A Vegetable With a Pedigree.

Otago Witness, Issue 2105, 28 June 1894, Page 4

A Vegetable With a Pedigree.

Of all the plants used for food, there is none which has been so long known, or has had, so to say, so distinguished a lineage as asparagus. Its record, in fact, reaches back to almost the commencement of authentic history, as it is mentioned by the comic poet Cratinus, who died about 425 8.C., and was a contemporary of, though slightly older than, Aristophanes. Among the Romans also, the tasty vegetable was held in high esteem. Cato the elder — not the gentleman who was of opinion that Plato reasoned well, but his great-grandfather, who insisted upon the destruction of Carthage, and who was born 234 b.c. — wrote a work, which is still extant, " De Re Rustica," and in it he treats at length of the virtues and proper cultivation of asparagus. Pliny also in his " Natural History " (about 60 A d ) has much to say on the subject. "Of all the productions of your garden," he feelingly observes, " your chief care will be your asparagus" ; and he devotes several chapters and parts of chapters to its many beneficent qualities and the best modes of raising it. He asserts that, even in his day, the soil about Ravenna was so favourable to its production that three heads grown in that district had betn known to weigh a Roman pound. As, however, this pound seems to have been equal to only about 11 of our ounces, it would apparently have required four of the stalks to reach a pound of our weight ; but this result, considering the fctate of horticulture in those days, may be looked upon as wonderful enough, and has in point of fact only been equalled in our own times.

It is possible, however, that asparagus being essentially a southern plant, the original stock found in Italy was of a more vigorous growth than that of more northern climes. It occurs all round the shores of the Mediterranean, and branches off into four or five distinct species besides the one ordinarily used for edible purposes. In Britain we have in a wild state only the latter, and even that is confined to a few favoured districts. With us it is never found away from the sea coast ; and although, according to old botanical books, it extended in former times all along the Channel, and even up to the latitude of London, Cornwall and Devonshire seem to be now the only counties where it can be met with. Withering declares that in his day (1812) it grew not only at Harwich, but also at Gravesend, and even at Greenwich. It is needlees to say that at present it would scarcely repay a botanist to look for wild asparagus at Greenwich, nor would Harwich or Gravesend be much more likely places. Probably the only remaining spots where it could now be discovered with any certainty would be about the Lizard and one or two other places in Cornwall. Opposite Kynans Cove, in the latter county, the so-called Asparagus Island is yet covered with ifc, and offers a pretty spectacle as the tall feathery stalks wave to and fro in the breeze.

In France and Germany, however, the plant is much more common ; nor is it confined entirely to the coasts. Gillet says that it grows also in woods and sandy meadows ; and with regard to Germany, Wagner gives as its habitat "hedges, bushy places, and fertile mountain meadows." In some parts of the Russian steppes it is said to grow so abundantly that the cattle eat it like grass ; but it must be remembered that in all these countries more than one kind of asparagus is found— sometimes th:ee or four different kinds— and it is quite possible that some of them may be occasionally mistaken for the veritable or edible article.

Of late years, the cultivation of asparagus has, especially in France, arrived at great perfection. In England, its headquarters are still, as they have been for years, about Mortlake, Richmond, and along the valley of the Thames, the alluvial soil of which — probably mixed with a good deal of sand — seems to suit the plant admirably. The English growers, however, can scarcely compete with the French as regards the size and flavour of the heads produced. In France, one of the chief centres of the trade is at Argenteuil, a village on the Seine, near Paris, and which formerly had a reputation for producing an extremely formidable wine, mur>h dreaded by the gourmets and frequenters of the Parisian restaurants. This wine, it was alleged, was always served when entertainments extended to a late hour, no matter what special crd had been ordered. Large quantities of it are still produced ; but some years ago tbe proprietors of the vineyards came upon the idea of increasing their revenues by planting asparagus between the vines. 'Jhis succeeded so well that at present large tracts of ground, exceeding altogether 1000 acres, are given up entirely to the cultivation of the vegetable, and the Paris market draws the best, or at least the most highly esteemed, portion of its supplies from there. If the accounts given by some of the gentlemen engaged in this occupation are to be believed, the speculation must be extremely profitable, for it is said that the average returns of the thousand acres more or less exceed 1.000.000fr. or £40,000. Some growers indeed estimate their "takings" at even a higher figure. One firm gives the cost of planting, keeping in order, and all the expenses of labour, at about £30 an acre, and the average annual value of the crop at something like £120. Against this, however, as he sajs, he has to reckon the loss of his capital for some four years. An asparagus bed, newly laid, produces nothing whatever until the third year, aDd then only a very small amount, systematic cutting not being commenced before the fifth year after planting. It is estimated that after this age each stock, or root, will give about ten heads every year, and that this yield will continue, under favourable conditions, for some 20 or 25 years.

Asparagus is raised from seed, which is generally sown in spring ; and the plant thrives best in a rich, fresh, and sandy soil — such as the sandy meadows in which it is found wild. In England it is usually planted in rows, at distances varying from lft to 2^ft aparb, in beds that have been previously prepared by deep trenching and rich manuring. Some kinds of French asparagus have within the present decade reached a perfectly abnormal size. We have seen that Pliny was much impressed by the fact that heads could be grown which could run four to the pound ; and some

25 years ago, one of the growers at Mortlake announced with Bunch jubilation that he had produced three which reached the same weight. At Argenteuil, we are told, ifc is by no means uncommon for each head of a certain kind to be half an inch in "diameter, and to weigh a pound or even more. That, however, this /• giant" asparagus is greatly inferior in flavour to the old-fashioned and leas bulky sort no amateur of asparagus will probably be disposed to deny. Of course the growers at Argenteuil maintain that this is quit© a mistake, and that the pleasant taste of asparagus depends more on its freshness than on any difference of size. There can, however, be little doubt that that kind which is now only found in old gardens, and of which the stalk is green in colour and eatable down to the base, is much more palatable than that of which the edible portion is scarcely an inoh long, and the remainder woody and fibrous. Probably tho very best asparagus which can be eaten in the present day is that which is grown among the vines in South Germany, and this, almost without exception, belongs to the "green" kind, and, in fact, is so called by the German gardeners in contradistinction to the white.

The march of civilisation has no doubt improved most things ; but, as regards asparagus, " progress " seems to have consisted in produciDg a very large stick, which looks well in the shop windows, but which, beyond its size, has little else to recommend it.— Chambers's Journal.