146 THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. [chap. yi. 
The beds are generally covered during win¬ 
ter with rotten manure, which is forked in, 
and the beds raked in spring; and this 
treatment should be repeated every year, or 
every two or three years at farthest, the 
beds being slightly covered, in the interme¬ 
diate years, with litter, leaves, &c., which 
may be raked off in spring. The stalks 
should not be cut till the third year after 
planting; but, after that, the roots will con¬ 
tinue to produce freely for twelve or fourteen 
years. Asparagus is cut generally a little 
below the surface, with a sharp knife, slant¬ 
ing upwards; and the market-gardeners cut 
all the shoots produced for two months,—say 
from April till Midsummer,—but suffer all 
the shoots that push up after that period to 
expand their leaves, in order that they may 
elaborate their sap, and thus strengthen the 
roots. Whole fields of this plant are culti¬ 
vated by the market-gardeners near London, 
to the extent, as it is said, of from eighty to 
a hundred acres, chiefly near Mortlake, Bat¬ 
tersea, and Deptford. During the last four 
or five years, these fields, and many private 
gardens near London, have been infested 
