ASPARAGUS 163 



Cultivation during the first year can be done almost entire- 

 ly with a horse, though some hand hoeing will be necessary 

 between the plants. By autumn of the first year, the tops 

 should be three feet high. As soon as they are dead they 

 should be cut off close to the ground with a heavy, sharp 

 hoe or similar tool, and then the land should have a light 

 plowing or be worked up with a harrow to a depth of four 

 inches. No care need to be taken about the plants when 

 cultivating at this season of the year, but the whole surface 

 may be cultivated or plowed three inches deep as though 

 no crop were on the land. In the spring the land should be 

 cultivated as soon as it will work well, in order that it may 

 warm up quickly. There will be no crop to cut until 

 the spring of the third year; a very little, however, may 

 safely be cut the second year after planting if the plants 

 do well. 



The cultivation in subsequent years should be very 

 much the same as that given above; but in addition, when 

 the crop has been all harvested and cutting is to cease, 

 which will be about the middle or last of June in the 

 Northern states, the whole bed should have a thorough 

 cultivation to the depth of three inches without regard to 

 the rows, and if manure is to be used it should be put on 

 at this time. Under this method of treatment it is un- 

 necessary to do much hand weeding, and it is very easy 

 to keep the soil in the best condition by horse power. 

 After the thorough cultivation in June, all the sprouts 

 that come up from the roots should be permitted to grow 

 until autumn, by that time they should be about five feet 

 high if in good soil and will have ripe seed. It is necessary 

 to allow the tops to grow to this extent in order that plant 

 food may be stored up in the roots. Very late cutting 

 weakens the growth of the plants. 



