FORCING VINES FOR WINTER USE 185 
Although very satisfactory results can be ob- 
tained with raised benches, solid beds with a 
rich, but perfectly drained soil are best for 
Asparagus plumosus. A one foot layer of coarse 
gravel, shells, etc., will produce the latter condi- 
tion, while the former requirement can be satis- 
fied by adding to the soil one third its weight of 
good manure. ‘The young plants should be set 
from nine inches to a foot apart each way. 
To get good strings of foliage in winter, light 
is essential; in summer, the plants must be shaded 
to prevent burning by the strong sunshine. 
The best house is as much as twenty feet high, 
but nice, short strings can be cut in any house 
with six or more feet of head room. 
Stringing is quite an important factor in grow- 
ing this vine, and should be attended to as soon 
as the plants are set in the beds. An iron lattice 
should be made and supported horizontally so 
that the cross pieces will hang directly over the 
plants, and about an inch from the ground. 
Another trellis, corresponding with this one, should 
be hung near the top of the house, and strings run 
vertically between the two frames, one directly 
over each plant. When growing merely a few 
plants, all this is unnecessary; any contrivance 
that will keep the strings straight and directly 
