The Canadian Horticulturist. 



277 



GROWING ASPARAGUS. 



Sir,— Please give me, through the pages of your valuable Magazine, the necessary 

 instrnctions for preparing and planting an asparagus bed. 



Alfred Prigge, Hamilton. 



F two-year old roots are not readily obtainable, get seed of 

 Conover's Colossal, Palmetto, or other popular sorts ; and, 

 as early as possible in the spring, sow in rich mellow ground 

 in drills two feet apart, covering the seed one inch deep ; 

 should they come up too thickly, thin out to three inches 

 apart. Keep scrupulously clean of weeds, and cultivate 

 well for two seasons. If the asparagus beetle appears, apply any of the poisons 

 used for potato bugs. Several applications may be necessary, as the larvae of 

 this small beetle destroy the foliage very rapidly. 



Asparagus does well in almost any soil, for many years ; therefore, when 

 two-year-old roots are ready, choose a situation where they may remain, work 

 the soil up 10 or 12 inches deep, incorporating a liberal quantity of well-rotted 

 barnyard manure. Draw wide furrows eight inches deep, and flat in the bottom, 

 so the roots can be spread out all around, cover so the ground is level all over 

 when finished. Place the roots so the crowns are one foot apart in the row, 

 and have the rows three feet apart, for garden culture, and at least four feet for 

 field culture. A light mulching of fine manure, as soon as planting is done, will 

 help to keep the soil mellow, and promote a vigorous growth. Cultivation 

 must be continued for two years more the same as for seedlings, and each fall 

 the growth cleared off, and good manure spread over the entire surface at least 

 two inches thick. 



With careful culture and liberal fertilizing, the roots will be strong enough 

 to permit cutting shoots freely the third season. Allow the shoots to grow six 

 or eight inches high, and cut at the ground surface, not below. They are then 

 tender their entire length, and better flavored. During very warm weather cut 

 twice a day, or the tops will get a seedy appearance. If blanched shoots are 

 desirable, to have them perfectly tender, the roots must be planted 12 inches 

 deep, and a ridge of litter put over the rows in the spring, six or more inches 

 high, and compact enough to exclude light and air, and as shoots break through 

 this, cut at the bottom of the litter. 



Summer manuring will promote an enormous growth, and to have extra 

 large shoots for cutting the following season, the thin stems should be cut out 

 just before the growth gets too heavy to pass through, as this will throw all the 

 strength into the heavy stems to develop strong crowns. When clearing off the 

 growth in the fall, every precaution should be used, that the seed does not get 

 knocked off and scattered over the asparagus bed, as this will save much labor 

 in pulling up seedlings. The tops are best gathered and burnt on an adjoining 



