keep it in its place when this is done, the bed must be filled up level with the spade. This being finished, proceed with the other beds in like manner, till the whole is completed. A bed of twenty yards long, thus planted, will require 236 plants; and when of three years standing, will furnish heads equal in size to those generally produced in our best gardens. If still larger heads than these should be desired, they may be produced by planting the four rows at fifteen inches between the plants in the row instead of twelve: and if this is done, it will be of greater advantage if the plants are placed in the quincunx manner; that is, by placing the first row of plants fifteen inches from the end, and fifteen inches apart; the second row twenty-two inches and a half from the end, and fifteen inches apart; the third row fifteen inches from the end, and fifteen inches apart; and the fourth row twenty-two inches and a half from the end, and fifteen inches apart. The plants will thus form rhomboidal squares, instead of rectangular ones; thereby allowing the roots of one line to extend themselves into the spaces of the adjoining ones. A bed thus planted will require 186 plants. In Cheshire, and some parts of Lancashire, the gardeners pursue a much more expensive method in the preparation of their Asparagus beds than the one which I have described. Their method is this: the beds are staked out five feet wide, leaving three feet alleys between them; the beds are then thrown out six feet deep, and such soil as proves of a bad quality is taken away, reserving that only which is good, and supplying the deficiency, if any, with good soil from some other place: six inches thick of half rotten dung is then spread in the bottom of the bed, and twelve inches thick of good mould levelled over it, which is then well forked over, and mixed with a three-pronged fork: after this is levelled and made even, three other double layers of dung and mould

must be supplied and worked over in the same manner, which will complete the bed; but in the two last layers the dung should be more rotten than that with which the bed was begun. The beds thus prepared should be left two months at least to settle; but they must not be trodden down, as they are much the best when left to settle of themselves. About the end of March, or the beginning of April, the beds must be raked down, and lines drawn at a foot apart, the length of the beds, and places marked at fifteen inches apart along the lines; at each of these places three of the largest sized seeds are to be inserted in a triangle, about half an inch apart, and half an inch deep the bed must now be raked over, and left till the plants are about two inches high: if three plants appear at a place, two of the weakest must be pulled up; where two appear, one must be removed; and should there be any defect in any part of the bed, a single plant from those which have been withdrawn will be sufficient to fill up the space, so that the bed will now be completed with a single plant at each place respectively. There will be nothing further required during the summer, than to keep the beds perfectly clean from weeds; and in the winter, to cover them with some half rotten dung, to preserve the crowns of the roots from frost. In the spring following it will be found that the beds have settled, perhaps considerably; if so, they must be covered over with as much good mould as will make up the deficiency. The third year after planting, the heads will be fit to cut. This appears to be an expensive process; but it is adopted by many of the market gardeners, and they consider they are amply compensated by the produce for all the expense such a preparation has occasioned them. After the beds have been made a few years, the alleys are next taken out to the depth of the prepared beds, and filled up in the same manner, which completes the whole of the process.

It is easy to conceive that ground prepared in this manner must be productive of very large crops, and also of very large heads, some of which are said to weigh four ounces each.

In cutting the heads of Asparagus, I would recommend a knife with a straight narrow blade of six inches long, with a sharp smooth edge, instead of having a blade like a saw the latter has been recommended in books, and I have seen it used; but the practice is not a good one, and it is better laid aside. The cutting season usually commences towards the latter end of April, and should never be continued beyond Midsummer.

4. BALM.

Melissa officinalis, or common Balm, is a perennial plant, a native of the south of Europe. The recent plant has the agreeable odour of lemons, which is lost in drying, and an austere, slightly aromatic taste. It is used in cool tankards; and in the form of tea, as a grateful diluent in fevers.

It is propagated by dividing its roots in March or April.

5. BASIL.

Ocymum Basilicum and minimum, the sweet or common, and bush Basil, are the only sorts cultivated in our gardens. Basil is a culinary aromatic, much used in French cookery, along with other aromatic herbs, in soups, &c. They are both annuals, natives of the East Indies, and should be sown on a gentle hotbed in March: when the plants are two or three inches high, they may be transplanted into a warm border of light rich earth, in rows of six or eight inches' distance from each other, watering them occasionally till they have taken root.

6. BEANS.

The Bean is a hardy annual, rising from two to four feet high, having a thick angular stalk, alternate pinnated leaves, and highly fragrant blossoms: the following sorts are those principally cultivated in our gardens:

1. Dwarf Fan.
2. Early Lisbon.

3. Early Mazagan.
4. Green Genoa.

5. Green Nonpareil.

6. Long-pod.

7. Sandwich.

8. Toker.

9. White-blossomed.

10. Windsor.

The Early Lisbon and Mazagan are the sorts generally used for early crops: they are sown in October, November, January, and February.

The Long-pod is the most abundant bearer, and consequently more generally found in the cottager's garden than any other sort.

The Sandwich, Toker, and Windsor, are those generally employed for the summer crops.

The green varieties are much valued by some, for their fine green colour when served up at table; but they require to be gathered when very young, or they lose their fine colour, and their skins become thick and tough.

The White-blossomed is generally sown in the months of May and June for the later crops; and if gathered when young, is an excellent well-flavoured sort.

I have not enumerated in the list what is to be found in all the seedsmen's lists, the Mumford Bean; this being only a small-sized Windsor, separated from that sort by the sieve.

7. BEETS.

The Beet is a biennial plant, a native of the south of Europe, with large, oblong, succulent leaves. The root

is usually from a foot to eighteen inches in length, and from two to four inches in diameter.

The French consider the Beet under two heads: the first they call BETTERAVE, or Beta vulgaris, consisting of those whose edible parts are the roots. The second they call POIRÉE, or Beta Cicla, consisting of those whose edible parts are the leaves.

The French possess all the above sorts, and cultivate them for one purpose or another; but in this country Nos. 1. 2. and 4. are those only which are grown for their roots, and 11. 12. and 13. for their leaves.

All the varieties may be sown in the month of April; and as soon as the plants are three or four inches high, they should be thinned out, leaving them a foot apart.

*It was from the Betterave jaune grosse, that the French, during the late wars, principally manufactured their sugar. Hort. Trans. Vol. iii. p. 279.