144 ASPARAGINOUS PLANTS. 



Propagation. It is propagated from seed, which may be 

 sown either in autumn, just before the closing up of the 

 ground, or in spring, as soon as the soil is in good working 

 condition. The nursery, or seed-bed, should be thoroughly 

 spaded over, the surface levelled and raked smooth and fine, 

 and the seed sown, not very thickly, in drills twelve or four- 

 teen inches apart, and about an inch in depth. An ounce of 

 seed is sufficient for fifty or sixty feet of drill. 



When the plants are well up, thin them to three inches 

 asunder j as they will be much stronger, if grown at some 

 distance apart, than if allowed to stand closely together. 

 Cultivate in the usual manner during the summer, and give 

 the plants a light covering of stable-litter during the winter. 



Good plants of one year's growth are preferred by experi- 

 enced growers for setting ; but some choose those of two 

 years, and they may be used when three years old. 



Soil and Planting. A deep, rich, mellow soil is best 

 adapted to the growth of asparagus. In the forming of a 

 plantation, cold and wet situations should be avoided, and a 

 sandy subsoil, where it can be obtained, should be preferred 

 to a subsoil of clay or gravel. 



Before planting out the roots, the ground should be thor- 

 oughly trenched two feet or more in depth. As the soil can 

 hardly be made too rich, incorporate in the process of trench- 

 ing a very liberal quantity of well-decomposed manure with 

 a free mixture of common salt. 



Lay out the land in beds five feet apart, and running north 

 and south or east and west, as may be most convenient. 

 Along these beds set three rows of roots, the outer rows 

 being one foot from the borders of the bed, and the roots one 

 foot from each other in the rows. 



The roots may be set in April, or early in May. Throw 

 out a trench, along the length of the bed, ten inches or a foot 

 in width, and deep enough to allow the crowns to be covered 



