great vigour for the first two or three years, till the plants are beyond the reach of injury from weeds. Acorns are very apt to be eaten by mice; immerse them in vegetable tar, and dry them with powdered lime, in the same way as wheat is pickled before sowing. Draw a drill along the centre of each ridglet, and deposit them thinly, at the rate, say, of four good acorns to a yard. After the work is completed, set traps for mice (one of the best is an empty flower-pot, buried in the soil, with the bottom on a level with the surface, fig. 73. Cond.), and appoint a person to watch the crows. Mr. Allen states, that after twenty-five years' experience and observation as a gardener, he considers the above plan as the best he knows for raising oak timber. London, March, 1826. ART. X. Sir, On the Culture of Asparagus. By J. O. S. P. THERE are few, if any, places in the United Kingdom where asparagus is grown equal to that in the neighbourhood of London; but if the method now to be described be strictly followed, I have no doubt the result will be as good asparagus as is or can be grown. Make choice of a piece of ground which lies dry and slopes, so that the rain may run quickly off the paths; the lighter the soil is the better. Dig into the ground in the autumn a large quantity of good dung, and point it over in the following spring for the purpose of loosening the ground, and mixing the dung with it; then make holes with a broadpointed dibble about an inch deep, at proper distances where plants ought to be put, in each hole drop three seeds, and cover the holes with light mould, such as that from old cucumber beds: the covering should be rather above the rest of the ground. The beds should be made four feet wide, and the paths two feet. Cover the beds with rotten dung, and let it remain on all the summer, which will keep the beds moist, and nourish the young plants. As soon as the stalks are decayed rake off the dung, and put on three or four inches of rotten leaves, such as have been used for forcing melons, pines, &c. The leaves will be much improved by having been exposed for some months, and turned over two or three times before they are put on the beds. Put a light covering of mould over them to prevent their being blown away by the wind. Apply leaves in the same way every autumn, until the mould become as deep as it is wanted above the roots of the plants, increasing the quantity laid on at once according to the strength of your plants. It will be necessary to have the paths covered with long dung or litter, to prevent their being trod too hard for the roots to run in. The paths should never be dug, as is usually done, nor even the beds dug with a prong, which is often done, much to the injury of the crowns. The leaf mould when decayed will be found sufficiently light for the plants to rise through without digging. Any vegetable mould will be found to answer well, particularly the mould of green vegetables. Holes and ditches in and adjoining woods generally abound with decayed leaves, which, if mixed with leaves that may be collected, or any useless litter, will soon become a large quantity of mould. The advantages which asparagus plants derive from this manner of cultivation, are these: The roots run in the paths undisturbed, and near to the surface; the roots in the beds find their way into the leaf mould, wherein they grow stronger than in the common way, where they are down from one foot to six inches in the natural soil. Some may say, who is going to be at all this trouble about growing asparagus? Certainly there is no greater luxury produced for a grower than good asparagus and plenty of it, and I can state from experience, that by the above method of culture, the produce from one bed will be as much as from three or four, and of better quality. Beds made after this way will be as good at twenty years old as they were at six I remain, Sir, &c. years. December, 24. 1826. J. O. S. P. ART. XI. Description of a Flued Pit for growing Cucumbers and Melons, or for other Purposes, and of a newly-invented Structure for growing Peaches and Grapes. By Mr. JOHN HAYTHORN, C. M. H. S., Gardener to the Lord Middleton, at Wollaton Hall, near Nottingham. Sir, A GENTLEMAN in this neighbourhood having asked me if I could recommend him a plan of a pit for the growth of fruits and vegetables, and also any plan by which he might grow a few peaches and grapes, I gave him those which I am now about to describe, and which I promised to send you some account of. I may premise, that the garden of this gentleman has very little walling, and no proper place for growing mushrooms; and therefore I included a pit for the latter, and a substitute for the former, and for a peach-house and vinery. Pits on a similar plan I have used with great success at Wollaton Hall, for growing cucumbers and melons. The cucumbers, and the smaller sorts of melons, I train under the glass, and the larger sorts of melons on the surface of the bed in the usual way. The pits (fig. 74.) stand east and west, and may either be used for cucumbers and melons, or for forcing vegetables or flowers. They may be of the usual length and breadth, and sunk as deep into the earth as the dryness of the soil and drainage will admit of. Each pit has one fire and a flue, which makes three courses, two under the pit (a, a), and one along the pathway, to heat the air of the house (b). Over this last flue is a narrow pit, or box, in the way of border (c), for holding the earth for the cucumbers or small melons, which are trained to wires, suspended from the roof (d). The soil in this border may be increased by laying one or more courses of bricks along its outer kerb (e). Steam may be produced by pouring water over the cover of the flue (b); and also, if desirable, it might be produced under the bed of earth by introducing water through a pipe with a funnel (k); all the flues being furnished with a course of bricks along the outer edges of the cover, so as to form a trough between them. The mushroom house (g) is a vault between the two pits, and which, by means of small openings (i), to be closed at pleasure by bricks, may receive heat from either or both of the pits; but, excepting in the most severe weather, the warmth incident to its situation will be sufficient for the growth of mushrooms. It may be fitted up with shelves (h) in the usual way, and may also be used for forcing rhubarb, winter potatoes, &c. covered with boards, and a wire trellis on one side (i), for vines, and glass frames on the other side (k), to admit the light, and retain the heated air from the flue. The vines should be planted in the inclosed border, which should not be very deep, and might be paved at bottom and well drained, so as to limit the supply of nourishment, and check the overexuberance of growth in both peaches and vines. The roots of the vines may be kept apart from those of the peaches by an underground division of slates, or a brick-on-edge wall; indeed, it would be an advantage to limit the roots of each particular vine and tree in the same way. As there would be some difficulty in glazing the round ends, they may be boarded and covered with peaches, leaving only the straight part for vines. When the peach-trees are in blossom, they may be protected by a moveable coping, and by a canvass or gauze covering. Standard peaches may be planted against the glass (k), with stems sufficiently long to reach the height of the structure, and their heads may be trained down the opposite side (1). This structure should be rounded at the top, for the more easily training the trees over it; and it should be well painted or coated over with gas tar or pitch every two or three years, to insure durability, and destroy insects. If each side of the structure be six feet high, both sides will be equal to a wall of twelve feet; and I think the mode of heating will be found superior to that adopted in the common mode of constructing hot-walls. Pots of strawberries might be forced along with the vines, and steam might be produced by pouring water into the trough formed on the top of the flue (d). Dampers might be introduced at the place where the flues divide (m), so as to throw the heat wholly, or more or less, to one side, at pleasure. A walk (n) might go round the piece of ground inclosed; and this ground might be slightly cropped; but it will be better neither to stir it deep, nor to grow any thing on it, but merely to keep it clear of weeds.. Čare also must be taken not to disturb the partition between the roots (o); and if, as I would recommend, each separate tree be partitioned off, the ground should neither be dug nor cropped, but manured on the surface, and slightly pricked up with a fork two or three times a year. I think a structure of this kind would have a good effect on each side of the main walk in a garden, as a substitute for an espalier rail. Both furnace and chimney-top might be connected with the outer wall of the garden, so as not to be |