66 ASPARAGUS 
CARE DURING THE THIRD AND FUTURE YEARS 
The third year cutting may begin in a moderate 
way, but too much should not be attempted. If all 
the conditions of growth have been favorable half a 
crop may be cut without injuring the roots, but under 
no circumstances should cutting in the third year be 
continued for more than three weeks. ‘The general 
care of the bed during the third year is similar to that 
of the second, with the exception that the soil is 
worked more toward the rows, ridging them slightly. 
In the spring of the third and each succeeding 
year, as soon as the ground can be worked it should 
be plowed between the rows, turning the soil toward 
and over the crowns, leaving a dead furrow between 
the rows, as seen in Fig. 19. If bleached asparagus 
is desired, these ridges over the rows should be twelve 
inches higher than the bottom of the dead furrows 
between the rows, and when the soil is very light and 
sandy a hight of fifteen inches is preferable. For 
green asparagus the ridges are left lower, and the 
shoots are allowed to grow several inches above the 
ground before cutting, provided the asparagus beetle 
does not appropriate them sooner. 
After the furrows are plowed out between the 
rows a home-made ridger is used to smooth the ridges 
and complete the work. This is formed of two heavy 
oak boards shod with tire iron, sloping upward and 
backward, attached to a pair of cultivator wheels. 
This requires a good team, one horse walking on 
either side of the row. On the light soils of Long 
Island this implement works to perfection, but on stiff 
