150 THE GARDENER. [April 



down to the first of these depths, and the second if possible. If the 

 subsoil is very hard, keep it in the bottom, only loosen it well up, and 

 the worse it is, mix the more old vegetable refuse with it. If good 

 manure can be put in at the same time it will not be lost. 



After trenching the required space over in this way, a coating of 

 good manure should be placed all over the surface and dug in deeply, 

 and a good sprinkling of salt may be thrown over it previous to bury- - 

 ing it. This will help to clear the soil of insects, and nourish the young 

 plants as well; but more about salt by-and-by. The best of all ways to 

 propagate Asparagus is from seed, and the proper time to sow it is early 

 in April. Every year we sow a small bed of seed at this time, and we have 

 always a quantity of young plants in hand ready for any purpose 

 if wanted. The seed is sown in drills about a foot apart ; only a 

 small quantity of soil is placed over the seed, and it never fails to grow. 

 During the summer a few of the plants may be drawn out if they are 

 very close together ; but with 2 or 3 inches between them they de- 

 velop nice little crowns the first season, and the shoots run up 2 feet 

 or more. The hoe is run between to keep weeds down, and when the 

 stems have withered in autumn, they are cut over and a slight cover- 

 ing of light manure placed over the crowns. Like this they remain 

 until March, when the manure is taken away, and the young plants 

 soon afterwards begin to push up fresh shoots. It is just when these 

 are seen peeping through the surface of the soil that the roots may be 

 transplanted with the greatest success. So that, besides being the best 

 time to sow the seed, early in April is also the best time to plant. 

 Where the roots have only to be taken from one part of the garden to 

 another, we would make sure that growth had begun before shifting ; 

 but were we buying in roots from a nursery, and they had to come a 

 considerable distance, we would try and get them about the end of 

 March, or just before growth was fairly started. They would get 

 little or no check then — a thing at all times to be avoided, as 

 Asparagus roots do not bear being much dried up. For this reason we 

 would recommend every one to raise their own plants from seed, when 

 they can be transplanted on a suitable day, and in the shortest time. 

 Following this plan, the seed would be sown twelve months before it 

 is necessary to have the permanent bed ready ; but the ground may 

 be trenched some weeks before planting, and when the time comes 

 for this operation, it will only have to be decided which way to plant. 

 Two ways may be chosen — either make the ground into beds, or plant 

 in rows without forming a bed of any kind ; of the two ways, we de- 

 cidedly prefer the latter. It is much the more economical for space, 

 and gives the finest produce. In fact, we like the row planting plan 

 so well that nothing will be said about the bed system, as we have 

 given it up, and do not intend taking to it again. I believe the 

 greatest of our authorities on Asparagus call our plan of planting the 

 " improved one," and it is so. In making the rows, the plants should 



