ASPARAGUS 7 



ASPARAGUS 



(Asparagus offitinalis) 



ASPARAGUS is a liliaceous plant of perennial duration. Under favour- 

 able conditions it improves with age to such an extent as to justify 

 the best possible cultivation. Plantations that have stood and pros- 

 pered for twenty or even thirty years are not uncommon, but a fair 

 average term is ten years, after which it is generally advisable to break 

 up a bed, the precaution being first taken to secure a succession bed 

 by sowing seeds on fresh soil well prepared for the purpose. In any 

 and every case the best plantation is obtained by sowing seeds, for 

 the roots do not transplant well. With special care and prompt 

 action, roots may be employed, and these are especially serviceable 

 when time is an object, as, for example, in the formation of a new 

 garden ; for seedling plants are slow to make a return as compared 

 with roots, which may be planted almost as safely at two or three years 

 old as at one year. Keeping in view, therefore, that the employment 

 of seed is always to be preferred, unless there are special reasons for 

 resorting to roots, it will be found that the cultivation of Asparagus 

 is a very simple business, although it demands more generous treat- 

 ment than the usual run of Kitchen Garden crops. 



Asparagus will grow in any soil that is well cultivated, but a sandy 

 soil suits it ; a deep rich sandy loam being especially suitable. A 

 calcareous soil is by no means unfavourable to Asparagus, as may be 

 seen in the fine quality of the crops grown at Ulm and Augsburg ; 

 still, a sand rich in humus is not the less to be desired, as the finest 

 samples of European growth are the produce of the districts around 

 Paris, Brussels, and Berlin. The London Asparagus is for the most 

 part grown near at hand, in deep alluvial soils enriched with abun- 

 dance of manure, and is greatly prized by epicures for its full flavour 

 and tenderness. Nature gives us the key to every secret that concerns 

 our happiness, and in respect of Asparagus cultivation she is liberal 

 in her teaching. The plant is found growing wild on the sandy coasts 

 of the British Islands a proof that it loves sand and salt. It is so 

 abundant on the sandy steppes of Southern Russia and Poland as to 

 kill out the grasses, but it takes their place in respect of utility, and 

 the horses and cattle eat it as daily food, and enjoy life and prosper. 



The routine cultivation must begin with a thorough preparation 



