The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots | Page 8

the country are extremely partial to giant sticks. Their preference is not based on mere superiority in size, but on the special flavour which is the peculiar merit of these extra-large Asparagus when they are properly grown. Although there is no difficulty whatever in producing them, it must be admitted that to insure specimens weighing nearly or quite half a pound, plenty of space must be allowed for the full development of each plant and a prodigal use of manure is imperative. Where drainage is effectual, the soil of any well-tilled garden can be made suitable. The roots may be grown in clumps or in rows. Clumps are planted in triangular form, two feet being allowed between the three plants of each group, with a distance of five feet between the groups. The more usual method, however, is to plant in rows. In both cases the cultural details are almost identical, and to obtain the finest results it is wise to get the preparatory work done at convenient times in advance of the planting season. Assuming that rows are decided on, commence operations by digging a broad deep trench, throwing out the soil to the right and left to form sloping sides until there is a perpendicular depth of twenty-seven inches from the top of the ridge. About one foot of prepared soil should be placed in the bottom of the trench. This may be composed of such material as the trimmings of hedges, sweepings of shrubberies, twigs from a faggot pile, wood ashes and leaf-mould. The constituents must to some extent depend on the materials at command. What is wanted is a light compost, consisting almost wholly of vegetable matter in a more or less advanced state of decomposition. Add three or four inches of rich loam, and on this, at the beginning of April, plant strong one-year roots of a robust-growing variety. Between the plants it is customary to allow a space of at least two feet, and some growers put them a full yard apart. Cover the crowns with three inches of rich soil, previously mixed with manure and laid up for the purpose. The second and following rows are to be treated in the same way, and the work must be so managed that an equal distance of four and a half or five feet is left between the rows. When the foliage dies down in autumn, a layer of fertile loam mixed with rotten manure should be spread over the surface. In the succeeding spring remove just the top crust of soil and give a thick dressing of decayed manure alone, upon which the soil can be restored. During the autumn of the second year the furrow must be filled with horse manure for the winter. Remove this manure in March, and substitute good loam containing a liberal admixture of decayed manure previously incorporated with the soil. The slight ridges that remain can then be levelled down. By this treatment large handsome sticks of Asparagus may be cut in the third year. To maintain the plants in a high state of efficiency, it must be clearly understood that forcing with horse manure will be necessary every subsequent year. Blanching may be carried out by any of the usual methods, and Sea Kale pots are both convenient and effectual. Not a weed should be visible on the beds at any time.
==Forcing== is variously practised, and the best possible system, doubtless, is to force in the beds, and thereby train the plants to their work so that they become used to it. The growers who supply Paris with forced Asparagus produce the white sample in the beds, and the green by removal of the roots to frames. Forcing in beds may be accomplished by means of trenches filled with fermenting material or by hot-water pipes, the beds in either case being covered with frames. Where the demand for forced Asparagus is constant, there can be no doubt the hot-water system is the cheapest as well as the cleanest and most reliable; for a casual supply forcing in frames answers very well, but it is attended with the disadvantage that when the crop has been secured the roots are worthless. The practice of forcing may be said to commence with the formation of the seed-bed, for if it is to be carried on in a systematic and profitable manner, every detail must be provided for in the original arrangements. The width of the beds and of the alleys, and the disposition of the plants, will have to be carefully considered, so as to insure the best results of a costly procedure, and it will be waste of time to begin forcing until the plants have attained their fourth year. The rough method of market growers consists in the