Mill'  ll  :e, 
■JOUILXAL  OF  HORTIGULTURE  AND  CU!'TA(jE  GARUEAEU. 
237 
giving  fine  results  in  a  deep  stiff  loam,,  wliicli  had  been  well 
worked,  but  no  special  attention  had  been  given  to  provide  extra 
drainage.  For  young  heads  of  ordinary  size  the  soil  should  be 
deeply  dug — or,  better  still,  trenched — and  liberally  manured, 
some  time  before  sowing  or  planting  is  attempted,  i’he  surface 
can  then  be  again  forked  over  during  bright  weather,  which  will 
both  warm  and  dry  the  soil,  as  well  as  bring  it  into  an 
ameliorated  condition.  Those  v  ho  have  good  beds  in  bearing, 
.and  can  afford  to  wait,  should  certainly  sow  seed  in  the  permanent 
positions,  while  those  who  desire  quick  returns  must  necessarily 
plant  two  or  three-year-old  crqwns.  For  private  gardens  I 
prefer  to  mark  out  the  space  into  3ft  beds  with  alleys  2ft  in 
width  b  e- 
tween.  A  line 
should  then  h-' 
stretched 
along  9in  from 
the  edges  of 
the  bed,  hols 
made  with  the 
dibber  3in  in 
depth  and 
loin  a  p  a  r  I , 
and  a  couple 
of  seed  s 
dropped  into 
each  hole. 
When  .sowing 
is  completed 
all  that  is 
necessary  is  to  j,, 
level  the  .sur¬ 
face  roughly 
with  a  rake. 
When  the 
young  seed¬ 
lings  are  Oiii 
in  height  care¬ 
fully  pull  up 
the  w'eaker 
plants,  so  as  to 
leave  those  re- 
tained  loin 
apart  along  the 
rows.  W  oeds 
should,  of 
course,  be  kept 
down  through¬ 
out  the  sum¬ 
mer,  the  hoe 
plied  freely 
between  the 
plants  to 
encourage 
growth,  and 
one  dre.ssing 
of  sulphate  of 
ammonia  given 
in  showery 
weather  in 
June.  When 
the  tops  have 
turned  brown 
the  autumn 
in 
cut 
down, 
away 
and. 
the  m 
c  1  ear 
weeds,, 
if  t  h e 
soil  is  light, 
dress  the  beds 
and  alley.' 
w  i  t  h  w  e  1 1- 
decayed  ma¬ 
il  u  r  e.  O  n 
heavy  soils 
give  a  thin 
coating  of 
rough  strawy 
manure,  this 
to  be  removed  in  spring,  and  well-decayed  manure  with  line  soil 
•  intermixed  substituted  for  it.  In  either  case  the  alley  should 
shortly  after  be  loosened  wdth  a  fork  to  the  depth  of  2in  or  3in. 
Deep  digging  is  almost  as  disa.strous  as  in  the  case  cf  Raspberry 
plantations.  With  good  attention,  strong  growtiis  sliould  be  pro¬ 
duced  the  next  season,  and  during  the  third  ''’ear  cutting  may  be 
•commenced,  but  ought  not  to  be  very  severe  till  the  following 
season.  When  roots  are  planted  the  beds  should  be  marked  out 
as  usual,  and  lines  .stretched  along  where  the  ro  's  are  to  be 
‘formed.  The  soil  can  then  be  thrown  back  from  the  outside  of 
,the  lines  into  the  alleys  and  from  the  inside  into  the  middle  of 
the  bed,  so  as  to  form  two  low  ridges,  on  which  to  set  the  plants 
Gourd  Walk  at.  Parklands,  near  Guildford 
loin  apart.  The  tops  of  these  ridges  must  be  3in  below  the 
ground  line,  .so  that  when  the  soil  is  returned  the  beds  and  alleys 
are  about  the  same  height,  the  whole  being  finished  off  neatly 
with  a  rake.  In  some  market  gardens  single  lines  are  formed 
2ft  or  2.^ft  apart,  and  in  autumn  the  plough  is  run  betwi'eii  to 
mould  the  soil  over  the  roots,  some  of  this  being  again  drawn 
i  \  av  in  spring.  In  many  privat  ’  gardens,  too.  -liu  or  Gin  of  soil 
is  piled  on  the  beds  in  autumn,  the  greater  part  of  which  ls  drawn 
into  the  alley  in  spring.  All  this  seems  to  me  to  be  a  great  waste 
of  labour,  and  the  plan  probably  originated  in  the  belief  that  it 
was  neces.sary  to  afford  some  irrotection  from  frost;  but,  except 
in  .stiff  wet  soils,  the  fro.-.t  never  harms  the  roots  in  an  established 
bed,  and  those 
.  cultivators  who 
.  -  do  not  practise- 
■-v,  moulding  up  or 
A-*.  giving  other 
t  protection  do 
'■  j  not  find  thei  r 
/  '  roots  suffer. 
Some  prefer 
green  Aspai'a- 
gus,  others 
s  t  e  m  s  which 
are  bleached 
almost  ui>  to 
the  point,  and 
when  those  of 
the  latter  type 
are  needed  a 
good  depth  of 
.,oil  ov.-r  th(' 
crowns  ensures 
,  he  desired  r,-- 
.sults;  but  in 
that  case  it  is 
better  to  add 
the  soil  in 
spring  than  in 
a  u  t  u  m  n .  as 
when  the  roots 
are  deeply 
buried  through¬ 
out  the  winter 
their  time  of 
starting  into 
growth  in 
spring  is  de¬ 
layed,  and  the 
majority  of  cul¬ 
tivators  aim  at 
getting  early 
produce.  Wh  n 
the  heads  be  gin 
to  push  through 
the  soil  a  litth- 
nitrate  of  soda 
is  of  immense 
benefit  in 
causing  th  •  pro¬ 
duction  of  fine 
stocks,  pro¬ 
vided  t  h  e 
w  e  a  t  h  er  i  s 
f  a  i  r  1  \'  'va  r  m, 
but  in  cold  sea- 
.sons  it  is  not 
wi.se  to  apply  it 
too  early,  as 
the  nitrate  has 
a  tendency  to 
make  the  soil 
still  colder. 
Light  protect¬ 
ing  material, 
such  as  clean, 
short  strawy 
matter,  or  the 
softer  parts  of 
bracken,  if  applied  when  frosts  prevail,  will  prevent  the  early 
heads  from  being  injured.  When  the  weather  becomes  settled 
■  Ills  can,  cf  course,  1)  -  n-moved.  After  cutting  has  ceased  for  the 
season — which  it’  .should  by  the  end  of  June — strong  growths 
should  be  encouraged  by  the  aid  of  liquid  and  artificial  manures, 
as  unless  strong  crowns  are  produced  it  is  useless  to  look  for  fine 
heads  the  following  spring.  Strong  growths  are  often  injured 
by  winds  in  summer,  and  to  prevent  such  damage  the  plan  of 
driving  a  few  stakes  into  the  soil  on  either  side  of  the  bed  or  row, 
and  connecting  them  by  a  line  of  string  is  well  worth  practising. 
Sometimes  hosts  of  young  plants  spring  up  from  the  seed  which 
f“ll  frem  the  tops  the  previous  autumn.  The.se  ought  to  be 
