ASPARAGUS FOR THE HOME GARDEN. 3I3 



Asparagus is one of our very earliest vegetables, as it is ready 

 for the table the latter part of April or the first of May. Not many 

 persons know what a delicacy, what a luxury, asparagus is. Per- 

 haps you have bought some spindling stalks that had been in a 

 grocery store for several days, perhaps the maid in the kitchen did 

 not know how to cook them properly, perhaps she dressed them 

 with skim milk instead of cream. If so, you haven't a very exalted 

 opinion of asparagus. But if you go into your own garden and cut 

 the large, thick stalks of very recent growth, perhaps only a few 

 hours out of the ground, have them properly cooked and dressed 

 with rich cream, you will have one of the finest delicacies produced in 

 the garden. Asparagus is suited to a delicate invalid, and it is highly 

 relished by the working man and furnishes him nutritious food. 



Many persons have been deterred from growing asparagus be- 

 cause of the methods of planting and cultivating in vog'ue a few 

 years ago. Once it was customary to dig trenches two and a half 

 feet deep for planting. In the bottom of these trenches was placed 

 one foot of manure, and the trench was gradually filled as the 

 crowns pressed upwards. As the full-grown stalks were delicate 

 and easily swayed by the wind, a stout stake was driven down by 

 each one, to which it was made fast. 



All this has been changed and now no vegetable is more easily 

 planted and cultivated than asparagus. A rich, sandy soil is best 

 suited to its needs. It should be plowed or spaded as deep as possi- 

 ble and well manured. The rapid growth of the large, succulent 

 stalks makes great demands upon all the life-giving principles of the 

 soil, and this demand should be supplied. For the home garden no 

 attempt should be made to start from the seed. Two years are lost 

 in that way. Buy two-year-old roots from a reliable nurseryman. 

 They will cost you only about seventy-five cents a hundred. One 

 hundred plants are enough for an ordinary family to begin with. 

 You may soon want more, for as you learn its value you will not 

 be satisfied with a small amount. For a long time we were limited 

 to one hundred, but two years ago we planted two hundred more. 



As to varieties, Connover's Colossal or Barr's Mammoth are very 

 satisfactory. We have a bed of each. Early spring is the time to 

 plant, as soon as the frost is out of the ground. For one or two 

 hundred plants, rows two and a half feet apart and plants one and 

 a half feet in the' row has seemed to me about right. Plant in 

 trenches or holes six inches deep. Do not fill the holes at once. 

 Place the crown below the surface and gradually fill as the plant 

 grows. 



