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COPYRIGHT, 1S99, BY 



IM)HISIS' PUBLISHING CO., 520-535 Caxton Bulldlnft. CHICAGO. 



Vol. IV. 



CHICAGO AND NEW YORK, JUNE 29, J 899. 



No. 83. 



ASPARAGUS. 



[From advance sheets of the Florists' Manual, bv 

 William Scott.] 



Of this genus there are three or four 

 species that are very useful and orna- 

 mental plants. The one having the 

 greatest commercial value is A. plu- 



grows twenty feet high is still called 

 nanus. This is evidently a misnomer. 

 Seed can be sown at any time. Sow 

 in flats and cover with an eighth of 

 an inch of leaf-mould or sifted Jadoo 

 and keep on a bench where the heat 

 is not less than 60 degrees at night. It 

 is well to be particular as to the 



Asparagus Plumosus. 



mosus. There secerns to be some con- 

 fusion about the name of this species. 

 or there are two varieties. English 

 catalogues make a distinction and call 

 one variety A. plumosus nanus. With 

 us the one that was actually dwarf has 

 been lost track of and the one that 



source from which you get the seed. 

 Imported seed frequently germinates 

 poorly, but the home grown seed 

 comes freely. We pot the seedlings 

 into 2-inch pots, and if intended to 

 plant in a permanent bed we first 

 shift again into a 4-inch. A good. 



warm house suits it when young, but 

 not a close, heavily shaded one. 



An asparagus bed for the produc- 

 tion of long strings should be on the 

 ground. My own experience has given 

 me a lesson on this point, and to use 

 the words of Mr. W. H. Elliott, 

 Brighton, Mass., our largest grower of 

 this asparagus, "It should never be 

 divorced from mother earth." One foot 

 of soil on the floor of a lofty house 

 will grow it for many years. Like all 

 its family it flourishes best In rich 

 soil ; a good, heavy loam with a fourth 

 or fifth of cow manure is the best 

 compost for it, and in addition put a 

 good dressing on the surface of the 

 bed every midsummer. Although the 

 same bed will last indefinitely I think 

 it more profitable to renew the bed 

 every three or four years. The roof 

 of the house should be at least ten 

 feet above the surface of the bed or 

 you will not get the full benefit of the 

 growth. Specialists like Mr. Elliott 

 have houses twice that height. 



It is not only the long strings that 

 are used. The short sprays are in 

 great demand for mixing with cut 

 flowers, particularly bunches of roses. 

 While many short sprays can be cut 

 from the planted beds, many plants 

 are grown on side benches in six 

 inches of soil or in 6 or 8-inch pots 

 with the view of producing sprays 

 only. The plants will, if vigorous, 

 throw up the long running shoots, but 

 by nipping off the tops of the shoots 

 when 18 to 24 inches long the produc- 

 tion of branchlets is stimulated. 



We have found small plants of A. 

 plumosus very useful for fern dishes, 

 outlasting any of the ferns. For this 

 purpose the plants are best kept in 

 3-inch pots, though for large arrange- 

 ments of flowers and foliage bushy 

 plants in 4-inch pots are most use- 

 ful. 



A. tenuissimus needs precisely the 

 same treatment as A. plumosus, but 

 it is not such a general favorite. Its 



