ASPARAGUS 



76 



ASPARAGUS 



ASPA'RAGUS (Aspa'ragus officina'lis) was, by the old 

 gardeners, called sperage, and by the modern vulgar, 

 grass, or sparrow-grass. The small heads are sometimes 

 spoken of as sprue. 



Varieties. Formerly we had only two varieties the 

 red-topped and the green-topped now we have Conno- 

 ver's Colossal, Giant Argenteuil, and Palmetto, a fine 

 American variety ,but much depends upon soil and culture. 



Soil best suited to this vegetable is a fresh, sandy loam, 

 made rich by the abundant addition of manure. It 

 should be trenched from two feet to two feet and a half 

 deep. This depth of good, rich soil, on a dry sub-soil, is 

 ample to yield the very best of heads, if the yearly suc- 

 cessive management be attended to. 



Situation. The bed should enjoy the influence of the 

 sun during the whole of the day, as free as possible from 

 the influence of trees and shrubs, and ranging north and 

 south. The sub-soil should be dry, or the bed kept so 

 by being founded on rubbish, or other material, to serve 

 as a drain. The space of ground required for the supply 

 of a small family is at least eight square perches. If 

 less, it will be incapable of affording one hundred heads 

 at a time. Sixteen perches will, in general, afford two 

 or three hundred every day, in the height of the season. 



Sowing. To raise plants, sow any time, from the 

 middle of February to the beginning of April, in drills, 

 one inch deep, and one foot apart, if the seedlings are 

 to be transplanted ; but two feet apart, if they are to 

 remain where sown. When starting with seedlings some 

 may remain in the seed-beds, and will give good results 

 a year earlier than those transplanted. Much depends 

 upon soil in good loam and a gravelly sub-soil. Where 

 water gets away naturally, it will not be necessary to 

 make much preparation, except to manure the ground 

 and work it well before sowing the seed. 



Culture in Seed-bed. If dry weather, the bed should 

 be refreshed with moderate but frequent waterings ; and, 

 if sown as late as April, the seeds should be soaked for 

 at least a day, and the surface soil kept moist by watering 

 in the evenings during dry weather. Care must be taken 

 to keep free from weeds, though this operation should 

 never commence until the plants are well above ground, 

 which will be in the course of three or four weeks from 

 the time of sowing. Sprinkle them about twice a month 

 with salt, and supply them once a week with a good 

 soaking of liquid-manure, during the growing season. 

 Towards the end of October, as soon as the stems are 

 completely withered, they must be cut down, and well- 

 rotted dung spread over the bed, to the depth of about 

 two inches. This serves to increase the vigour of the 

 plants the following year. About March in the next 

 year thin the plants to one foot apart ; and those re- 

 moved may be transplanted into a bed, twelve inches 

 apart, if it is intended that they should attain another 

 or two years' further growth before being finally planted 

 out ; or they may be planted immediately into the beds, 

 for production. It may be here remarked, that the 

 plants may remain one or two years in the seed-bed. 

 They will even succeed after remaining three ; but if 

 they continue four, they generally fail when transplanted. 



Time of Planting. The best time is the end of March, 

 if the soil is dry, and the season warm and forward ; 

 otherwise it is better to wait until the commencement of 

 April. A very determinate signal of the appropriate 

 time for planting is when the plants are beginning to 

 grow. If moved earlier, and they have to lie torpid for 

 two or three months, many of them die, or, in general, 

 shoot up very weak. 



Construction of the Beds. Have them four and a half 

 feet wide. The situation should be fixed upon a month 

 or two previously to making and planting the beds. The 

 whole should be trenched two feet to two feet and a half 

 deep, and thoroughly well manured, as the work goes 

 on, with rich, thoroughly-decayed manure. When all is 

 trenched and manured in this way, give a good surface- 

 dressing of salt, which will wash in with rains. After 

 lying in this way for a month, give the whole another 

 surface-dressing with similar manure, and double-dig or 

 trench the whole over again, leaving the surface rough 

 and open, giving the whole another salting, and let it lie 

 in this way until the time for planting. Previously to 

 marking out the beds, the whole should have another 

 thorough good digging over, making the surface neat 

 and even as the work goes on. 



Mode of Planting. The plants being taken from the 



seed-bed carefully with a narrow-pronged dung-fork, 

 with as little injury to the roots as possible, they must 

 be laid separately and evenly together, for the sake of 

 convenience whilst planting, the roots tteing apt to en- 

 tangle, and cause much trouble and injury in parting 

 them. They should be exposed as short a time as 

 possible to the air ; and, to this end, it is advisable to 

 keep them, until planted, in a basket covered with a 

 little sand. The mode of planting is to form drills, or 

 narrow trenches, five or six inches deep, and one foot 

 apart, cut out with the spade, the line-side of each drill 

 being made perpendicular ; and against this the plants 

 are to be placed, with their crowns one and a half or two 

 inches below the surface, and twelve inches asunder. 

 The roots must be spread out wide, in the form of a fan, 

 a little earth being drawn over each, to retain it in its 

 position whilst the row is proceeded with. For the sake 

 of convenience, one drill should be made at a time, and 

 the plants inserted and covered completely before another 

 is commenced. When the planting is completed, the bed 

 is to be lightly raked over, and its outline distinctly 

 marked out. Care must be taken never to tread on the 

 beds (they are formed narrow to render it unnecessary) ; 

 for everything tending to consolidate them is injurious, 

 as, from the length of time they have to continue, 

 without a possibility of stirring them to any considerable 

 depth, they have a closer texture than is beneficial to 

 vegetation. Water must be given, in dry weather, daily, 

 until the plants are established. The paths between the 

 beds should be two feet wide. The first season after 

 planting the beds, a crop of radishes may be sown upon 

 them without injury to the young plants, if the radishes 

 are all drawn off early. It too often happens that new 

 asparagus-beds are ruined by being pestered with other 

 crops ; but a row, or even two rows, of either lettuces or 

 spinach, may be sown in the alleys. 



Subsequent Cultivation. Throughout the year care must 

 be taken to keep the beds clear of weeds ; and, in May 

 and summer, apply liquid-mamire twice a week plenti- 

 fully, giving a sprinkling of salt once a month. In the 

 latter end of October, or commencement of November, 

 the beds are to have the winter dressing. The stalks 

 must be cut down and cleared away ; tbe beds cleaned, 

 if weedy, and carefully forked up. A thoroughly good 

 dressing of manure is put all over the beds equally, and 

 the alleys forked over too ; whilst, for the sake of giving 

 the whole a finish, a line is put down each side of the 

 alley, the edges made up a little, and a few crumbs from 

 the alleys thrown upon the beds, and the edges marked 

 out with the point of the spade. The work is then done 

 for the winter. 



Spring Dressing. In the month of March the beds are 

 again forked over carefully, the manure and soil well 

 broken up and mixed together, and some of the rougher 

 parts of manure, with all the rakings, forked into the 

 alleys ; after which the beds are raked over. 



Production. In the May of the second year after 

 planting, if they are very highly cultivated with liquid- 

 manure, cutting may commence ; but, under ordinary 

 culture, cutting had better not begin until the third year. 

 There is some difference of opinion regarding when 

 asparagus should be cut. The French method is to cut 

 almost before any green shows, but some English people 

 prefer it with more green. Cutting should cease at the 

 end of June, or very early in July. 



Forcing may be commenced at the end of November. 

 For this purpose, take up the plants from an old bed, or 

 others raised purposely, when they are three or four 

 years old. Carefully commence on one side one of the 

 outer rows of the bed, by digging out a trench, forking 

 the earth as much as possible from underneath the 

 plants, so that they may easily, and without straining or 

 injuring their roots, be moved out entirely, by thrusting 

 down the fork behind them. Be very careful, at the 

 same time, that the buds about the crowns of the plants 

 are not injured by the fork, or trampled upon, or bruised 

 in any way during their removal. Obtaining handsome, 

 strong shoots depends much upon the care with which 

 the plants are thus handled. Asparagus is very easily 

 forced, and is very productive under the treatment when 

 properly managed. It may be forced in various modes 

 through the winter ; but those who have the command of 

 hot water, to give it a moderate bottom-heat, will find 

 this give the least trouble. It may also be grown in 

 winter, in any kind of forcing-house, either in boxes filled 



