Large or full grown asparagus is the best. Before you begin to
prepare it for cooking, set on the fire a pot with plenty of
water, and sprinkle into it a handful of salt. Your asparagus
should be all of the same size. Scrape the stalks till they are
perfectly nice and white; cut them all of equal length, and short,
so as to leave them but two or three inches below the green part.
To serve up asparagus with long stalks is now becoming obsolete.
As you scrape them, throw them into a pan of cold water. Then tie
them up in small bundles with bass or tape, as twine will cut them
to pieces. When the water is boiling fast, put in the asparagus,
and boil it an hour; if old it will require an hour and a quarter.
When it is nearly done boiling, toast a large slice of bread
sufficient to cover the dish (first cutting off the crust) and dip
it into the asparagus water in the pot. Lay it in a dish, and,
having drained the asparagus, place it on the toast with all the
heads pointed inwards towards the centre, and the stalks spreading
outwards. Serve up melted butter with it.