178 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



numbered, and the space they occupied, as early products, 

 can be used a second or third time during the season. 

 They should therefore be planted in such manner as to 

 leave the unoccupied land all in one plat. The scene in 

 Figure 58 gives a good idea of a garden under irrigation. 

 Asparagus. A light sandy loam is preferable. 

 Plow very deep, turning under a heavy coat of manure. 

 Run two or three times for a deep furrow in which to 

 plant. Set the roots down four to six inches below the 

 even surface of the garden and draw the soil back into 

 the furrow. One or two rows across the garden will be 

 all that is needed for family use. If more than one row, 

 make them four feet apart and set a foot to eighteen 

 inches in the row. Set early in the spring. To irrigate, 

 run a furrow with a light plow a foot or so from the 

 row, and water well without permitting the water to 

 leave the furrow. As soon as the soil is dry enough run 

 the cultivator down the rows to fill the furrow and keep 

 the soil from baking. Repeat the process as often as 

 water is needed, and cultivate frequently. The writer 

 sets two-year-old roots, using the Colossal and Palmetto 

 varieties. We find it advisable to hoe the soil gradually 

 up to form a ridge two feet wide over the plants, thus 

 leaving a furrow of equal width between the ridges. In 

 this way the roots of the plants are covered by a great 

 depth of soil, and as the surface of the ridge to the 

 depth of twelve inches is loose and dry, no attempt is 

 made by the roots to push their way upwards. When 

 the young shoots start to grow they have to push through 

 a considerable space of loose soil on the ridges, and they 

 can be cut at a point seven or eight inches below the 

 sin-face as soon as the tips appear above ground and be- 

 fore they begin to get green. Asparagus is rather par- 

 tial to water, and irrigation may go on every ten days or 

 two weeks during the cutting season, whilo once a month 

 thereafter will suffice. 



