May 31, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
447 
either to Westminster or to the city. We have a clue to the posi¬ 
tion of this garden : it adjoined, perhaps was originally a part of, 
Cuper’s gardens. This was just opposite Somerset House, and its 
site is crossed by the modern Waterloo Bridge Road. As was not 
unusual in the seventeenth century, what was at its commence¬ 
ment simply a place for raising vegetables became subsequently 
a pleasure resort, and people went to the ’Sparagus Garden to eat 
both vegetables and fruit probably. Pepys records that he went 
there in April, 1668, taking a couple of lobsters with him in the 
hope of meeting Knipp, the pretty actress, who had been his wife’s 
maid, but he didn’t, and had to dine alone. Evelyn, writing near 
the end of the seventeenth century, says in his quaint way, “ The 
large Dutch kind of Asparagus raised in highly manured beds is 
not so sweet and agreeable as those of moderate size, and yet to 
show what solum, cesium, and industry will effect, the honourable 
and learned Charles Hatton made my wife a present of Asparagus, 
the bundle containing sixty, which weighed 15^ lbs. Allowing 
them 4 ozs. to each head, one was as much as one person would 
desire to eat, and, what was most observable, they were not raised 
by any extraordinary compost, but grown in a natural, sweet, 
rich, well-cultivated soil about Battersea.” And during the 
Georgian period large quantities of Asparagus were raised there, 
as also near Bermondsey and Deptford, though modern building 
has nearly, if not quite, banished this plant to places beyond the 
fog and smoke of London. At the west end of the metropolis the 
Five Fields, or at least that portion of the fields that was cultivated 
(for some of the ground lay waste as a kind of common), yielded 
Asparagus and other choice vegetables about the time, perhaps 
earlier, when we have the Lambeth Asparagus Garden mentioned. 
It should be noted that the popularity of the Dutch variety of it 
is to be explained by the arrival of Dutch William upon these 
shores. One of the historians tells us that his manner of eating 
the heads clean up at the dinner-table, and not merely sucking 
off the tops, had to be imitated by those who were allowed to join 
the Royal dinner party, for otherwise William III. would have 
felt himself highly offended. But our forefathers in England had 
some odd ways of eating Asparagus ; thus Evelyn, already quoted, 
states he had seen the heads eaten raw with oil and vinegar. In 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth people cut up Asparagus tops and 
mixed them with other vegetables used to flavour broths and 
soups. 
An extensive list of the old cries of London fails to show that 
Asparagus was ever hawked in the streets, as were so many 
vegetables and fruits ; and even now it is one of those that rarely 
get into the hands of the costermongers, its season being short, 
and the demand for it limited to those who can afford delicacies. 
We have taken strange liberties with its name ; in Covent Garden 
Market few persons speak of it except as “ grass,” the general 
English appellation being “ sparrow-grass,” one which Batty 
Langley defends and explains. “ It originated,” says he, “ in the 
resemblance which the top of the bud bears to the shape of a 
sparrow’s bill.” I venture, with all due respect, to think it is 
simply a corruption of the imported name ; not the only one, for 
both Gerard and Parkinson state it was often called “ sperage.” 
But Langley’s comment in his “ Principles of Gardening ” enables 
us to carry “sparrow-grass” back as far as 1728, “sperage” 
would be at least a century older. 
Some particularly large Asparagus heads have been raised at 
Mortlake in Surrey by a Mr. Grayson, several of his samples 
weighing nearly half a pound each. It was one of the localities 
that formerly yielded considerable supplies to the markets, many 
acres being devoted to this vegetable ; and there is still, I believe, 
some quantity of it grown in that vicinity every year. Aber¬ 
crombie specifies the Dutch, the Battersea, and the Gravesend 
Asparagus as leading varieties produced by soil and culture. I 
am unable to ascertain anything about the variety named after 
the town of shrimps and watercresses, nor does it seem that any 
quantity of Asparagus was sent from the neighbourhood into the 
London market. 
An odour is imparted by Asparagus to the breath, not so marked 
as that of the Onion and its allies, yet perceptible by most noses. 
As a spring esculent it is undoubtedly entitled to commendation, 
but its wholesomeness is often interfered with, owing to its being 
overloaded with melted butter. Asparagine, its active principle, 
has been extracted and given in various maladies. The ancients 
believed that a small piece of this vegetable applied to an aching 
or diseased tooth would facilitate its removal. There appears to 
be no cause for the assertion made by one of the Greek physicians 
that Asparagus has an injurious effect upon the eyesight.— 
J. R. S. C. 
The Nightingale. —The question is asked on all sides, What has 
become of the nightingales ? They were first heard here on the 
26th ult. in full song, but from about the 1st inst. no one in this 
neighbourhood seems to have heard them. We are afraid the cold 
weather has killed them. I have heard that one of our gamekeepers 
recently picked a dead one up in the woods.—A. 0. W., Bigglesicade. 
ADENANDRA FRAGRANS. 
The Cape of Good Hope and the Rue family afford us many 
very distinct and beautiful plants for greenhouses and con¬ 
servatories, and amongst them must be ranked the species illus¬ 
trated in fig. 97. It is not one of the most brilliant of plants, 
but its flowers possess two great attractions—a rich but soft rosy 
colour, and a powerful yet agreeable fragrance, qualities which 
recommend it strongly to the attention of cultivators. Though 
requiring some little care to insure its success, it is by no means 
one of the most fastidious plants, and can readily be had in 
satisfactory condition. A compost of peat, light turfy loam, and 
sand suits it, the pots being carefully drained and water supplied 
liberally but with judgment. In the winter a much less quantity 
of water will be needed, though tbe soil should never be allowed 
to become dust-dry. The flowers are produced during April and 
May, and last a considerable time. 
APRICOTS UNDER GLASS. 
I WAS very much pleased to see on page 397 of the Journal 
an article on the dying of Apricot branches by your able corre¬ 
spondent Mr. G. Abbey, as I agree with him that discussion is 
needed upon the subject. 
Although I am quite prepared to endorse much of what is 
stated in the article above referred to, and especially the advice 
therein given to plant more vigorous-growing varieties in lieu of 
Moor Park, which appears hitherto to have been almost invariably 
the variety selected, and I am sure we are all indebted to Mr. 
Abbey for the excellent selection of suitable varieties which he 
gives. I yet find, however, that my experience does not agree 
with his when he states that “Apricot culture under glass com¬ 
pares very unfavourably with that on walls.” Such may be true 
of the southern counties, where vegetation is much earlier and 
the growing season consequently longer, thus giving outdoor trees 
a better chance of maturing their growths ; but in the northern 
county from which I write my experience has been quite to the 
contrary. 
In the gardens under my charge is an Apricot house—a lean-to 
with a south aspect—30 feet by 12, and occupied by one 
splendid tree (the finest I have ever met with) of Moor Park. 
The house was built and the tree planted more than twenty years 
ago in a different part of the garden from that where it now 
stands, and both were removed to their present site fourteen or 
