6 GARDENING 



To make an asparagus bed, a good dressing of 

 manure should be first applied on the soil, and then 

 deeply trenched to a depth of three feet, leaving 

 all the best soil at the bottom of the trench, when 

 it should be broken up with a fork and then well 

 drained. Asparagus beds cannot be too much 

 manured ; it takes three years to raise asparagus 

 from seed, therefore it is advisable for those who 

 cannot wait so long to procure plants of three or 

 four years' growth, and even then the asparagus 

 should not be attempted to be cut its first year. 

 Where seed is planted it should be drilled shallowly 

 in fine mould and planted ten inches apart ; and all 

 that is necessary for the first year is to keep the 

 seeds down, and the next year, about April, the 

 plants must be thinned out to nine inches apart, 

 and the seedlings can be used to make another bed 

 if required. 



For the first two years it should be allowed to 

 run to stalk. 



In planting asparagus the greatest care is neces- 

 sary, as the roots are so very delicate, and should 

 be carefully spread out and the crowns of the plants 

 be left just visible above the surface. 



A writer of great experience says that ' not one 

 gardener in twenty properly manages asparagus 

 beds, as the soil should not be touched with fork or 

 hoe, for fear of bruising the plants. 



' It is most necessary to keep all weeds down. 

 Salt, if given liberally three times a year, will effect 

 this, besides being a first-rate fertiliser. Proper 

 knives are sold for cutting asparagus, as great care 

 is required in cutting it, so as to prevent wounding 

 the plants by cutting invisible heads. Cutting may 

 commence as soon as the heads are high enough to 



