January 31, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
99 
Hspavagus, 
Notwithstanding the fact that home-grown fruit and 
vegetables are always sought after in preference to imported 
produce, it is surprising to see that market growers do not 
materially increase the cultivation of Asparagus. The demand 
for this popular vegetable is always brisk, and the prices it 
commands are always good; so, therefore, it may not be in¬ 
appropriate to draw the attention of market growers to the 
cultivation of this favourite esculent. The prevailing opinion 
among a considerable number apparently is, that the cultiva¬ 
tion of Asparagus is somewhat difficult, and that con¬ 
siderable expense and risk attend any effort that may be 
made to grow it; and, in addition, a long time must elapse 
before any appreciable l'etum is obtained therefrom. These 
erroneous impressions may, however, be dispensed with 
entirely, and encouragement given practical men to give a 
wider expansion to the cultivation of Asparagus. 
I am informed by the market salesmen that the usual 
average price paid in Dundee to the growers is from lOd. to 
Is. per lb., and that they find an easy sale for the limited 
supply at that price. That price, roughly estimated, is £5 per 
cwt.; or, approximately, £100 per ton. Thus it is evident 
that anyone with a few acres of land may safely undertake 
the cultivation of Asparagus, and, with judicious management, 
find it one of the most remunerative outdoor crops grown in 
this country. Extensive orchards of young fruit trees are 
being planted, and Strawberries, Raspberries, and Currant 
bushes by the acre. Why not Asparagus ? The remuneration 
of the latter would be as handsome, if not even more so, than 
any of the former. 
The average wholesale price paid in Covent Garden for 
French Beans during the months of January and February is 
from Is. to Is. 6d. per lb. Would not Asparagus command the 
same money at that time? I fancy so, and as the forcing of 
Asparagus is a simple matter, fortunate indeed would be the 
market grower who could send a consignment of 2 or 3 tons 
to market at the present minute. 
With regal'd to the formation of the permanent beds or the 
extensive cultivation for market purposes a great deal could 
be written, but it ought to be remembered that veiy satis¬ 
factory results can be obtained without any elaborate or 
laborious methods being employed. A few of the essential 
points may be briefly stated. The soil need not necessarily be 
trenched, unless it be of an exceptionally heavy nature ; the 
quality, of course, must be taken into consideration in the 
course of preparation to ensure success. 
A satisfactory and profitable mode of procedure with any 
ordinary good soil would be to take out an opening, as for 
trenching, 2-|- ft. wide, but scarcely so deep as for ordinary 
trenching. Then, with the digging-fork, dig up the bottom of 
the trench, but allow the soil to remain in the bottom ; do not 
bring this to the surface unless it is of exceptionally good 
quality or superior to the top spit, which is most unlikely that 
it will be, so it had better be allowed to remain at the bottom. 
Then all annual weeds, Cabbage roots, or leaves should be 
taken off the top of the next spading and put in the bottom of 
the trench. Above this place a layer of thoroughly decomposed 
farmyard manure, 6 in. thick, remembering that Asparagus 
plants are gross feeders, and that it is scarcely possible to 
make the ground too rich for them ; and the liberal allowance 
of farmyard manure is unquestionably a most important factor 
in the production of tender, well-developed growths. The 
manure should be covered over with about 6 in. of good clean 
soil from the top of the next spading ; then the ground is ready 
for the marking off of the beds, which, for market purposes, 
could be 6 ft. wide and 100 yards in length, with intervening 
alleys 2 ft. wide between each. 
The raising of the seedling plants for the planting of the 
permanent beds is also of special importance ; but this can 
easily be accomplished in the following manner : Prepare a 
bed, say 6 ft. wide, with a hard bottom, using a layer of ashes 
well trodden down. Above this put 2 in. of thoroughly de¬ 
composed manure or leaf-mould, and cover it over with 1 in. 
or 5 in. of nice clean soil. Then, after being levelled and raked, 
draw tidy drills, 2 in. deep and 1 ft. apart, the whole length of 
the bed. During the first week of April sow the seed. Sow 
thinly and regularly; and allow the young seedlings to make 
two summers’ growth in this bed. Then they are ready for 
transplanting the following spring. The proper time for trans¬ 
planting is in spring, just when the plants commence to start 
into growth. 
Another method of laying down permanent beds, and one 
which would probably suit market purposes better, is to pre¬ 
pare the ground, as before stated, for transplanting, not as for 
the raising of the seedlings, with a hard cinder bottom. With 
the beds prepared as stated, 6 ft. wide, drills can be drawn in 
the same manner, 2 in. deep, but wider apart in this case, 15 in. 
or 18 in. asunder the whole length of the bed. Sow the seed 
thinly and regularly, and thin out all the weakest seedlings, 
retaining all the most vigorous and robust plants, which are 
allowed to grow about 15 in. apart to form the permanent beds, 
no transplanting being required. In this manner splendid 
beds are formed in three or four years, which will continue to 
produce an enormous amount of Asparagus for an indefinite 
period, probably forty years or more, according to the soil and 
treatment given. Hard cutting is not advisable during the 
first three or four years until the beds are established. It 
may be mentioned that Asparagus is in no way fastidious with 
regard to soil. It will succeed well in any ordinary soil, but 
prefers a rich, retentive loam ; but although it makes vigorous 
growth in moist soil, it is most impatient of too much moisture, 
and positively declines to take to anything of a stagnant nature. 
The imperative necessity of perfect and effectual drainage to 
all garden crops is too well understood to require to be men¬ 
tioned here. John C. Peebles. 
St. Fort, Newport. 
jforemo ffiulbs, etc. 
I observe on p. 23 a queiy concerning forced Daffodils. It 
may be interesting to young readers to know that Daffodils 
are—more so than many other bulbs—impatient of too rapid 
forcing, and this may possibly explain the failure of “ R. W. F.’s ” 
pots. We force several thousands of bulbs of Daffodils for 
market, and, knowing their little'peculiarity in this matter, a 
short time ago we purposely put six pots into veiy strong 
heat, or, to be precise, into a temperature of 70 deg. They 
were well rooted, having been potted since August, and now, 
at the time of writing, while we are gathering flowers from 
other boxes which have been forced more gently, there is not 
a sign of a flower on any of these pots. 
Another instance may be interesting. A neighbour asked 
us to force a few Tulips out for him in our stove-houses. We 
consented, and he sent them in, but they are forcing veiy 
badly, and throwing up veiy tiny, stunted flowers. We 
examined them and found they had scarcely made any roots 
at all, and appear to have been boxed up only a few r days pre¬ 
viously. Now a little common sense will show that bulbs or 
plants, to yield their flowers prematurely and artificially, as 
forced plants are made to do, must be healthy and well 
matured. In the case of bulbs matured and well ripened, and 
of shrubby or woody plants, good growth and well-developed 
buds are essential to success. Anyone who has tried it—as 
many of us have—know how difficult it is to force Lily of the 
Valley until they have had a complete rest or cessation of 
growth, such as exposure to a veiy low temperature before 
freezing chambers were utilised. We used to lay out the 
crowns in order to be frozen by the first autumn frosts, after 
which they forced more readily. A. P. 
