Asparagus 



inches long, and this determines the depth at which the sticks should 

 be cut. Here it may be useful to remark that deeply buried roots do 

 not thrive so well as those which are nearer the surface, nor do they 

 produce such early crops. The sticks are usually cut by thrusting 

 down a stiff narrow-pointed knife, or specially made saw, close to 

 each shoot; and it is necessary to do this with judgment, or adjacent 

 shoots, which are not sufficiently advanced to reveal their presence by 

 lifting the soil, may be damaged. To avoid this risk of injury by the 

 knife it is possible from some beds to obtain the sticks without the 

 aid of any implement by a twist and pull combined, but the process 

 needs a dexterous hand and is impracticable in tenacious soils. The 

 sticks of a handsome sample will be white four or five inches of their 

 length ; the tops close, plump, of a purplish-green colour, and the 

 colour extending two or at most three inches down the stems. 

 Both size and degree of colouring are, however, so entirely questions 

 of taste that no definite rule can be stated. It is more to the purpose 

 to say that, if liberally grown, the plant may be cut from in the third 

 year ; and that cutting should cease about the middle of June, or 

 early in July, according to the district. For the good of the plant 

 the sooner cutting ceases the better, as the next year's buds have to 

 be formed in the roots by the aid of the top-growth of the current 

 season. 



Two other points relating to the general management are 

 worthy of attention. Some crops get on fairly well when neglected 

 and crowded with weeds. Not so with Asparagus. The plant 

 appears to have been designed to enjoy life in solitude, being 

 unfit for competition ; and if weeds make way in an Asparagus bed, 

 the cultivator will pay a heavy penalty for his neglect of duty. 

 The limitation of the beds to a width of three feet, therefore, is of 

 consequence, because it facilitates weeding without putting a foot 

 on them. The other point arises out of the necessity of affording 

 support to the frail plant in places where it may happen to be exposed 

 to wind. When Asparagus in high summer is rudely shaken, the 

 stems snap off at the base, and the roots lose the service of the 

 top-growth in maturing heads for the next season. To prevent this 

 injury is easy enough, but the precautions must be adopted in good 

 time. A free use of light, feathery stakes, such as are employed for 

 the support of Peas, thrust in firmly all over the bed, will insure 

 all needful support when gales are blowing. In the absence of pea- 

 sticks, stout stakes, placed at suitable distances and connected with 

 lengths of thick tarred twine, will answer equally well. In sheltered 



IT 



