8o Commercial Gardening 



average quality of asparagus be desired, then select and plant the above- 

 mentioned and those next in strength, and producing one or two more 

 shoots. If a mixed crop strong and weak of Asparagus is preferred, then 

 plant the seedlings without any selection or separation of weak from 

 strong. 



Like all other plants, Asparagus fails in vigour after a certain time, 

 and this depends upon circumstances. As its full vigour is generally 

 attained at the third or fourth year after planting, it usually produces 

 remunerative crops during the following five or six years. Then a marked 

 loss of strength becomes apparent, new plantations are made, and the old 

 beds "bursted up" to use a local but expressive term after about two 

 or three more years. So there is a constant succession of plantations on the 

 best-managed grounds, following each other in rotation of five or six years. 

 The rows being planted at, say, 3 ft. 6 in. apart, other crops are taken 

 from between the Asparagus during the first two years. These crops 

 during the first year are Dwarf Beans, Onions, Lettuce, or Cauliflowers; 

 during the second year they may be Lettuce or Radishes something that 

 is dwarf, arrives quickly at maturity, and is cleared from the ground 

 before the " bower " of the Asparagus becomes so tall and dense as to spoil 

 the catch crop. The third year, cutting commences in earnest, and the 

 Asparagus pays for itself, and the ground is given up entirely to its 

 cultivation. 



The subsequent routine of culture consists in the annual manuring or 

 feeding of the crops which at Evesham largely consists of soot; moulding 

 up into ridges early in spring with pulverized soil over the crowns of the 

 plants before growth commences; covering the crowns with soil to a depth 

 of 4 to 8 or more inches (the largest exhibition Asparagus is usually 

 moulded or "earthed-up" to a depth of 12 in.); and the annual cutting 

 down of the Asparagus in November, together with the levelling of the 

 soil which had been placed over the Asparagus in spring. [j. u.] 



PestS. The principal enemy of the Asparagus that the grower must 



look out for is the Asparagus Beetle (fig. 

 459). The little black-and-yellow "cross- 

 bearing " insects, as they are called from 

 the appearance of the markings on their 

 wing covers, can be seen on the feathery 

 haulm when it has grown up. 



The pest does damage to the buds as 

 they come through by biting, causing 

 them to "crook", and covering them with 

 slime and eggs. Spraying the haulm 



Fig. 459. Asparagus Beetle (Crioceris Aspa- P, ,, " .., 



ragi), Larva, and Eggs (all magnified). Natural after Cutting IS OV61' With a pOlSOnOUS 

 length of egg and beetle shown by lines Spray, dusting the buds during Cutting 



with slaked lime, and allowing a bud 



here and there to grow up as traps, to be cut off and burnt as soon as the 

 eggs can be seen upon them, are good measures for dealing with the pest. 



