46 THE CULINARY GARDEN. [mAR* 



Of planting AsparagiiSi 

 Tlie method of planting is this : Stretch the line 

 across the ground ; tread, or beat tlie surface quite 

 smootli and even, ujion the line, and a few inches on 

 each side of it ; then cut with the spade, perpendi- 

 cularly by the line, to the depth of six inches ; thus 

 forming a drill upright on one side. Place the roots 

 along this drill or furrow, with their crowns two 

 inches under the surface, and at tlie distance of six, 

 crown from crown ; carefully spreading out the fi- 

 bres sidewise, and covering up, yard by yard, as 

 you go on. It is of very great importance for the 

 insuring of success in the planting of this vegeta- 

 ble, to lift the roots carefully, and to expose them 

 to the air as short time as possible. While planting, 

 therefore, keep the roots in a hamper or basket a- 

 mong a little light earth, covered over with a mat. 

 One, or at most two year old roots are fittest. Old- 

 er do not succeed well. It is a better method to 

 plant in single rows, thirty inches or a yard apart, 

 than in beds, as said above. * 



Of spring-dressing Asparagus, 

 K^ow rake off the rough part of the covering, 

 (see November), and })oint the small or rotten part 

 of it into the intervals of the rows, or into the al- 



* I lately saw a row of asparagus that was planted, by way of 

 experiment, about the middle of last June (1809.) The plants 

 were two years old, and did remarkably well. 



