GARDEN BEDS OF ASPARAGUS 127 



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

 moist your plants will be up and growing in a very 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 between 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 cultiva- 

 tion is to be practiced. Whichever method is followed it is import- 

 ant to start the seeds in a slight depression so that subsequent culti- 

 vation may level the ground and bring a deeper covering over the 

 young root crowns to guard them from excessive heat. The seed 

 can, however, in a light soil, be placed at a'depth of two inches and 

 the moisture can be retained near the surface by careful raking to 

 prevent crusting over. A rake with thin teeth can be used even 

 after the seedlings have appeared, to keep the soil loose about them. 



Planting Out the Garden Bed. Garden beds or rows can be 

 made by the old system of trenching if it is desired, although recent 

 practice rather discards it. Trench about eighteen or twenty inches 

 deep, then fill up with well-rotted manure, dig the next trench and 

 throw the dirt over on top of the trench filled with manure, and 

 so on until all is trenched. Then begin and stir the last trench up 

 with the dirt, measure off the distance the asparagus plants are to 

 stand, say two feet if for hand hoeing, and then stick a stake, set 

 the plants, and then take the dirt off of the next trench to cover the 

 plants, and so on until over the ground, when all the plants will be 

 set. 



If the garden is small, the soil rich, the moisture ample, some 

 other use can be made of the bed the first year. The stakes will 

 show the locations of the asparagus roots. Between these stakes 

 set a cabbage plant and then in the middle of the row set out 

 lettuce plants, and sow radishes, carrots, and early turnips. The 

 carrots and radishes will be disposed of before the cabbages are 

 ready and some other quick-growing vegetable can be put in, after 

 irrigation. The second year give the whole ground to the asparagus, 

 and in the fall clean off the bed, cover with a coat of coarse manure 

 to keep the ground from packing with the heavy rains, and fork it 

 all in early in the following spring, being careful not to injure the 

 root crowns. A small cutting can be made the second season, but 

 it will help future crops to cut very little. 



Field Planting of Asparagus. Roots can be moved from the 

 seed-bed to the field at any time from November to April, accord- 

 ing to condition of soil and activity of roots. As with other plant- 

 ings, however, early practice is better when all is favorable. As to 



