ASPARAGUS 



559 



sive culture. Asparagus is the first green 

 vegetable of the spring and therefore is 

 in great demand for home use and for 

 maTket. 



To prepare a permanent bed of aspara- 

 gus the land should be heavily manured 

 (at least 10 to 15 tons) and broken deeply 

 in the fall. In early spring the land is 

 replowed, disced both ways and thorough- 

 ly harrowed. This thorough preparation 

 incorporates the manure with the soil. 



The best time to plant asparagus in the 

 South is in late .January or early in 

 February but in the North plantings can 

 be made as late as November, provided 

 the land has been thoroughly prepared 

 some time in advance so that the manure 

 is well decomposed. 



Only strong one-year-old plants should 

 be used, though seed can be sown in the 

 row and the plants can be thinned out 

 to the desired distance. Plants can be 

 secured from any reliable seed dealer. 



The distance that the plants should be 

 set varies with different growers but for 

 most purposes the best plan is to plant 

 five feet between the rows and place the 

 plants three feet apart in the row. 



The land at planting time should be 

 checked off with the plow both ways, 

 running one way twice to make a deep 

 furrow. The plants are set in these 

 checks allowing a space of from 6 to 8 

 inches between the top of the crown and 

 the surface of the ground. The plants 

 should not be entirely covered with soil 

 at the time of planting; the upper three 

 or four inches of space will be gradually 

 filled In by the subsequent cultivation as 

 the plant grows through the soil. 



During the first season the land should 

 be kept well cultivated to maintain a 

 soil mulch and also keep down weeds. 

 Cultivation should continue until the tops 

 have matured. 



When the berries on the plants have 

 turned red the tops should be cut down 

 and left in the field to dry thoroughly. 

 On a windy day the patch can be burned 

 over thus destroying the rubbish and 

 troublesome insects. After the patch has 



been burned over spread a coating of 

 manure over it and allow this to remain 

 as a mulch until spring. 



Early in the spring of the second year 

 the rough manure should be raked off and 

 the ground should be worked. It is a 

 good plan to plow furrows in both direc- 

 tions over the row thus leaving a ridge 

 on the row and a dead furrow between 

 the rows. After plowing use a spike 

 toothed harrow or cultivator and level 

 down the beds. 



Cultivation should be given as outlined 

 for the fir.st season. Cut down the tops, 

 burn over the patch and top dress with 

 manure as before. An application of a 

 high grade fertilizer in early summer will 

 produce a good strong growth that forms 

 a good root system. 



The patch can be cut the third season 

 but this cutting should be rather light. 

 The bed should be worked as outlined for 

 the previous seasons but early in the 

 spring an application of from 75 to 100 

 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre should 

 be made as a top dressing near the plants. 

 This fertilizer is readily available and 

 will give results in the crop to be cut. 

 When cutting has ceased or about May 

 1st, the patch should receive an applica- 

 tion of l.OOO pounds of fertilizer made 

 up as follows: 



Acid phosphate 400 lbs. 



Nitrate of soda 100 lbs. 



Cotton seed meal .350 lbs. 



Muriate of potash 150 lbs. 



Total 1,000 lbs. 



The above is a 7-4-8 goods and it should 

 be broadcasted and disced in running the 

 disc across the rows. Cultivation should 

 then be kept up as in previous years. 



When cutting the asparagus select 

 those stalks which are about 6 inches 

 long and run the knife about 2 inches 

 down under ground. Care must be taken 

 in cutting not to injure the shoots which 

 are just pushing up through the soil. 

 Every stalk whether it is thin or fleshy 

 should be cut at each cutting as this pre- 

 vents insects from laying eggs on the 

 old shoots that are left and it also con- 

 serves the strength of the plants. As 

 soon as the asparagus stalks are cut 



