No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 615 



mg white or blanched asparagus because the sandy soils offer no re- 

 sistance to the stems ana they make perfectly straight shoots. It is 

 possible, then to reach several inches under the surface of the ground 

 with a knife in cutting, thus securing lung, white shoots. The largest 

 plantations in the Enst are upon soils of this type, although there 

 are manj- profitable fields on the heavier types of soils. Our markets 

 are demanding green asparagus more and more every year and this 

 may be grown with great success upon any moist, fertile soil. It has 

 been said that any soil that will produce a good crop of corn will also 

 grow good asparagus. While a field of average fertility will not pro- 

 duce maximum profits, it will return as large profits as any other 

 garden crop which may be cultivated with a horse. As previously 

 indicated, the most important factors in soil selection are the constant 

 and abundant supply of moisture and the never failing supply of 

 available plant food. 



Seed Selection. — The selection of good seed is just as important 

 in growing asparagus as any other garden or farm crop. This mat- 

 ter is too frequently neglected with the result that growers are real- 

 izing from twenty-five to seventy-five dollars less an acre than would 

 be possible were seed selection jjracticed. Amateurs or beginners 

 should ijrocure the very best stock from specialists who have prac- 

 ticed seed selection for a number of years. Then, after the planta- 

 tion is established, seed should be selected at home for any further 

 planting that may be contemplated. The individual plants of the 

 field should be carefully studied, marking those Avhich are the largest 

 and most vigorous and free from rust. It is exceedingly important 

 to select plants that produce several large shoots rather than many 

 small shoots. Our markets are demanding and paying for large 

 shoots and this matter can be controlled to a great extent by intelli- 

 gent selection of seed. The propagator should bear in mind that 

 there are both male and female plants and that it is just as important 

 to select strong male plants as the very best female plants. These 

 must also be in close proximity to each other, so that the pollination 

 of flowers will be perfect. After locating plants, most growers prefer 

 to lift them from the plot and remove them to a special breeding plot 

 at some distance from other plants. This is an excellent idea for the 

 same plants may then be kept for many years to produce the seed 

 required and there will be no interference with tillage operations in 

 the commercial plantation. The seeds are ripe when the berries have 

 turned red. The berries are then picked and the seed washed and 

 dried. The seed may be preserved for several years under condition 

 such as are found in ordinary living rooms. 



Growing the Young Plants. — Young plants are so easily raised 

 that every commercial grower should produce his own. Ground for 

 this purpose should be bighly nutnured and plowed in the fall. It 

 should then receive a top dressing of a complete fertilizer as early 

 as possible in the spring, be harrowed thoroughly, and the seeds 

 drilled in rows not less than eighteen inches apart if to be worked 

 with a hand wheel boe or thirty inches if to be worked with a horse. 

 If the seed is very choice an<l the grower is anxious to obtain the best 

 plants, the seed should be dropped three inches apart. If a large 

 number of plants are desired, the seed may be sown with a drill, al- 

 though the hand method is preferred by some because it secures 



