Asparagus 



ASPARAGUS 



Asparagus officinalis 



ASPARAGUS is a liliaceous plant of perennial duration, and it demands 

 more generous treatment than the majority of Kitchen Garden crops. 

 Under favourable conditions it improves with age to such an extent 

 as to justify the best possible cultivation. Plantations that have 

 stood and prospered for twenty or even thirty years are not un- 

 common, but a fair average term is ten years, after which it is 

 generally advisable to break up a bed, the precaution being first 

 taken to secure a succession bed on fresh soil well prepared for the 

 purpose. Plantations are obtained either by sowing seeds or from 

 transplanted roots ; and although roots are extremely sensitive when 

 moved, success can, as a rule, be insured by special care and prompt 

 action, assuming that the proper time of year is chosen for the 

 operation. The advantage of using roots is the saving of time, and 

 in most gardens this is an important consideration. Fortunately 

 roots may be planted almost as safely when two or three years old 

 as at one year. 



Asparagus will grow in any soil that is well cultivated ; a 

 deep rich sandy loam being especially suitable. Calcareous soil 

 is by no means unfavourable to Asparagus, as may be seen in the 

 fine quality of the crops grown at Ulm and Augsburg ; still, a 

 sand rich in humus is not the less to be desired, as the finest 

 samples of European growth are the produce of the districts around 

 Paris, Brussels, and Berlin. The London Asparagus, which is prized 

 by, epicures for its full flavour and tenderness, is for the most part 

 grown near at hand, in deep alluvial soils enriched with abundance 

 of manure. Nature gives us the key to every secret that concerns 

 our happiness, and in respect of Asparagus cultivation she is liberal 

 in her teaching. The plant is found growing wild on the sandy coasts 

 of the British Islands a proof that it loves sand and salt. It is so 

 abundant on the sandy steppes of Southern Russia and Poland as to 

 kill out the grasses, but it takes their place in respect of utility, and 

 the horses and cattle eat it and prosper. 



The routine cultivation must begin with a thorough preparation 

 of the ground. Efficient drainage is imperative, for stagnant water 

 in the subsoil is fatal to the plant. But a rich loam does not need 

 the extravagant manuring that has been recommended and prac- 

 tised. Deep digging and, if the subsoil is good, trenching may be 



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