantation is constantly improving—J. Muir. 
LIME IN FRUIT BORDERS. 
There is no doubt that lime will be more frequently applied 
to fruit borders in the future than it has been in the past, 
Mr. Taylor's useful little book having effectually called atten¬ 
tion to its value. Lime appears to have a threefold, action upon 
soil to which it is applied. In its caustic state it liberates from 
the soil nitrogen, which before its application was not available 
for plant food. It also is in itself an indispensable plant food, 
and in its mild state it absorbs nitrogen from the atmosphere. 
It is of the latter effect which I w 7 ish to write. More than 
twenty-five years ago Professor Nesbit drew attention to the 
importance of lime in the formation of nitrates. In a lecture 
on the .Nature and Application of Manures ” he said, “ Let 
me further observe that there ought to be calcareous matter in 
all your soils. There is plenty of it in many districts in the 
form of chalk, limestone, marl, &c.; and in warm weather there 
is a process of absorption of ammonia in the air going on 
naturally in these soils, the ammonia as it is absorbed being 
converted into nitric acid.” Again, in a letter he said, “ When¬ 
ever animal or vegetable matter—gaseous, liquid, or solid 
containing nitrogen comes into contact with mild calcareous or 
alkaline earths, the mixture being moist and so porous that the 
air can penetrate, after some time the nitrogen, under certain 
conditions of temperature, is acted upon by the atmosphere, is 
oxodised and converted into nitric acid, which at once unites 
with the calcareous or alkaline bases in the mixture. The 
temperature most suitable is from 58° to 68 J Fahr., and the 
action ceases at the freezing point.” 
This is an important matter when we remember that ammonia 
is the most volatile of all the constituents of manure, and if a 
dressing of chalk or mild lime will arrest and hold it in a form 
suitable for plant food by all means let it be employed. Years 
ago I had proof of the power of spent lime to absorb gases by 
placing a bucket of whitewash in a shed adjoining a cesspool. 
When the whitewash was again brought out it was very strongly 
impregnated with the fumes from the cesspool, and smelt very 
offensively for some time after. Our fruit houses where the 
borders are inside seem to present very favourable conditions 
for this process. The borders are mostly well drained and 
formed of soil possessing considerable absorptive power; the 
rubble beneath insures a qoassage of air, and the temperature is 
often between the figures named. Add to these the fact that 
the atmosphere is often charged with ammoniacal gas from 
liquid placed in the evaporating pans, and it will at once be seen 
that a dressing of chalk or spent lime must cause a very con¬ 
siderable manurial gain. 
Mr. Taylor, in “ Vines at Longleat,” and the late “ Single- 
handed ” in this paper, have given pi’oof that lime can only be 
kept in soil by frequent applications, and if that is the case in 
open fields and gardens, fruit borders that have not recently 
had a dressing must be nearly deficient altogether of this 
element. We have this year given both Vine and Peach borders 
a dressing of lime, and all large plants except Azaleas have a 
share of old plaster mixed with the soil as potting is done. In 
potting a large specimen of Adiantum farleyense which had not 
been disturbed for three or four years it was noticed that roots 
were most abundant in the ball where a few pieces of old mortar 
had been placed at the last potting.—T. A. B. 
PRIMULA HARBINGER. 
Some few weeks ago I was favoured with half a dozen strong plants of 
this lovely Primrose from Mr. Gilbert, with the request to pot and place 
them in a cold frame with a view to secure a fine display of bloom in 
March. The plants being strong, clumps were placed in 6-inch pots, the 
smallest size they could he got into without interfering with the roots. 
They were placed on a shelf in a Peach house in a light airy position, and 
in company with a number of Primula sinensis both single find double of 
the choicest strains as regards the singles, including Yeitch’s Superb Fringed, 
red and white; Yeitch’s Scarlet Gem, Williams’ Scarlet, ChiBwick Red, 
Waltham White, &c., and in doubles Marchioness of Exeter, White Lady, 
