Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/291

279 VEGETABLES.] HORTICULTURE 270 recoli moderation in reaping the crop, as tlie shoots, when cut too freely, become gradually smaller. A considerable quantity of ground is consequently required to keep up a supply. Jt is a general rule never to gather asparagus after peas have come into season. To experience the finest llavour of asparagus, it should be eaten immediately after having been gathered ; if kept longer than one day, or set into water, its finer flavour is altogether lost. If properly treated, asparagus beds will continue to bear well for many years. The asparagus grown at Argenteuil, near Paris, has acquired much notoriety for its large size and excellent quality. The French growers plant in trenches, instead of raised beds. Forcing. The most common method of forcing asparagus is to prepare, early in the year, a moderate hotbed of stable litter with a bottom heat of 70, and to cover it with a common frame. After the heat of fermentation has somewhat subsided, the surface of the bed is covered with a layer of light earth or exhausted tan-bark, and in this the roots of strong mature plants are closely placed. The crowns of the roots are then covered with 3 to 6 inches of soil. A common three-light frame may hold 500 or (JOO plants, and will afford a supply for several weeks. After planting, linings are applied when necessary to keep up the heat, but care must be taken not to scorch the roots ; air must be occasionally admitted. Where there are pits heated by hot water or by the tank system, they may be advantageously applied to this purpose. A succession of crops must be maintained by annually sowing or planting new beds. Mr Lindegfird, of the Royal Gardens at Copenhagen, recommends the plan of forcing asparagus on the ground on which it grows, but the results obtained in this way are not so satisfactory. The principal varieties are the Red-topped and the Green-topped, of which there are several reputed sub-varieties, as the Battersea, Gravesend, Giant, Colossal, &c., which differ but slightly from each other. 143. The Bean, Faba vulgaris, is an annual plant. The seeds are sown about 4 inches apart, in drills 2^ feet asunder for the smaller and 3 feet for the larger sorts. The soil should be a rather heavy loam, deeply worked and well enriched. For an early crop Marshall s Early Dwarf Prolific and the Dwarf Crimson-seeded may be sown in November, and protected during winter in the same manner as early peas. An early crop may also be obtained by dib bling in the seeds in November, sheltering by a frame, and in February transplanting them to a warm border. Successional crops of Early Seville or Early Longpod should be sown in January and February, and the Longpods or Green Windsor in March, April, and May, for a general crop, while for later crops the Dutch Longpod may be sown in June or early in July. All the culture necessary is that the earth be drawn up about the stems. The plants are usually topped when the pods have set, as this not only removes the black aphides which often settle there, but is also found to promote the tilling of the pods. The following are some of the best sorts: Early. Dwarf Crimson-seeded, Marshall s Early Dwarf Prolific, Early Seville, Early Longpod. Late. Windsor, Green Windsor, Dutch Longpod. See BEAN, vol. iii. p. 460, and AGRICULTURE, vol. i. p. HCO. 144. The Bert, Beta vulgaris, is a hardy biennial, native of the south of Europe, on the sea-coast. The boiled root is eaten cold, either by itself or as a salad ; it is also often used as a pickle. The beet prospers in a rich deep soil, well pulverized by the spade. If manure is required, it should be deposited at the bottom of the trench in preparing the ground. The seeds should be sown in drills 15 inches asunder, in April or early in May, and the plants are afterwards to be thinned to about 8 inches apart in the lines, but not more, as moderate-sized roots are preferable. The plants should grow on till the end of October or later, when a portion should be taken up for use, and the rest laid in in a sheltered corner, and covered up from frost. The roots must not be bruised, and the leaves must be twisted off not closely cut, as they are then liable to bleed. In the north the crop may be wholly taken up in autumn, and stored in a pit or cellar, beyond reach of frost. If it is desired to have fresh roots early, the seeds should be sown at the end of February or beginning of March ; and if a succession is required, a few more may be sown by the end of March. The Yellow Beets are not appreciated at table, and tlie White Sugar Beets are not suitable for garden culture. We shall only name a selection of the red-fleshed sorts : Turnip-rooted or Egyptian (very early), Red Castelnau- dary (the type of our best beets), Pine-apple Short-top, Nutting s Selected, Carter s Perfection of Beets, Button s Dark Reel, Dell s Crimson or Osborn s Select. The White Beet, Beta Cicla, is cultivated for the leaves, which are used as spinach ; but for this they are a very sorry substitute. The midribs and stalks of the leaves are also stewed and eaten as s&amp;lt;-a- kale, under the name of Swiss chard. The culture does not differ materially from that of the red beef, but more space is required. See BEKT, vol. iii. p. 504, and AGRICULTURE, vol. i. p. 381. 145. The Borecole or Kale, Brassica oleracea acephala, includes several varieties which are amongst the hardiest of our esculents, and seldom fail to yield a good supply of winter greens. They require well-enriched soil, and sufficient space for full exposure to air ; and they should also be sown early, so as to be well established and hardened before winter. The main crops should be sown about the first week of April, or, in the north, in the third week of March, and a succession a month later. The Buda kale is sown in May, and planted out in September, but a sowing for late spring use may be made in the last week of August, and transplanted towards the end of September. To prevent over crowding, the plants should be transplanted as soon as they are of sufficient size, but if the ground is not ready to receive them a sufficient number should be pricked out in some open spot. In general the more vigorous sorts should be planted in rows 2 feet or 3 feet and the smaller growers 2 feet apart, and 18 inches from plant to plant. In these the heads should be first used, only so much of the heart as is fresh and tender being cut out for boiling ; side shoots or sprouts are afterwards produced for a long time in suc cession, and may be used so long as they are tender enough to admit of being gathered by snapping their stalks asunder. The best of the borecoles or kales are Dwarf Green Curled or Scotch Kale, very hardy, and from its dwarf habit often sheltered by snow; Cot tager s Kale, very hardy, one of the most prolific and well-flavoured ; Purple Borecole, very hardy. The following are less vigorous in growth, but are of excellent quality : Jerusalem Kale, Egyptian Kale, Buda Kale, the last two very hardy. 146. The Broccoli, Brassica oleracea botrytis asparagoides, is sup- Broccoli posed to have sprung from the cauliflower, being, like it, of Italian origin, and differing chiefly in possessing greater bardiness of con stitution. Miller indeed states (Gardeners Dictionary] that the broccolis known in his time were imported from the island of Cyprus. The broccoli succeeds best in a fresh, loamy soil, somewhat firm in texture. For the autumn broccolis the ground can scarcely be too rich, but the winter and spring sorts, on ground of this character, are apt to become so succulent and tender that the plants suffer from frost even in sheltered situations, while plants less stimulated by manure and growing in the open field may be nearly all saved, even in severe winters. The main crops of the early sorts, for use in autumn, such as the Capes and Grange s, should be sown early in May, and planted out while young, to prevent them coming too early into flower; in the north they may be sown a fortnight earlier. The later sorts, for use during winter and spring, should be sown about the middle or end of May, or about ten days earlier in the north. The seed beds should be made in fresh light unexhausted soil ; and if the season be dry, the ground should be well watered before sowing. If the young plants are crowding each other, they should be thinned. The ground should not be dug before planting them out, as the firmer it is the better ; but a shallow drill may be drawn to mark the lines. The larger growing sorts may be put in rows 3 feet apart, and the plants about 2^ feet apart in the rows, and the smaller-growing ones at from 2 to *L feet between, and 1^ to 2 feet in the rows. If the ground is not prepared when young plants are ready for removal, they should be transferred to nursery beds and planted at 3 to 4 inches apart, but the earlier they can be got into their permanent places the better. It is of course the young flower-heads of the plant which are eaten. When these form, they should be shielded from the light, by bending or breaking down an inner leaf or two. In some of the sorts the leaves naturally curve over the heads. To prevent injury to the heads by frost in severe winters, the plants should be laid in with their heads sloping towards the north, the soil being thrown back so as to cover their stems ; or they may be taken up and laid in closely in. deep trenches, so that none of the lower bare portion of the stem may be exposed. Some dry fern may also be laid over the tops. The spring varieties are extremely valuable, as they come at a season when the finer vegetables are scarce. They afford a supply from March to May inclusive. In all cases great care should be taken to procure the seed true, as it is very liable to become deterio rated through crossing by insect agency. The following are good types of broccoli, but the varieties are frequently changing, in name at least, the supposed novelties being often merely good and pure stocks of older kinds : For autumn and winter use: Early Purple Cape, Early White Cape, Grange s, Veitch s Self-protecting Autumn, Snow s Superb Winter White, Osborn s Winter White, Backhouse s Winter. For late winter and spring use : Knight s Protecting, Cooling s Matchless, Leamington, Channel s Cream, Ellotson s Mammoth, Sutton s Perfection, Penzance, Purple Sprouting. Fur the latent xup2&amp;gt;ly : Cattell s Eclipse, Carter s Champion, Lauder s Goshen, Late White Protecting, Miller s Dwarf Lute White. 147. The Brussels Sprouts, Brassica oleracea bullata gemmifera, Brusseli have long been cultivated near Brussels. There appears to be no sprouts, information as to the plant s origin, but, according to the late Dr Van MODS, it is mentioned in the year 1213, in the regulations for holding the markets of Belgium, under the name of sjtruytcii (sprouts). It is very hardy and productive, and is much esteemed for the table on account of its flavour and its sightly appearance. The seed should be sown about the middle of March, and again in the first or second week in April for succession. Any good garden soil is suitable. For an early crop it may be sown in a warm pit in February, pricked out and hardened in frames, and planted out in a warm situation in April. The main crop may be planted in rows 2 feet asunder, the plants 18 inches apart. They should be got out