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Onions and Asparagus

thread, keeping every piece apart, and every | soils, in August, January, or early in February; morning, if the weather is fine, place them in the open part of the garden on stages erected by placing small posts about six feet high in the ground and six feet asunder, into which fix horizontal pegs about a foot apart, beginning at the top, and the rhubard being sprung crosswise on small poles, place them on these pegs, so that if it should rain you could easily remove each pole with the suspended pieces into any covered place. Never suffer them to be out at night, as the damp moulds them.

To cultivate Onions.

Never use the hoe to the plant except it be for elearing the ground from weeds. When the onions have shot out their leaves to their full size, and when they begin to get a little brown at the top, clear away all the soil from the bulb down to the ring, from whence proceed the fibres of the roots, and thus form a basin round each bulb, which catches the rain and serves as a receptacle for the water from the watering-pot. The old bulbs will then immediately begin to form new ones, and if they are kept properly moist and the soil is good | the clusters will be very large and numerous.

This is not the only advantage of this mode of treatment, as the bulbs thus grown above ground are much sounder than those formed beneath the surface, and will keep quite as well as any other sort, which was not the case until this plan was adopted.

By a particular mode of culture, the onion in this country may be grown nearly in form and size like those from Spain and Portugal. The seeds of the Spanish or Portugal onion should for this purpose be sown at the usual period in the spring, very thickly, and in poor soil, under the shade of apple or pear-trees. In autumn the bulbs will not be much larger than peas, when they should be taken from the soil and preserved until the succeeding spring, and then planted at some distance from each other, in a good soil, and exposed to the sun. The bulbs will often exceed five inches in diameter, and will keep throughout the winter much better than those cultivated in the usual manner.

The Portuguese Mode of Cultivating Onions..

They must first be raised on a nursery-bed, in the warmest and most sheltered part of the garden, as early in the month of February as the season will permit; as soon as the plants are strong enough to bear removal, that is to say, when they are about the thickness of a goose-quill, let some puddle be prepared with garden mould and water, with a small proportion of soot, the whole to be of the consistence of thick cream; as the plants are drawn from the seed-bed, let their roots be instantly immersed in the puddle, and there remain till they are transplanted, where they are permanently to continue. The plants should be set out about six inches apart, and the ground kept perfectly clear of weeds, and regularly refreshed with water in hot and dry weather. On this latter cirsuinstance will very much depend their size and mildness; to this is owing the superiority of onions grown in Portugal, which are all cultivated in the way here recommended. By keeping the roots in puddle, if it were only for a few minutes, during the interval between the taking up and transplanting, they are prevented from receiving the slightest check from the access of the atmospheric air, and will require no immediate watering when first transplanted.

To obtain a good Crop of Onions.

In order to obtain a good crop of onions it is proper to sow at different seasons, viz., in light and, in heavy wet soils, in March, or early in April. Onions, however, should not be sown in January, unless the ground be in a dry state, which is not often the case at so early a period of the season: but if so, advantage should be taken of it.

To cultivate Asparagus.

That part of the garden which is longest exposed to the sun, and least shaded by shrubs and trees, is to be chosen for the situation of the asparagus quarter. A pit is then to be dug five feet in depth, and the mould which is taken from it must be sifted, taking care to reject all stones, even as low in size as a filbert nut. The best parts of the mould must then be laid aside for making up the beds.

The materials of the beds are then to be laid in the following proportion and order :- Six inches of common dunghill manure; eight inches of turf; six inches of dung as before; six inches of sifted earth; eight inches of turf; six inches of very rotten dung; eight inches of the best earth.

The best layer of earth must then be well mixed with the last of dung. The addition of salt to the earth of asparagus beds, especially in places far from the sea, is suggested by the natural habits of the plant.

The quarter must now be divided into beds five feet wide, by paths constructed of turf, two feet in breadth, and one in thickness. The asparagus must be planted about the end of March, eighteen inches asunder. In planting them, the bud or top of the shoot is to be placed at the depth of an inch and a half in the ground, while the roots must be spread out as widely as possible, in the form of an umbrella. A small bit of stick must be placed as a mark at each plant, as it is laid in the ground.

As soon as the earth is settled and dry, a spadeful of fine sand is to be thrown on each plant, in the form of a mole-hill. If the asparagus plants should have begun to shoot before their transplantation, the young shoots should be cut off, and the planting will, with these precautions, be equally successful, though it should be performed in this country even as late as July. Should any of the plants originally inserted have died, they also may be replaced at this season. The plants ought to be two years old when they are transplanted; they will even take at three, but at four they are apt to fail.

In three years the largest plants will be fit to cut for use. If the buds be sufficiently large to furnish a supply in this manner, the asparagus shoots should be cut as fast as they appear; otherwise they must be left till the quantity required has pushed forth; in which case the variety in color and size prevents them from having so agreeable an appearance. An iron knife is used for this purpose.

The asparagus-bed now described will generally last thirty years; but if they be planted in such abundance as to require cutting only once in twenty-seven years, half the bed being always in a state of reservation, it will last a century or more. The turf used in making the beds should be very free from stones.

Another Method.

Make the bed quite flat, five feet wide, of good soil, without any dung, long or short; sow it with onions. Then sow two asparagus seeds (lest one should fail) about one inch deep, near each other; twelve inches each way sow two more; and if the spring is cold and dry let the weeds grow until rain comes. In October cover the bed with manure or rotten hot-bed. The next spring remove | them of different shapes; take out the seeds, and the weakest of the two plants, and keep the bed free from weeds. To raise seed, select the thickest stems; after blossoming enough, take off the tops, to make the seed strong. This is also the best way to raise double ten-weeks and Brompton stocks. Six pounds are sufficient for any strong plant; setting them to flower near double ones is of no use. The excess in petal arises from cultivation, and transplanting into rich soil; wild flowers are seldom double. Keep all small seeds in the pod until you sow them.

To force Asparagus.

The pits in which succession pines are kept in the summer have at bottom a layer of leaves about eighteen inches deep, covered with the same thickness of tan, which becomes quite cold when the pines are removed. In one of the pits should be spread over the entire surface of the old tan a quantity of asparagus roots, and cover it with six inches more of tan, and apply linings of hot dung, and successively renew it round the sides, keeping up thereby a good heat. The above mode was practised in the middle of December by Mr. William Ross, and in five weeks the crop was fit for use. As soon as the shoots made their appearance, and during the day-time he took off the lights, introducing as much air as possible, which gave them a good natural color, and the size was nearly as large as if they had been produced in the open ground, at the usual season.

To insure perfect success, it is expedient to have good roots to place in the bed; the usual plan of taking them from the exhausted old beds of the garden is bad. If they are past their best and unfit to remain in the garden, they cannot be in a good state for forcing. Young roots, four years old from the seed, are much preferable: they are costly if they are to be purchased every year; but where there is sufficient space a regular sowing for this particular purpose should be made annually, and thus a succession of stock secured.

To render Asparagus more Productive.

In the formation of beds the male plants only should be selected, which may easily be done by not planting from the seed-bed until they have flowered. When the plants are one year old transplant them into the other beds, at six inches distance; let them remain there until they flower, which will be in most of them in the second year; put a small stick to each male plant to mark it, and pull up the females, unless it is wished to make a small plantation with one of them to prove the truth of the experiment.

Towards the end of July, especially if it be rainy weather, cut down the stalks of the asparagus, fork up the beds, and rake them smooth. If it be dry, water them with the draining of a dunghill; but, instead of leaving them round, leave them rather flat or hollow in the middle, the better to retain the water or rain. In about twelve or fourteen days the asparagus will begin to appear, and if it be dry weather continue watering once or twice a week. By this method asparagus may be cut about the end of September; at which time the hot-beds will succeed this, so that by making five or six hot-beds during the winter, a regular succession of it may be had every month of the year. To raise Capsicum and make Cayenne Pepper.

Capsicum pepper is produced from the capsisum, which is raised for ornament, with many other annual flowers, or for pickling the green pods, and is the seed and pod when ripe. In March or April procure some pods of any of the sorts of capsicums, as there are many varieties of sow them on a bed not too thick. When they are about four inches high prick them out on the hotbed at six inches asunder, or put each into a small pot, or three into a large one, and keep them still under the glasses. In June, when the weather is settled, plant them all in a warm situation in a rich earth, where they are to remain, some on the borders of the flower garden and some into larger pots, which you can shelter in bad weather.

To cultivate the Alpine Strawberry.

The process consists of sowing the seed on a moderate hot-bed in the beginning of April, and removing the plants, as soon as they have acquired sufficient strength, to beds in the open ground.

They will begin to blossom after midsummer, and afford an abundant late autumnal crop. This strawberry ought always to be treated as our annual plants. To cultivate Sea Kail.

The seed is to be sown in the month of April in drills, on a good light dry soil; as the plants rise, thin them and keep them clean. The first winter earth them up to protect them from the frost; the following summer thin them to about eighteen inches distance, leaving the best plants. At Christmas take away the decayed leaves and cover up each plant with a large deep pan or flower-pot, upon which lay a quantity of the leaves of trees, to keep off the frost and create heat to the plants. Stable litter is sometimes used instead of leaves, but it is apt to give the plants a rank taste. In the following month of April the pots will be quite full of fine tender blanched shoots, which may be cut over by the ground (but not too near) and the stumps covered up again for a second crop. This may be repeated with the same plants two or three times during the spring, before the plants are left for summer's growth. With this treatment the sea kail, if sufficiently boiled in two waters, will be found equal to any asparagus or brocoli, and may be eaten with butter, or butter and vinegar and pepper, as may suit the taste. The plant being a perennial one, will last for any length of time with proper culture.

To cultivate Radishes to have them at all Seasons.

Take seeds of the common radish and lay them in rain water to steep for twenty-four hours; then put them quite wet into a small linen bag, well tied at the mouth with a packthread. If you have steeped a large quantity of seeds, you may divide them into several bags. Then expose the bags in a place where they will receive the greatest heat of the sun for about twenty-four hours, at the end of which time the seed will begin to grow, and you may then sow it in the usual manner in earth well exposed to the heat of the sun. Prepare two small tubs to cover each other exactly.

These may be easily provided by sawing a small cask through the middle, and they will serve in winter; in summer one will be sufficient for each kind of earth that has been sown. As soon as you have sown your seeds you must cover them with your tub, and at the end of three days you will find radishes of the size and thickness of young lettuces, having at their extremities two small round leaves, rising from the earth, of a reddish color. These radishes, cut or pulled up, will be excellent if mixed with a salad, and they have a much more delicate taste than the common radishes which are eaten with salt. By taking the following precautions you may have them in the winter, and even during the hardest frosts. After having steeped the seeds in warm water, and exposed them to the sun as already directed, or in a place sufficiently hot to