PREPACE 
HE cultivation of asparagus for home use as 
well as for market is so rapidly increasing, 
and reliable information pertaining to it is so 
frequently asked for, that a book on this sub- 
ject is evidently needed. While all works on vegetable 
culture treat more or less extensively on its cultiva- 
tion, so far there has been no book exclusively devoted 
to asparagus published in America. Asparagus is 
one of the earliest, most delicious, and surest products 
of the garden. Its position among other vegetables is 
unique, and when once planted it lasts a lifetime; it 
may be prepared for use in great variety, and may be 
canned or dried so as to be available at any time of 
the year; and yet in the great majority of farm gar- 
dens it is almost unknown. ‘The principal reason for 
this neglect is based upon the erroneous idea that 
asparagus culture requires unusual skill, expense, and 
hard work. While this was true, in a measure, under 
old-time rules, modern methods have so simplified 
every detail connected with the cultivation of aspara- 
gus as to make it not necessarily more expensive and 
laborious than that of any other garden crop. ‘Tode 
vi 
