Historical Sketch

The word "asparagus" is said to be of Persian origin. In middle Latin it

appears as sparagus; Italian, sparajio; old French, esperaje; old

English, sperage, sparage, sperach. The middle Latin form,

sparagus, was in English changed into sparagrass, sparrow-grass,

and sometimes simply grass, terms which were until recently in good

literary use. In modern French it is asperge; German, spargel;

Dutch, aspergie; Spanish, esperrago.



The original habitat of the edible asparagus is not positively known, as

it is now found naturalized throughout Europe, as well as in nearly all

parts of the civilized world. How long the plant was used as a vegetable

or as a medicine is likewise uncertain, but that it was known and highly

prized by the Romans at least two centuries before the Christian era is

historically recorded. According to Pliny, the Romans were already aware

of the difference in quality, that grown near Ravenna being considered

best, and was so large that three spears weighed one pound. The elder

Cato has treated the subject with still greater care. He advises the

sowing of the seed of asparagus in the beds of vine-dressers' reeds,

which are cultivated in Italy for the support of the vines, and that

they should be burned in the spring of the third year, as the ashes

would act as a manure to the future crop. He also recommends that the

plants be renewed after eight or nine years.



The usual method of preparing asparagus pursued by the Roman cooks was

to select the finest sprouts and to dry them. When wanted for the table

they were put in hot water and cooked a few minutes. To this practice is

owing one of Emperor Augustus's favorite sayings: "Citius quam asparagi

coquentur" (Do it quicker than you can cook asparagus).



While the indigenous asparagus has been used from time immemorial as a

medicine by Gauls, Germans, and Britons, its cultivation and use as a

vegetable was only made known to the people by the invading Roman

armies. But in the early part of the sixteenth century it was mentioned

among the cultivated garden vegetables, and Leonard Meager, in his

"English Gardener," published in 1683, informs us that in his time the

London market was well supplied with "forced" asparagus.



The medicinal virtues formerly attributed to asparagus comprise a wide

range. The roots, sprouts, and seeds were used as medicine. The fresh

roots are diuretic, perhaps owing to the immediate crystalizable

principle, "asparagine," which is said to be sedative in the dose of a

few grains. A syrup made of the young shoots and an extract of the roots

has been recommended as a sedative in heart affections, and the species

diuretica--a mixture of asparagus, celery, parsley, holly, and sweet

fennel--was a favorite preparation for use in dropsy and gravel. Among

the Greeks and Romans it was one of the oldest and most valued

medicines, and to which most absurd virtues were attributed. It was

believed that if a person anointed himself with a liniment made of

asparagus and oil the bees would not approach or sting him. It was also

believed that if the root be put on a tooth which aches violently it

causes it to come out without pain. The therapeutic virtues of asparagus

seem to have been held in almost as high esteem by the ancients as those

of ginseng are esteemed by the Chinese to this day.