April  2,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
297 
class,  prolificacy,  and  high  colour.  In  this  there  is  evidence  of 
the  male  (Madeleine)  overruling  the  female  (Mignonne  Veloutee) 
quite,  as  regards  the  inherent  tendency,  with  an  increase  of  race 
vigour  on  the  part  of  the  plant. 
In  Bellegarde,  the  grandest  of  all  the  noyeau  flavoured  Peaches, 
there  is  the  exact  opposite,  the  tree  being  a  Madeleine  in  growth 
and  flowers,  yet  the  fruit  is  neither  one  nor  the  other,  but  a  com¬ 
pound  of  both,  hence  its  fine  form,  large  size,  and  superb  quality. 
Of  all  the  bud-casting  varieties  this  is  one  of  the  worst  when 
subjected  to  early  forcing,  or  even  moderately  early. 
Then  there  is  Barrington,  with  the  wood  and  flowers  of  the 
Madeleine  race,  its  colour  intensified  in  the  fruit,  which,  however, 
is  Mignonne  Veloutee  in  form  and  quality.  It  also  is  a  notorious 
caster  of  buds  when  grown  under  glass,  and  as  remarkably  free 
from  that  defect  when  grown  against  a  wall  outdoors. 
Late  Admirable  has  wood  of  the  Madeleine  race  and  flowers  to 
match,  but  the  fruit  is  half-and-half  of  that  type  and  Mignonne 
Veloutee  with  a  nipple — a  new  departure — a  cross  of  some  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  two  races  before  named  with  a  Nectarine,  the 
G-rand  Noir  of  the  Dutch,  from  which  Mr.  Rivers  raised  Nectarine 
Peach,  and  (though  usually)  does  not  always  come  with  a  smooth 
Nectarine-like  skin.  There  is  a  want  of  down  in  most  of  this  type, 
which  includes  Noblesse  and  all  the  “sweet,”  high  flavoured,  and 
usually  light  coloured  Peaches,  which,  with  the  exception  of  Late 
Admirable,  are  all  great  bud-casters,  consequently  unsuitable  for 
early  forcing,  as  also  is  Grosse  Mignonne  and  all  its  race,  having 
the  inherent  tendency  of  the  parent  fixed  in  the  progeny.  But  Late 
Admirable  is  one  of  the  best  early  forcing  Peaches  from  a  cropping 
point  of  view,  but  not  eligible  on  account  of  its  taking  a  long  time 
to  grow  and  ripen  its  fruit. 
In  contradistinction  to  the  last-named  variety  comes  Gladstone, 
a  sort  of  Noblesse,  with  a  little  Grosse  Mignonne,  like  it  in  growth 
and  in  flower,  glandless  leaves,  like  Noblesse  and  Royal  George — 
see  how  the  breed  runs  so  far  as  regards  plants — and  a  fruit  with  a 
pale  flesh,  juicy,  rich  and  vinous  in  flavour.  It  is  a  great  bud- 
caster —  a  Noblesse  —  unsuited  for  early  forcing,  to  which  the 
intention  is  to  confine  farther  remarks  in  the  summary. 
Thus,  varieties  of  the  Madeleine  race  inherency  have  small 
flowers,  and  are  late  in  forming  the  blossom  buds,  these  not  being 
conspicuous,  often  scarcely  discernible,  when  the  fruit  is  cleared  off 
the  trees.  On  the  other  hand,  varieties  of  the  Mignonne  Veloutee 
heredity  have  large  flowers  (generally,  but  not  always),  and  are 
early  fruit-bud  formers,  these  being  prominent  by  the  time  the 
fruit  is  ripe. — G.  Abbey. 
(To  be  concluded  ) 
ASPARAGUS  CULTURE. 
“  Not  nearly  enough  of  this  excellent  vegetable  is  grown  ”  is  a 
time-honoured  phrase  which  still  holds  good.  It  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  cottagers  will  ever  “  take  kindly  ”  to  it  so  long  as 
they  remain  under  the  impression  that  only  “  gentry  ”  can  afford 
to  giow  it ;  but  farmers  and  the  middle  classes  generally  ought  to 
offer  no  such  excuses  as  I  very  frequently  hear  given  for  not 
planting  or  sowing  one  or  more  beds.  There  are,  it  is  true,  some 
sites  not  naturally  well  adapted  to  Asparagus  culture,  and  in 
all  such  cases  the  difficulties  have  to  be  faced  and  surmounted 
before  success  is  assured.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Asparagus  can  be 
as  easily  and  simply  grown  in  the  majority  of  gardens  as  any  other 
kind  of  vegetable. 
Where  the  plant  is  most  at  home  is  on  naturally  deep,  well 
drained,  free  working  soils.  In  these,  under  fair  treatment,  failure 
would  appear  to  be  out  of  the  question,  anything  in  the  shape  of 
high  culture  proving  uncalled  for.  We  have  only  to  cultivate  and 
manure  deeply,  or  rather  it  is  usually  thought  desirable  that  this 
should  be  done.  I  can,  however,  point  to  several  large  plantations 
owned  and  profitably  worked  by  market  growers  that  were  only 
dug  one  spade  deep,  which  certainly  cannot  be  termed  deep  culture. 
In  some  few  private  gardens  the  same  method  of  culture  is  also 
resorted  to,  no  raised  beds  are  formed,  and  yet  the  produce  is 
regarded  as  highly  satisfactory  by  the  owners  of  the  place. 
Warmth  and  moisture  rather  than  a  great  depth  of  rich  soil  are  what 
the  Asparagus  delights  in.  Deep  root  action,  brought  about  by 
good  cultivation  and  a  free  addition  of  manure  to  the  second  spit, 
may  be  right  on  the  naturally  light  alluvial  soils  or  any  created  by 
additions  from  the  surface,  but  is  wrong  in  the  case  of  heavy, 
clayey  subsoils. 
Digging  in  solid  manure  freely  one  or  two  spits  deep  is  all  the 
preparation  needed  when  the  soil  and  subsoil  come  under  the 
category  first  described,  but  something  more  than  this  is  needed 
with  heavy  clayey  soils.  Marking  out  spaces  for  raised  beds,  which 
may  be  either  3  feet  or  5  feet  wide,  the  former  to  hold  two,  and 
the  latter  three  rows  of  plants,  should  be  the  first  proceeding. 
The  best  of  the  surface  soil  ought  then  to  be  dug  and  distributed 
on  both  sides  of  a  width,  quite  baring  the  clay  subsoil.  Remove 
a  full  spit  of  the  latter,  and  then  if  the  drainage  is  imperfect  this 
can  be  remedied  by  laying  a  common  pipe  drain  6  inches  deeper, 
covering  with  stones,  brick  ends,  or  clinkers.  A  layer  of  stones 
and  old  mortar  rubbish  may  well  be  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the 
bed  and  covered  with  some  material  that  will  prevent  clogging 
during  the  first  few  years.  On  this  must  be  placed  a  mixture  of 
fresh  loam,  garden  soil,  mortar  rubbish,  and  coarse  burnbake,  making 
moderately  firm  in  readiness  for  the  good  top  soil  previously  thrown 
out,  and  with  which  is  well  mixed  fine  sandy  soil,  fine  mortar 
rubbish,  and  old  Mushroom  bed  refuse. 
The  beds  should  be  built  up  squarely,  and  time  allowed 
for  settling.  This  seems  at  variance  with  my  opening  remarks, 
but  it  is  not  fair  to  ignore  the  difficulties  under  which  some  culti¬ 
vators  labour,  and  what  I  have  advanced  as  to  the  necessity  of 
taking  extra  trouble  in  extreme  cases  does  not  do  away  with  the 
fact  that  Asparagus  can  be  easily  and  much  more  simply  grown 
in  the  majority  of  gardens  or  fields  than  is  generally  imagined. 
Even  if  so  much  labour  had  to  be  expended  on  the  preparation 
of  the  beds  in  all  gardens,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  such  well 
prepared  sites  are  to  be  regarded  as  permanent,  or  quite  capable 
of  supporting  Asparagus  satisfactorily  for  an  almost  indefinite 
period . 
Whether  seeds  shall  be  sown  or  plants  put  out  will  depend  on 
circumstances.  Naturally  two-year-old  plants  would  be  the  first 
to  give  cuttings  of  strong  shoots  or  heads  for  use,  but  raising  from 
seeds  is  the  cheaper  method  of  the  two.  Those  who  contemplate 
planting  or  stocking  large  breadths  of  ground  with  Asparagus 
might  commence  at  one  end  this  season,  sowing  the  seeds  in 
shallow  drills  drawn  15  inches  apart.  This  should  be  done  early  in 
April  and  the  seed  distributed  thinly  in  the  drills.  The  seedlings 
ought  to  be  thinned  early  to  about  4  inches  apart,  and  they  will 
then  become  strong  enough  to  move  the  following  Bpring.  At  this 
time  every  second  row  may  be  lifted,  and  from  two-thirds  to  three- 
fourths  of  those  in  the  other  rows  be  also  taken  up  and  replanted 
15  inches  or  more  apart  in  rows  30  inches  asunder.  Seedlings  may 
be  raised  for  beds  in  a  similar  manner,  or  the  seeds  can  be  sown 
where  the  reserved  portion  of  the  plants  are  to  remain  permanently. 
There  are  fewer  failures  when  planting  takes  place  after  top  and 
root  growth  have  commenced,  and  I  have  repeatedly  moved 
Asparagus  without  losses  as  late  as  May. 
Purchased  plants  ought  not  to  be  expected  to  succeed  quite  so 
well,  at  any  rate  during  the  first  season,  as  those  home  raised,  as 
they  cannot  well  be  moved  without  suffering  from  exposure  to 
drying  winds.  If  they  arrive  in  a  dried  state,  place  them  on  a 
warm  border,  give  a  watering,  and  then  cover  with  good  fine  soil, 
all  that  start  into  growth  strongly  to  be  transplanted  to  the  beds 
and  the  rest  thrown  away.  In  each  and  every  case  open  wide  drills 
rather  than  single  holes  for  the  roots,  making  the  bottoms  of  the 
drills  highest  in  the  centre,  and  the  plants  can  then  be  set  on  these 
with  their  roots  spread  out  evenly,  and  slightly  dipping  downwards. 
Cover  with  from  3  inches  to  4  inches  of  fine  rich  soil,  finishing  off 
smoothly.  Salt  should  not  be  applied  to  young  Asparagus  beds,  a 
mild  dose  of  this  having  been  known  to  badly  cripple  a  large 
number  of  newly  moved  plants.  Nor  is  there  any  need  for  an 
application  of  chemical  manure,  but  a  mulching  of  strawy  litter 
would  not  be  wasted.  No  weeds  ought  to  be  allowed  to  seed  on 
Asparagus  beds,  a  free  use  of  the  Dutch  hoe  every  season  saving 
much  after  labour.  Let  the  seedlings  have  three  clear  seasons’ 
growth  before  commencing  to  cut  from  them,  and  unles*  two- 
year-old  plants  put  out  this  spring  grow  extra  strongly  these  should 
not  be  cut  from  next  year.  Strong  growths  ought  to  be  supported 
with  either  short  Pea  stakes  or  stakes  and  raffia. 
Several  times  lately  I  have  been  shown  Asparagus  beds  heavily 
banked  over  with  farmyard  and  stable,  and  even  pig  manure. 
“  Was  this  the  correct  practice  ?  ”  My  reply  was  invariably  to  the 
effect  that  such  a  “  mucking  over  ”  is  altogether  uncalled  for.  In 
some  cases,  or  where  the  soil  is  light  and  non-retentive,  it  may  do 
little  or  no  harm  and  probably  does  some  good,  a  certain  amount  of 
fertility  being  washed  down  to  the  roots.  Where,  however,  the 
soil  is  of  a  clayey  nature,  then  I  say  these  heavy  manurial 
dressings  are  liable  to  keep  the  beds  in  a  cold,  saturated  state 
throughout  the  winter  and  early  spring  months,  occasionally 
destroying  some  of  the  roots.  Asparagus  roots,  unless  badly 
exposed,  are  perfectly  hardy,  and  exposing  the  surface  soil  to  the 
frosts  and  all  weathers  acts  most  beneficially.  All  the  manure 
Asparagus  requires  on  light  soils  is  a  free  dressing  of  salt  in  the 
spring  just  before  active  growth  commences,  and  again  during 
showery  weather  in  May  or  June.  This  may  be  varied  with  a  much 
lighter  dressing  of  nitrate  of  soda,  but  I  can  point  to  beds  that 
are  doing  good  service,  though  they  are  twenty-five  years  old 
