RHUBARB 273 



complished by division of the mass of roots either in the fall or 

 early spring. 



Asparagus is a perennial and should be planted in the per- 

 manent garden, where it may remain undisturbed for many years. 



Some good variety should be decided upon and a good, deep 

 bed prepared, on rich land that was manured the preceding year. 

 It should be plowed m the fall for spring planting, and plowed 

 again, very deeply, just before planting. 



Seed may be planted and the plants raised at home, but the 

 quickest and most satisfactory method is to plant roots, either 

 one or two years old. They should be placed in rows four or five 

 feet apart, about ten inches deep, or so the roots may be covered 

 to a depth of six inches when the bed is leveled. The plants are 

 put two feet apart in the rows. The furrows made for planting 

 the roots should not be completely filled at first, or the shoots may 

 never find their way through, the first season. 



When they have started to grow, however, tillage should begin 

 at once. A cultivator is used between the rows and a hoe close 

 to the plants. With the latter tool, the earth is gradually worked 

 in around the plants, so that by fall the bed or field is levelled. 

 In the fall the tops should be mowed and removed from the field. 

 This takes away some insects which might be harmful the next 

 season. A mulch of manure should be spread over the bed to re- 

 main all winter. In the spring this should be worked into the bed 

 before there is any chance of the shoots being injured. A disk 

 harrow is good for this work. 



None should be cut until the third spring or two years from 

 planting time. The first season the cutting should be light. After 

 that the plants will be so well established that there will be no 

 great danger of weakening them, unless the cutting is continued 

 too late. Six weeks is as long as plants should be expected to yield 

 without clanger of permanently injuring them. 



Each fall the bed should be disked and a generous supply of 

 good manure spread on the field, or bed. This should be worked 

 in again in the spring. The size of the shoots will depend more 

 on the care and fertilization than on the variety planted. 



Rhubarb requires a rich, moist soil, and an out-of-the-way 

 place in the garden where it need not be disturbed, as it is a 

 perennial and will live indefinitely if it receives proper care. 



It may be grown from seed, but is usually propagated by root 

 division, and the part of the root planted must bear a bud, or a 

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