88 GARDENING WITH BRAINS 



your own seedlings in the way I have just 

 indicated obviates this disadvantage. 



5. At least one-half of the plants you have 

 thus transferred or left in permanent positions 

 will prove during the second summer to be 

 females, and will, therefore, have to be dug out 

 as soon as they betray their sex. An infernal 

 nuisance, you think, and right you are; but it 

 is the only way to have a permanent asparagus 

 bed that will not commit suicide by root stran- 

 gling. Put certified male roots in the places of 

 the ousted females and then your troubles will 

 be over as long as your asparagus bed lasts, 

 which may be thirty or forty years. 



If you ask me what to do with the discarded 

 female plants, I answer as the man did who, 

 when away from home, got a telegram reading: 



' 'Your mother-in-law has died. Shall we 

 embalm, cremate, or bury her?" 



He promptly wired back: "Embalm, cremate, 

 and bury her. Take no chances." 



But hold on! Your troubles may, after all, 

 not be over yet. Like all other plants (read 

 the next chapter), the asparagus has insect and 

 other enemies which you may have to fight. 

 In fact, they may undo all your brain and 

 brawn work and rout you as completely as if 

 they were generaled by a Foch. 



Many an old bed has been destroyed by a 

 fungus disease or blight known as rust. Fre- 

 quent sprayings with Bordeaux mixture help 



