50 ASPARAGUS 
DISTANCE TO PLANT 
As to the best distance between the rows and the 
plants in the rows there is a wide difference of opinion, 
more so than with almost any other cultivated plant. 
No unvarying rule can be laid down on this point, as 
it depends largely upon the mechanical condition, 
depth, and fertility of the soil. Ina rich, moderately 
heavy soil, the roots may be planted closer than in a 
poor, light soil. The tendency of the present day is 
for giving the plants considerably more room than 
what formerly was thought to be ample. Intelligent 
observers could not fail to notice that crowded aspara- 
gus beds produce later and smaller crops, and of 
inferior size and quality ; that they do not last as long; 
and that they are more liable to attacks from inse¢ts 
and fungi than when more room is given to the plants. 
Gardeners of but a few decades ago had no idea of 
the possibility of raising a profitable crop of asparagus 
planted four or five feet apart, and would have looked 
with derision upon any one advocating so wild a 
scheme. ‘The remains of run out, old-time asparagus 
beds are still in evidence in many old farm gardens. 
The rows in these were originally one foot apart and 
the plants in the rows even closer than this, and per- 
haps after every third or fourth row there was a path 
two feet wide. Of course, in such a bed, after a few 
years, the entire ground became a solid mass of roots, 
and the stalks became smaller and tougher from year 
to year. 
In most asparagus sections special customs prevail, 
and even in these different growers have their indi- 
