March 28, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
249 
A GOOD dish of Asparagus, whether early or late in the forcing 
JLJl season, is a great delicacy, and fully appreciated as such by 
those whose good fortune it is to be in a position to discuss its merits. 
All experienced gardeners are well aware how simple a matter it is 
to raise Asparagus early if only the roots are available for the 
purpose. Given a few frames or pits, gentle hotbeds, and the 
requisite number of roots, and it is possible to maintain a steady 
supply of tender shoots from November till Asparagus is available 
in the open. Now in very many instances the Asparagus beds cost 
much labour and expense in their preparation, two or three seasons’ 
grace also being necessary before cutting commences, and to break 
up these after four, five, or six years’ service seems a very unpro¬ 
fitable proceeding. As far as we are concerned it cannot be donei 
and even if the labour and materials were available for the for¬ 
mation of a new bed every season—this to take the place of one 
broken up for forcing—I should not pursue that practice. The 
alternative, and a good one too, is to annually prepare the requisite 
number of plants for lifting, much as we do Seakale and various 
flowering plants and shrubs. It is not by any means a wasteful 
proceeding, no more garden room being required than is the case 
where permanent beds are broken up and' fresh ones formed every 
year. It must be added I do not advance this as a novel idea, but 
propound it as being well worthy of more general adoption. 
All that is necessary for the preparation of a given number of 
Asparagus plants for forcing is a good open piece of ground, this 
•answering best if of a free-working nature, and an any case should 
he well manured, and dug early enough to admit of pulverisation 
■taking place before planting time arrives. As a matter of fact 
ground that will produce good crops of well-formed Potatoes of 
the best table quality will suit Asparagus equally as well, and there 
is no reason why the latter should be located inside the garden walls. 
A certain amount of shelter is necessary, otherwise the young 
•growths must be secured to stakes to prevent their breaking down, 
-and also the disturbance of the roots. Were I to start market 
gardening on a large scale, one of my most important crops would 
be Asparagus for forcing, and those in charge of large private 
gardens might with advantage prepare a few thousand plants in 
company with the Potatoes in the open fields for forcing— i.e., if 
garden room is somewhat limited. 
The plan of procedure may be much as follows. Late in March 
or early in April a few, or many ounces of seed, as the case may 
be, ought to be sown rather thinly in drills drawn 12 inches apart, 
Ihe site selected being warm and fairly rich. With a little attention 
in the way of thinning out the seedlings where crowded, and clean¬ 
ing when necessary, the requisite number of fairly strong plants 
should result in one season, and these ought to be planted out 
in the following April, or as soon as active top-growth commences. 
They must not be cramped into small holes, or planted somewhat 
similarly to a Box edging, the roots being driven down into; a, 
narrow trench cut with a spade, but on the contrary much depends 
upon the method adopted and the pains taken in planting. Shallow 
■drills should be opened either with a spade or flat draw hoes, these 
being not less than 9 inches wide and 2 feet apart. Not till the 
ground is quite ready for it should the Asparagus be lifted, a few 
hours’ exposure to bright sunshine or cold drj'ing winds seriously 
in-jaring the delicate root fibres. As many root* as possible should 
No. 457. —Vol. X.VIII., Third Series 
be preserved to each crown, and these ought to be spread out flatly 
in the drills and covered with good fine soil. The plants may be 
disposed about 12 inches apart, the crowns being only just covered 
with soil. Thus carefully planted the Asparagus soon recovers 
from the check consequent upon transplanting, and if duly mulched 
with strawy manure and kept free of weeds, will, in most seasons, 
make rapid and strong growth. In a very dry season they might 
well receive two or three good soakings of pond or soft water, and 
all will be benefited, wherever located, by the support of rough 
stakes and strips of matting. Whether a whole or a portion of the 
plants shall be lifted and forced during the following winter should 
depend upon circumstances. If strong growth were made during 
the summer after the roots were planted, the crowns formed would 
yield capital shoots if forced in the winter, but it is almost needless 
to add a second year on the ground would materially strengthen 
them, the produce being correspondingly good and valuable. Only 
moderately good two-year-old plants that are forced this winter 
yielded their first shoots in less than a fortnight, and we were 
complimented on the quality, “It was not large, but very good.” 
Those who can afford the time and space might improve on the 
foregoing plan of preparing Asparagus quickly. It is possible to 
raise, the plants this year and force them next winter. In this case 
the seed must be sown at once in 3-inch pots, two or three seeds in 
each, these being plunged in or arranged on a gentle hotbed in a 
forcing house or pit. If it is not too old or unsound the seed 
should germinate quickly, and when the plants are large enough to 
handle they must be thinned out, one only being left in each pot. 
They ought to be kept in gentle heat and a light position till the 
pots are well filled with roots, when the time has arrived for hard¬ 
ening off and finally planting out. All should be carefully planted 
with a trowel in good light soil, and if a warm west border can be 
devoted to them so much the better. The same distances as above 
l’ecommended are suitable, and a light protection in the shape of 
small branches of Fir or evergreens given for a few days will serve 
to ward off late frosts. I have seen plants raised and treated in 
this manner form shoots the same season half an inch in thickness. 
This, however, might be termed an exceptional case, but well-grown 
one-year-old plants when forced yield surprisingly good and tender 
shoots. A. more simple plan would be to sow the seed thinly in 
ordinary sliallow boxes, similar to those used in the preparation of 
various summer bedding plants, placing these in heat. The seed¬ 
lings ought not to-' be kept long in heat, but may be hardened off 
and eventually planted out late in May. If not raised very thickly 
the greater portion of the plants can be moved with a little soil 
about the roots, but even if this is not possible they will yet 
recover from the more severe check given them. It is not to be 
expected that these can be prepared for forcing in one year, but 
after two seasons’ growth quite strong crowns should be plentiful. 
The Early Giant Pui’ple Argenteuil is to be preferred for forcing 
purposes, and I would recommend that seed of this French variety 
be sown in preference to the better known Conover’s Colossal Giant 
or Battersea.— W. Iggulden. 
" * . i • * • . » • f 
BEGONIA GLOIRE D.E SCEAUX. 
Of the winter-flowering section of Begonias this is decidedly 
one of the best and most useful, and deserves to be extensively 
grown in every establishment where a supply of bloom is required 
through the dull months of winter and early spring. With rrs it 
commenced flowering towards the end of December, and from the 
middle of JanuaTyto the beginning of the present month it was a 
mass of bloom,- almost entirely covering the foliage. When it 
would have finished blooming I cannot say, for at the last named 
date we removed the flowers to encourage fresh growth for propa¬ 
gating, as we wish to obtain as many as possible of what is un¬ 
doubtedly a grand addition to our winter-flowering plants. At 
No. 2113 .—Vol. LXXX., Old Series. 
