PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING. 55 



The ground should be in the best o£ tilth and the lines of drill made 

 about a foot apart and one inch deep. Impetus may be given to the 

 germination of the seed by soaking in warm water twenty-four hours 

 previous to planting. The seeds are placed about an inch beneath the 

 surface and a few seeds of radish, cabbage, or some quickly germinating 

 plant sown in the same drill to indicate the line for early cultivation in 

 advance of the sprouting of the asparagus. 



"Once well above the surface, the plants should be thinned to three 

 inches in the row and given good cultivation throughout the season with a 

 scuffle-hoe and rake. Plants grown under favorable conditions are ready 

 at the end of one year's growth to go into permanent garden rows. Well- 

 grown yearling roots should have several strong buds and a well developed 

 root system. From a pound of good seed one should get 4,000 merchant- 

 able plants. 



THE GARDEN PLANTATION. 



"The best possible plan for a garden plantation of asparagus is to have 

 it in a single row parallel with the other varieties of vegetables and at one 

 side. If the soil is fitted to grow a large crop of any other vegetable, it 

 is good enough for asparagus. No special preparation is required, but it 

 should be remembered that asparagus, although not a deep grower, is a 

 gross feeder within the area upon which it draws for its sustenance. It 

 reaches further sidewise than in depth. Its feeding time is not confined 

 to the gathering season, but extends through the growing year. Hence 

 the application of fertilizers is always in order. 



" For the reception of the plants, which should be strong yearlings, a 

 trench or furrow should be made wide enough to admit the plants and the 

 roots in their natural position, and of sufficient depth that the crowns of 

 the plants, when in position, shall be six inches beneath the level of the 

 surface of the garden, and three feet apart in the row. If two inches of 

 earth are drawn over the plants and well firmed about the roots, the 

 remainder may be filled in gradually during the season of cultivation. 



" This row of plants will utilize the ground five feet on either side and 

 in a few years will have crowns a foot in diameter. 



"This plantation is made for a half century, and if there is a choice of 

 location with reference to the embellishment of the garden area, this mat- 

 ter should be given serious consideration at the outs«?t. The row should 

 be given clean culture. A dressing of salt will kill the weeds and aspara- 

 gus will stand a large amount of it without apparent injury, but it is safer 

 and better in every way to secure the result by good cultivation rather 

 than saline application. I have for years used refuse sclt from a hide- 

 packing establishment as a dressing for an asparagus bed, and have noticed 

 that the larger the amount of animal refuse in the salt the more satisfac- 

 tory the application, and am convinced, if the salt were reduced to a mini- 

 mum and the animal refuse raised to a maximum, the results would be the 

 most complete. Asparagus delights in a sunny location and will respond 

 to food which is all ready for plant absorption, very promptly. The most 

 complete manure is barnyard dung containing very little coarse litter. 

 The product from out-of-door closets which have been kept inodorous by 

 the free use of clay, dust, or coal ashes, as absorbents, makes a fine fertil- 

 izer for asparagus, and it is under treatment with this material that the 



