104. ASPARAGUS 
to keep the temperature from rising above 80°. 
When the points of the shoots begin to appear above 
the sand the crop is ready to cut. When ground is 
plentiful, a supply of forcing crowns can be kept 
up by sowing a little seed every year, having five 
or six successions, the oldest plants being forced for 
cutting.’ 
With French gardeners it is customary to plunge 
the frames in warm stable manure and place the roots 
directly in the manure, packed as closely together as 
possible. A mere sprinkling of soil is placed over 
them. As a result the shoots come up very thick. 
Only strong, fine three-year-old roots are used, and 
as many as five crops of roots follow each other through 
the autumn, winter, and spring in the same frame. 
Straw mats are used to cover the frames at night. 
FORCING IN THE FIELD 
Forcing asparagus where it is grown in the field 
has a twofold advantage over removing the roots to a 
warm place. First, it saves the trouble and expense of 
transplanting them, which must be done with much 
care; and, second, it saves the plants from being ruined 
by the forcing process. Plants forced in the field 
where they grow will, if given good care, regain their 
vigor in a season or two, and may be used again for 
forcing. By this latter method a better quality and a 
larger quantity of marketable asparagus is also secured. 
Various means have been devised to force asparagus 
in the field, where it is so well established that it 
continues growth in the summer as though it had not 
been forced the previous winter. A simple and rather 
