56 
The Kitchen Garden—Asparagus—Beans. 
almost as much ease as tallow; solidity in 
packing-, clean, sweet vessels, and a low tem¬ 
perature,, will ensure its keeping for any reason¬ 
able time. Let no one expect good butter, 
however, so long as coarse impure salt is used: 
or a particle of the buttermilk is allowed to 
remain in it.— Domestic Annals of Butter. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
We commence in this number, a brief manual for 
the kitchen garden, believing we can offer no better 
selections to our readers, for the small space it will 
occupy, than a few plain rules for the successful rear¬ 
ing of those useful vegetables, that are always to be 
found in the well cultivated garden. They are prin¬ 
cipally taken from those eminently practical farmers, 
the Shakers. They need no other recommendation 
than is to be found in their own successful practice. 
Asparagus.— This is a very delicious escu¬ 
lent vegetable, and easily cultivated, after the 
first operation of preparing the ground. It re¬ 
quires some of the deepest soil in the garden ; 
a rich, sandy loam is the best. The ground 
should be trenched or spaded up, and a plenty 
of rotten manure well mixed into the soil to the 
depth of one foot and a half. Then mark out 
your beds six feet wide, forming two feet alleys 
around them, by throwing up six inches top soil 
on the beds. Next use the rake and hoe, till 
the ground is well pulverized and made level 
and smooth. Then mark out your drills one 
foot apart and two inches deep. Soak the seed 
twelve hours in warm water; drop it about one 
inch apart in the row; rake it in, and press the 
soil over the seed with a board or garden roller. 
When the young plants are up, hoe them care¬ 
fully, and keep them clear of weeds through 
the season. After the second hoeing, pull out 
the weakest plants, leaving them about four 
inches apart. 
A bed of asparagus, well managed, will pro¬ 
duce buds fit for cutting the third spring after 
sowing. The buds should be cut one inch or 
more below the surface of the ground. The 
cutting may be continued until the first of July; 
then let it grow up, but hoe it frequently till it 
covers the ground. 
Spring dressing. As soon as the ground is 
dry, so as to work light, separate the stalks from 
the ground with a hoe, cutting them off beneath 
the surface,and loosen the surface of the ground 
all over the beds. Some dry straw, litter or 
fine brush may be added to these stalks when 
dry, and the whole burnt together on the ground. 
This will promote the growth of the asparagus, 
and destroy many insects’ eggs, seeds of weeds, 
&c. The ground should then be covered one 
inch thick or more with rotten manure or com¬ 
post, well incorporated with the soil above the 
roots; then rake the beds smooth and level. 
An application of swamp earth, salt or brine 
spread on the beds, has been found to promote 
the growth of asparagus. 
Though this vegetable grows naturally in a 
poor, sandy soil, yet the sweetness and tender¬ 
ness of the buds depend much on the rapidity 
of their growth, which is greatly promoted by 
richness of soil and good attendance. Beds of 
asparagus may be formed by preparing the 
ground, as before stated, and transplanting the 
root of two or three years’ growth, setting them 
with the crown upwards, four inches below the 
surface. 
A good bed of asparagus, if well attended to, 
will flourish many years; ours occupies one- 
eighth of an acre of land, the greater part of 
which has been planted more than 40 years, 
and is now as good as ever. 
Directions for cooking asparagus. Cut the 
buds when from three to six inches high : clean 
them well in cold water, cutting off most of the 
white part, as that which grows beneath the 
surface of the ground is ; :apt to be tough and 
bitter. Take water enough to cover the stalks, 
and put in salt sufficient to season them well; 
boil and skim the water, then put in the aspara¬ 
gus. Be careful to take them up as soon as 
they become tender, so as to preserve their true 
flavor and green color; for boiling a little too 
long will destroy both. Serve up with melted 
butter or cream. 
Beans. —A dry, warm soil, tolerably rich, is 
the best for beans. The ground should be 
worked fine and mellow. Plant, for early use, 
from the 20th of April to the 1st of May. The 
early kinds maybe planted in drills two and a 
half feet apart, and at the distance of three inch¬ 
es in the row, or in hills a foot apart. 
The Early Purple is the earliest bean, and 
consequently preferred for early use. The 
Early China and Early White are excellent, 
either for stringing or shelling: they will be fit 
for use, if the season is favorable, in about six 
weeks from planting. The Royal White is a 
large, rich bean, excellent for shelling. This 
kind should be planted in rows three feet apart, 
and if in hills, two feet from each other, with 
four beans in a hill; if in drills, six inches apart 
in the row. The Running or Pole Beans 
should be planted in hills, three and a half feet 
distant each way. They should be planted as 
early as possible, in a rich, mellow soil. We 
prefer setting the poles before planting. For 
this purpose we stretch a line, and set the poles 
by it; then dig and loosen the earth, and drop 
five or six beans in a circle round the. pole, 
about three inches from it, and cover with mel¬ 
low dirt one inch or one and a half in depth. 
When the plants are well up, stir the earth 
