ure their ground for crops generally, they procure sand, or sandy
mud, from certain parts of the Thames, for Asparagus plantations, where
the soil is too heavy.

"The ground should be thoroughly trenched to the depth of two and a half
or three feet: and, in order to make it rich, a large quantity of manure
should be incorporated, as well at the bottom as near the
surface,--using either sandy mud; the scourings of ditches made into
compost; rock-weed, or kelp, where they can be procured; decayed leaves,
or leaf-mould; the remains of hot-beds, good peat, or almost any other
manure not in too crude a state.

"Where the soil is not so deep, and the subsoil coarse and rather
gravelly, the ground is not trenched so deep; the bottom of the trench
being merely dug over. Above this, however, a large quantity of manure
is applied; and by this, with good after-management,--chiefly consisting
in making the soil fine and light for the shoots to push
through,--excellent crops are produced.

"The ground should be divided into beds either three or five feet wide,
with an alley or path of two feet in width between. The reason for
having some of the beds so much narrower than the others is, that the
narrow ones are sooner heated by the sun's rays, and consequently an
earlier production is induced.

"The distance between the rows in the beds may be regulated as follows:
When the beds are three feet wide, two rows should be transplanted along
them: each row should be a foot from the edge of the bed, and they will
consequently be a foot apart. In beds that are five feet wide, three
rows should be transplanted, also lengthwise,--one along the middle, and
one on each side, a foot from the edge of the bed. The distance from
plant to plant in the rows should not be less than one foot; at this
distance, good-sized heads will be produced: but, if very large heads
are desired for exhibition or competition, the plants should be fifteen,
or even eighteen, inches asunder.

"The transplanting may be performed either in April or May. The
three-feet beds should be traced out to run east and west, or so as to
present the side of the bed to the direct action of the sun's rays when
they are most powerful. Asparagus, in beds so formed, pushes earlier in
the season than it does in beds running north and south. For all except
the earliest beds, the direction is immaterial; and they may run east
and west, or north and south, as may be most convenient.