ASP 
BAN 
as narrow as the roots of the plants will 
allow, and the sides of the beds be cased 
up with four-inch pigeon-holed brick¬ 
work; on the top of the beds a light frame¬ 
work of wood is fixed in the manner of a 
ridge roof, to the middle of which can¬ 
vass frames are hung, so as to protect 
the young shoots from cold and wet; 
glazed frames would be preferable, and 
now that glass is cheap may as well be 
used. The alleys, which are now two 
feet wide, are filled with hot dung, the 
warmth from which, striking through 
the beds, starts the plants into an active 
growth; and, in consequence of their 
being thoroughly established, having an 
abundance of healthy roots uninjured by 
removal, they break with a vigour un¬ 
known to such as are taken up to force 
in frames. 
The advantages of this method are 
self-evident, and a comparison between 
it and the common mode will make 
them so strongly apparent as to need 
no other arguing. By the usual course 
the plants are mutilated of their roots, 
and then suddenly placed in a compa¬ 
ratively strong heat; and when they 
have borne this torturing, and yielded 
the weakly produce consequent on such 
unnatural treatment, are cast away as 
refuse ; while, on the other hand. Aspa¬ 
ragus forced in the bed has all its roots 
in exactly the condition to make the 
greatest return, and afterwards has only 
to be gradually inured to the open air 
on the approach of summer, when its 
stems will grow up and recruit the plants 
to the full as much as though it had not 
been subject to more than the ordinary 
cutting, and prepare them for a similar 
course in the next season, thus affording 
a superior produce without any waste, 
and at an earlier and long continued 
period. Of course it is necessary 
through the winter to protect the beds 
with mats or litter in severe weather, 
and to turn and renew the heating ma¬ 
terial as occasion requires, so that a 
degree of heat may be imparted to 
the bed equal to about 50° Fahren¬ 
heit, and the summer management of 
such beds will be precisely that of any 
common one.; the heat of the dung in 
the alleys will be preserved and econo¬ 
mised if wooden shutters are made to 
fit closely over it, which a wooden plate, 
running the length of the beds on the 
top of the brickwork, will afford a ready 
means of fixing, and will also keep the 
path clean and neat, and facilitate the 
cutting and general management of the 
beds. Six weeks is usually consumed 
in starting the beds, reckoning from the 
time when the dung is first wheeled 
into the alleys till the beds are fit to 
cut, supposing the forcing to commence 
in November, and they will continue to 
furnish a supply for nearly three months. 
BANANA. Musa Sa/pientum (Plu- 
mieh.) Nat. Ord. Musaceue. There are 
ten species of the genus Musa, which in 
different countries are called promiscu¬ 
ously Bananas or Plantains, though 
strictly speaking it is only the species 
mentioned in the heading that is pro¬ 
perly a Banana. As the general cha¬ 
racter and management of the whole is 
almost identical, to prevent repetition 
we shall speak of them collectively. 
In tropical countries the fruit is 
highly esteemed both by natives and 
settlers, being regarded as a chief article 
of food; the full-grown but yet unripe 
fruit are roasted and eaten as a substi¬ 
tute for bread, those in a greener state 
are boiled as a vegetable, and others in 
a ripe state are made into tarts, eaten 
raw, or fried in butter, dried, salted, or 
preserved as a sweetmeat; the young 
tender leaves are also used as a vege¬ 
table, the fermented juice of the stems 
forms an agreeable wine, and the full- 
grown leaves, which in some species 
measure six feet in length and two feet 
across, are made into baskets, or used 
for thatching; so valuable are these 
plants, that the first object of the inha¬ 
bitants is the possession of a plantain 
walk. With us some difficulty is found 
in providing sufficient space for them, and 
that alone has hitherto prevented their 
more extensive adoption; the Banana, 
and most of the other species, attain a 
height of from ten to sixteen feet, and 
the spread of their leaves would extend 
over as much laterally, an area that few 
