GROWING ASPARAGUS PLANTS. 179 



A very good way to get quick germination and large root 

 growth is to start the seed bed in February or March, as 

 the soil becomes warm : get good, fresh seed ; take boxes, 

 say apple boxes, or any boxes of about that size ; get good, 

 clean sand, and mix sand and seed together, about 15 parts 

 of sand to one part of seed; fill the boxes with sand and 

 seed mixed as described; set away in a warm place and 

 pour on water, quite warm, two or three times during the 

 first two days. 



In the meantime, prepare and richly pulverize a piece of 

 ground for a seed bed. Make rows about four feet apart 

 by raking all lumps and clods away, forming a kind of 

 ditch or depression about two or three inches below the 

 level of the land. Make these ditches about one foot wide, 

 and watch the seed closely, for if the seed is good in about 

 seven days nearly all the seeds will begin to sprout. Then 

 take the boxes of sand and seed to the prepared ground 

 and sprinkle it about a foot in width in the rows or ditches 

 quite freely, using judgment all the time not to get too 

 much or too little. Cover up with finely pulverized earth 

 about one and one-half inches deep, and if the ground is 

 moist, your plants will be up and growing in a few days, at 

 least before the weeds will make their appearance. Let 

 the plants stand there ; but take good care of them. They 

 are very quickly injured by drying out. The bed should be 

 kept clean and moist. 



This method gives seedlings scattered through a space 

 one foot wide and though the cultivator may be used be- 

 tween these foot-strips, there must be hand-pulling of 

 weeds within the strips. For this reason some growers 

 prefer to start the plants in thin rows by sowing the seed 

 in a drill and afterwards spacing the plants in the row to 

 prevent crowding on the roots. In this practice the rows 

 are placed one to two feet apart according as hand or 

 horse cultivator is to be practiced. Whichever method is 

 followed it is important to start the seeds in a slight de- 

 pression so that subsequent cultivation may level the 

 ground and bring a deeper covering over the young root 



