86 



HORTICULTURE 



LEfT. VI 



of excellent asparagus in the course of a season or 

 two after planting. To insure this the soil must be 

 rich and deep ; a top dressing of nitrate of soda in 

 showery weather in summer will promote such free 

 growth as will soon render the plants strong enough 

 to come into use. When they are well established 

 and growing freely, sewage may be used copiously. 

 This is an especially valuable aid to asparagus culture 

 on light or sandy soils. 



It may be added that asparagus plants are as easily 

 raised from seed as onions are, and in the same way. 



FIG. 20. PLANTING ASPARAGUS. 



Sections of ridges formed within the ground. These are made by stretching 

 a line where the rows are to be, chopping the soil away on each side 

 with a slanted spade, then rounding the top for the reception of the 

 crowns and roots. 



The seed may be sown thinly in drills, a foot apart, and 

 one-and-a-half inch deep, early in April. If the plants 

 come up an inch asunder they will be much better 

 than if there are three or four in that space. In one 

 or at the most two years they will be ready for trans- 

 planting, and if desired every alternate row may be 

 left, to produce the much esteemed, succulent, and 

 delicious heads ; but in that case, a number of plants 

 must be taken out of the rows that are to remain, 

 leaving small clumps, eighteen inches from each 



