268 ASP A R 
leaves, and they are twice as long. The (lent is annual. 
Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
3. Afparagus falcatus, or fickle-leaved afparagus: pric¬ 
kles folitary reverfed, branches round, leaves enliform fal¬ 
cated. Stem round, branching. Leaves linear or fword- 
fltaped, fliarp, narrow at the bale, fmooth". At the bafe of 
the leaves is a fmall recurved prickle. Native of Ceylon. 
4. Afparagus retrofraChis, or larch-leaved afparagus: 
prickles folitarv; brandies round, reflected, and retro- 
fr.nfled; leaves fetaceous, fafcicled. Branches round, di¬ 
chotomous, vvarted at the divifions, with a minute nodding 
prickle. It has very crooked irregular Balks, flmibby, 
and riling eight or ten feet high, putting outfeveral weak 
fide branches, having long narrow leaves on them, corning 
out in cinders, like thole of the larch-tree ; under each of 
thefe clufters is placed a tingle fharp thorn. The dalks 
continue feveral years, and the leaves keep green all the 
winter. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and flow¬ 
ers in Auguft and September. 
5. Afparagus yEthiopicus: prickles folitary reverfed, 
branches angular, leaves lanceolate-linear. Native alfo ot 
the Cape of Good Hope. 
6. Afparagus Afiaticus, or flender-dalked afparagus: 
prickles folitary, flem erect, branches filiform, leaves faf- 
cided fetaceous. This fends up many weak (hoots grow¬ 
ing in cinders, and armed with fliarp fpincs, both on the 
(ides and at the'ends of the flioots; the leaves come out 
in fmall cinders, and continue green all the year. It is a 
native of Afia, and was cultivated in 1768 by Miller. 
7. Afparagus albtis, or white afparagus : prickles foli- 
t.iry; branches angular, flexuofe; leaves fafcicled, trique¬ 
trous, awnlefs, deciduous. Stems flmibby, three or four 
feet "high, with very white bark, and armed with, thorns 
which are Angle, coming out juft below each tuft of leaves. 
The Items continue feveral years, and put out many branch¬ 
es, with fliort narrow leaves. Thefe continue green all 
the winter, if the plants are fereened from fevere froft. 
The fpines are ftraight, fpreading, or reflex. It was cul¬ 
tivated in 1640; and is a native of Spain and Portugal. 
8. Afparagus acutifolius, or acute-leaved afparagus: 
flem unarmed, angular, (lirubby; leaves needle-fliaped, 
rather rigid, perennial, mucronate, equal. This has white 
crooked Illrubby (talks, which rife four or five feet high, 
but have no fpines on them ; the leaves come out in cluf¬ 
ters like thofe of the larch-tree ; they are very ihort, and 
end in fharp prickles, fo that they are troublefome to han¬ 
dle. Native of Spain, Portugal, and the Levant. 
9. Afparagus horridus, or thorny afparagus: leaflets 
flmibby, five-cornered ; prickles four-cornered, compreff- 
ed, ftriated. The fpines of this are a finger’s length. It 
is a native of Spain. 
10. Afparagus aphyllus, or prickly afparagus: flem un¬ 
armed, angular, flmibby; leaves fubulate, ftriated, une¬ 
qual, diverging. This fends up many weak irregular 
Ihoots, which have no leaves, but inftead thereof they are 
armed with fliort ftiff thorns, coming out four or five toge¬ 
ther, and fpreading from each other every way. The 
flowers are fmall, and of an herbaceous colour; the ber¬ 
ries are larger than thofe of the common fort, and are 
black when ripe. Native of the foutli of Europe. 
11. Afparagus Capenfis, or Cape afparagus : fpines in 
fours, branches aggregate round, leaves fetaceous. Na¬ 
tive of the Cape of Good Hope. Cultivated in 1691 in 
the royal garden at Hampton-court. 
12. Afparagus farmentofus, or linear-leaved afparagus : 
leaves folitary linear-lanceolate, ftem flexuofe, prickles re¬ 
curved. This fends out from the root many weak climb¬ 
ing branches, which rife five or fix feet high ; the flioots 
are armed with fhort crooked fpines, which are fo clofely 
fet on, that it is difficult to touch the branches. Roots 
long, many, whitifli, flefhy, of a fweetifti pleafant flavour. 
Hence arife very long twigs, divided into many axils, with 
fliort fliarp prickles, either upwards or downwards, climb¬ 
ing up the neighbouring trees. Leaves broader, longer, 
^nd (louter, than in the reft of this genus: from which 
A G U S. 
come out fmall pale flowers, on (lender peduncles; thefe 
are fucceeded by red berries, in which are generally three 
angular feeds. The roots are eaten in Ceylon, where it 
grows naturally, with broth or milk; and the inhabitants 
are very fond of them. 
13. Afparagus verticillaris, or whorl-leaved afparagus: 
leaves verticillate. Found by Tournefort in the Levant, 
about Derbent and elfewhere. 
Propagation and Culture. The garden afparagus is pro¬ 
pagated by feeds, in the procuring of which, there fliould 
be particular care to get it from a perfon of (kill, who may 
be depended upon for his choice of the flioots, and inte¬ 
grity in (applying with his beft feeds. But, where a per- 
fon is in poffeflion of feme good beds of afparagus, it is 
much the beft way to fave it himfelf; in order to which, 
a fufficient number of the faireft buds fliould be marked 
early in the fpring, and permitted to run up for feeds; be- 
caufe thofe which run up after the feafon for cutting the 
afparagus is over, are generally fo backward, as not to ri¬ 
pen the feeds, unlefs the fummer is warm and the autumn 
very favourable. In the choice of the buds to be left for 
feeds, there niuft be great regard had to their fize ar.T 
roundnefs,. never leaving any that are inclinable to be fiat, 
or that foon grow open-headed, always choofing the round- 
eft, and fuch as have the clofeft tops. But, as feveral of 
thefe produce only male flowers, a greater number of buds 
fliould be left than might be necelfary, if there could be a 
certainty of their being all fruitful. When the buds are 
left, it will be proper to thru ft. a (lick down by each, but 
there niuft be care had in doing this not to injure the crown 
of the root. Thefe (licks will ferve as marks to diftinguifh 
them from the others when they are all run up. Toward the 
end of September the berries will be fully ripe, when the 
llalks ftiould be cut oft, and the berries dripped into a tub, 
in which they may remain three weeks or a month to fweat, 
by which means the outer hufks will be rotten; then fill 
the tub with water, and break all the hufks by fqueezing 
them between your hands. Thefe liuflcs will all fwim up¬ 
on the water, but the feeds will link to the bottom ; fo 
that, by pouring off the water gently, the hulks will be 
carried along with it, and, by putting frefti water two or 
three times, and ftirring your feed about, you will make it 
entirely clean : then fpread the (eed upon a mat or cloth, 
and expofe it to the fun and air in dry weather, until it is 
perfe&ly dry, when it may be put into a bag, and hung 
up in a dry place till February, or the beginning of March, 
which is the proper feafon for fowing it; at that time you 
mull prepare a bed of good rich earth made very level, 
whereon you muff low your feeds broadcaft, but not too 
thick, which will caufe the plants to come up quite fmall; 
then tread the bed all over to bury the feed in the ground, 
and rake it over fmooth. The following fummer keep the 
ground diligently cleared from weeds, which will greatly 
add to the ffrength of the plants; and, toward the latter 
end of October, when the haulm is quite withered, you 
may fpread a little rotten dung over the furface of the 
ground, about two inches thick, which will preferve the 
young buds from being hurt with the frofts, &c. 
The fpring following the plants will be fit to plant out 
for good, for plants of more than one year’s growth are 
unfit to remove ; and young plants will produce finer roots. 
You niuft therefore prepare your ground by trenching it 
well, burying therein a good quantity-of rotten dung at the 
bottom of each trench, that it may lie at lead fix inches 
below the furface of the ground ; then level the whole plot 
very exactly, taking out all large ftones: but this fliould 
not be done long before you intend to plant your afpara¬ 
gus, in which you niuft be governed according to the na¬ 
ture of your foil or the feafon; for, if your foil be dry, 
and the feafon forward, you may plant early in March; 
but, in a wet foil, it is better to wait till the end of that 
month, or the beginning of April, which is about the fea¬ 
fon that the plants are beginning to (hoot. Many people 
have adviled the planting of afparagus at Michaelmas, 
but tiiis we have experienced to be very wrong; for, in 
tw 0 
