ASPARAGUS. 
two different years, large quantities were obliged to be 
tranfpknted at that feafon, but the plants had better have 
been thrown away ; for, upon examination in the fpring, 
' moft of the roots were grown mouldy, and decaying, and 
not one in five of them fucceeded, and thofe which did 
were fo weak, as not to be worth their handing. The fea- 
fon being come for planting, you mult, with a narrow¬ 
pronged dung-fork, carefully fork up the roots, fhaking 
themTout of the earth, and feparating them from each 
other, obferving to lay their heads even, for the more con¬ 
venient planting them, which mull be performed in this 
manner : The plot of ground being levelled, you mud be¬ 
gin at one fide thereof, ranging a line very tight acrofs the 
piece, throwing out a trench exadtly draight by the line 
about fix inches deep, being careful not to turn up the 
dung; into which trench you may lay your roots, fpread- 
ing them with your fingers, and placing them upright 
againit the back of the trench, that the buds may dand 
forward, and be about two inches below the furface of the 
ground, and at twelve inches didance from each other; 
then, with a rake, draw the earth into the trench again, 
laying it very level, which will preferve the roots in their 
right pofition ; then remove the line a foot farther back, 
and make another trench in the like manner, laying there¬ 
in your plants as before diredled, and continuing the fame 
didance row from row, only obferving between every four 
rows to leave a didance of two feet four inches for an al¬ 
ley to go between the beds to cut the afparagus, Sc c. The 
plot of the ground being finiflied and levelled, you may 
fow thereon a fmall crop of onions, which will not hurt 
the afparagus, provided the onions are not too clofe, and 
tread in the feeds, raking the ground level. There are 
fome perfons who plant the feeds of afparagus in the place 
tyhere the roots are to remain, which is a very good me¬ 
thod, if it is performed with care. The way is this : after 
the ground has been well trenched and dunged, lay it le¬ 
vel, and draw a line acrofs the ground in the fame manner 
as is practifed for planting the young plants; then with a 
dibble make holes at a foot didance, into each of which 
drop two feeds, for fear one fhould mifcarry; thefe holes 
fiiould not be more than half an inch deep ; then cover the 
feeds, by finking the earth in upon it, and go on, remo¬ 
ving the line a foot back for another row ; and, after four 
rows are finiflied, leave a fpace for an alley between the 
beds, if it is defigned to Hand for the natural feafon of cut¬ 
ting; but, if it is to be taken up for hot-beds, there may 
be fix rows planted in each bed, and the diftance in the 
rows need not be more than nine inches. This fhould be 
performed by the middle of February, becaufe the feeds 
lie long in the ground; but, if onions are intended to be 
fown upon the ground, that may be performed a fortnight 
or three weeks after, provided the ground is not ftirred fo 
deep as to difiurb the afparagus-feeds, in raking the onion- 
feeds into the ground. As the roots of afparagus always 
fend forth many long fibres which run deep into the ground, 
fo, when the feeds are fown where they are to remain, the 
roots will not be broken or injured, as thofe mlift be which 
are tranfpknted, therefore will flioot deeper into the 
ground, make much greater progrefs, and the fibres will 
pufli out on every fide, which will caufe the crown of the 
root to be in the centre; whereas, in tranfplanting, the 
roots are made flat againft the fide of the trench. 
When the afparagus is come up, and the onions have 
railed their feed-leaves upright (which will be infix weeks 
after planting), you mud with a fmall hoe cut up all the 
weeds, and thin the crop of onions where they may have 
come up in bunches ; but this mud be done carefully, and 
in dry weather, that the weeds may die as faft as they are 
cut up, being careful not to injure the young fhoots of af¬ 
paragus, as alfo to cut up the onions which grow near the 
fhoots. This work muft be repeated about three times, 
which, if well done, and the feafon not too wet, w ill keep 
•the ground clear from weeds until the onions are fit to be 
pulled up, which is commonly in Auguft, and is known 
when tlveir greens fall down and begin to wither. When 
Vol, II. No. 70. 
2 Gg 
you have drawn oil' the onions, it will be neCcffary to clean 
the ground well from weeds, which will keep it clean till 
the alleys are dug to earth the beds, which muft be done 
in October, when the haulm is decayed ; for, if you cut 
off the haulm whilegreen, the roots will flioot frefli again, 
which will greatly weaken them. This young haulm 
fliould be cut off with a knife, leaving the (terns two inch¬ 
es above ground, which jvill be a guide for you to difiin- 
guifh the beds from the alleys; then with a hoe clear off 
the weeds into the alleys, and dig up the alleys, burying 
the weeds in the bottom, and throw the earth upon the 
beds, fo that the beds may be about four or five inches 
above the level of the alleys: tlieh a row of coleworts 
may be planted in the middle of the alleys, but never fow 
or plant any thing upon the beds, which would greatly 
weaken the roots ; nor would we ever advife the planting 
of beans in the alleys, as is the pradlice of many, for that 
greatly damages the two outfide rows of afparagus. In 
this manner it muft remain till fpring, when, fome time in 
March, the beds fhould be hoed over, to deftroy all young 
weeds ; then rake them fmooth, and obferve all the fuc- 
ceeding fuinmer to keep them clear from weeds, and in 
October dig up the alleys again, as was before directed, 
earthing the beds, &c. If you wifh to Cave a year, you 
may purchafe year-old plants from the nurferymen or 
kitchen-gardeners at is. or is. 6d. the hundred. 
The fecond fpring after planting, fome perfons begin to 
cut fome of the buds of afparagus foru'fe, though it would 
be much better to ftay until the third year; therefore now 
the beds fliould be forked with a flat-pronged fork made 
on purpofe, commonly called an afparagus-fork : this muft 
be done before the buds begin to ihoot in the fpring, and 
fliould be performed with care, left you fork too deep, and 
bruife the head of the root; then rake the beds over 
fmooth, juft before the buds appear above ground, which 
will deftroy all young weeds, and keep your beds clean 
much longer than if left unraked, or if done fo foon as 
forked. When the buds appear about four inclies above 
ground, you may then cut tlieiYi; but it fliould be done 
fparingly, only taking the large buds, and differing the 
fmall to run up to ftrengthen the roots; for, the more you 
cut, the greater will be the increafeof buds, but they will 
be fmaller and the roots fooner decay. In cutting the buds, 
you muft: open the ground with your knife (which fhould 
be very narrow-pointed, long in the blade, and filed with 
teeth like a faw), to fee whether any more young buds are 
coming up ciofe by it, which might be either broken or 
bruifed in cutting the other, then with a knife faw it off 
about two inches under ground. Tills may appear a very 
troublefome affair to people unacquainted with the practi¬ 
cal part; but tliofe who are employed in cutting afpara¬ 
gus, will perform a great deal of this work in a fhort time, 
though care in doing it is abfolutely neceffary to be obfer- 
ved by all who cut afparagus. The manner of drafting 
the afparagus-beds is every year the fame as directed for 
the fecond, viz. keeping them clean from weeds in dim¬ 
mer, digging the alleys in October, and forking the beds 
toward the end of March, See. only obferve every other 
year to lay fome rotten dung (from a melon or cucumber 
bed) all over the beds, burying fome in the alleys alfo, at 
the time for digging them up. This will preferve the 
ground in heart to maintain the roots in vigour; and by 
this management a plot of good afparagus may be conti¬ 
nued for ten or twelve years in cutting, and will produce 
good buds, efpecially if it is not cut too long each feafon; 
for, when it is not left to run up pretty early in June, the 1 
roots will be greatly weakened, and the buds will be 
fmaller: therefore, in thofe families where afparagus is 
required late in the feafon, a few beds fliould be let apart 
for that purpofe, which "ill be much better than to injure 
the whole plantation, by cutting it too long. 
We cannot help taking notice of a common error that 
lias long prevailed with many people, which is^, that of 
not dunging the ground for afparagus, believing that the 
dung communicates a flroug rank taffe to the afparagus, 
3 Z which 
