ASPARAGUS UNDER BENCHES. 13! 



The roots are commonly forced under the benches of 

 a forcing-house. They may be handled in a hotbed, but 

 as hotbeds are outside the purpose of this book, this 

 method of forcing will not be discussed in detail. It may 

 be said, however, that forcing in hotbeds differs in no 

 important respect from forcing in the house. A space is 

 made under the bench at least 3 inches deeper than the 

 clumps which it is desired to force. This space may be 

 either a pit dug into the ground, or it may be formed by 

 boards upon top of the earth. The pit will generally need 

 to be at least a foot deep. In the bottom is placed a 

 couple of inches of good soil, and upon this soil the 

 clumps are solidly placed, standing them as close together 

 as possible. Earth is now filled in between the clumps, 

 and the crowns are covered with earth at least an inch 

 deep. If it is desired to bleach the asparagus, 6 or 8 

 inches of soil should be covered over the clumps. 



The temperature should be kept rather low for a few 

 days, until the roots become thoroughly settled in place. 

 After that, the temperature may be raised to that re- 

 quired for roses, or even higher. Very high tempera- 

 tures give spindling shoots. It is essential that the roots 

 be profusely watered. New roots are brought in every 

 three or four weeks, to give a succession. 



The following are actual dates of asparagus forcing, 

 under benches, at Cornell : Plants taken from an old 

 patch November 20, 1893, and set under benches three 

 days later. December 4, plants just pushing through. De- 

 cember 8, first shoots cut, averaging 9 inches long. De- 

 cember 14, first good cutting, shoots running from 6 to 15 

 inches long. December 18, second good cutting. De- 

 cember 26, a good cutting, some of the shoots having re- 

 mained too long and become woody ; some of these 

 shoots were 2 ft. long. January 10, a heavy cutting. 

 January 19, cut about half as many shoots as on the loth. 

 January 30, cut about as much as on the igth, but shoots 

 growing smaller. February 10, small cutting of weak 



10 FORC. 



