ASPABAGUS 



ASPARAGUS 



105 



criminating market, however, are those an inch or more 

 in diameter and deliciously succulent, which one can 

 grow only on good plants set far enough apart on well- 

 drained, well-manured and well-tilled soil. To secure 

 earliness of crop, the land selected for an Asparagus 

 patch should be a warm loam, preferably exposed to 

 south or east. Manures of any kind may be used with 

 greatest liberality, too much being almost out of the 

 question. Unless the soil is already well supplied 

 with vegetable matter, and for that reason very loose 

 and mellow, bulky manures, such as fairly-well rotted 

 stable manure or rich compost, are almost indispensable 

 at the start. A heavy dressing is to be plowed under. 

 Afterwards concentrated manures, rich in nitrogen and 

 potash, will do very well for loose soils, and may be 

 used broadcast on top, as the crop seems to need them 

 from year to year. Much depends on good plants. 

 These are easily grown. To grow one's own supply for 

 starting a plantation is ordinarily a safer plan than to 

 depend on purchased plants. Use strong 1-year plants 

 in preference to older ones. The male, or pollen-bearing 

 plants, are more vigorous, therefore more productive of 

 good stalks and more profitable than the female or seed- 

 bearing plants ; but it is not always an easy task to dis- 

 tinguish the one from the other at an early age unless 

 they bloom. To raise the plants, sow seed in early 

 spring thinly in drills, in a well-prepared seed-bed. 

 Have the drills a foot apart ; cover the seed half an inch 

 to an inch deep, and thin the plants early to stand 3 

 inches apart. With the same attention as that demanded 

 by other close-planted garden vegetables, strong plants 

 will then be the sure outcome. Get the land ready for 

 setting the plants by deep and careful plowing and 

 thorough harrowing. Then plow out furrows 5 or even 

 6 feet apart. If the demand is for the green stalks 

 (those grown above ground), popular in some markets, 

 the furrows may be made 6 or 7 inches deep. If 

 blanched shoots are wanted (and they are of superior 

 flavor and tenderness, provided they are grown in mel- 

 low soil and under high and skillful culture), they have 

 to be grown below ground; hence the furrows are to be 

 made a few inches deeper than for plants set for green 

 stalks. Set the plants in the furrows not less than 2 

 feet apart, each on a little mound of soil, spreading the 

 roots in the same way as they grew in the seed bed. 

 Cover with mellow soil to the depth of a few inches, and 

 afterwards, in the course of some weeks and by means 

 of suitable tools (smoothing harrow, cultivator, etc.), 

 gradually fill the furrows even with the ground level. 

 A still better plan whene the material can be had, is to 

 fill the furrows with fine old compost, as the covering 

 above the crowns of the plants can not be made tco 

 loose. It is advisable, and will insure closer attention 

 in cultivation, to grow some hoed crop, like beets, tur- 

 nips, cabbage, beans, peas, radishes, etc., between the 

 rows of Asparagus the first year. In the fall, and every 

 fall thereafter, cut the Asparagus stalks close to the 

 ground and remove them from the patch, to avoid the 

 scattering of the seed. 



In early spring of the second year, the surface of the 

 groxind is to be loosened by shallow plowing or deep cul- 

 tivating; and when the first sprouts appear, the rows 

 may be hilled up to some extent, especially if blanched 

 stalks are to be grown. The wisdom of cutting that 

 season more than a very few, if any, of the shoots for 

 the table or sale may well be doubted. Plants left intact 

 until the third year will grow much stronger and be 

 more productive afterward. In the absence of a spe- 

 cially devised Asparagus knife, any ordinary table or 

 pocket knife may be used for cutting the shoots, or in 

 mellow soil the shoots may be broken off at the base with 

 the finger. In cutting, be very careful to avoid injury to 

 later shoots or to the crown of the plant. The third sea- 

 son and every year thereafter loosen up the ground as 

 directed for the second season. The shoots are now to 

 be cut indiscriminately and clean, up to the beginning 

 of the green-pea season. After that, allow them to grow 

 undisturbed, but continue cultivation, to keep the ground 

 surface mellow and free from weed growth. For market, 

 wash the freshly-cut stalks and tie them in neat, com- 

 pact bunches of the size demanded bv the particular 

 market, using some bright-colored ribbon, or perhaps 

 rubber bands. If to be shipped, especially for a longer 



distance, pack the bunches in moist moss or other ma- 

 terial that will prevent the stalks from wilting. Varia- 

 tions in the Asparagus plant are due more to differences 

 in culture and environment than to those 

 characteristic of the variety. American 

 seedsmen offer the following as distinct 

 varieties : Colossal (Conover's), Palmetto, 

 Mammoth (Barr's), Columbian (Mammoth 

 Columbian White). The last named is 

 perhaps the only one having an undisputed 



151. Leaves and 



branches of 

 common Asparagus. 



claim to varietal distinction, on account 

 of the white color of its young shoots. 

 To save the seed, strip the scarlet berries 

 off the ripe stalks by hand, or thresh them 

 off with a flail, put them in a sound barrel 

 or tank, and mash them with a wooden 

 pounder, to separate the hard, black seeds from the 

 pulp. Clean them by washing in plenty of water, pour- 

 ing off the pulp and skins ; dry and store. 



In the Atlantic coast states, north of Virginia, the 

 Asparagus rust (Puccinia Asparagi) has often done con- 

 siderable damage. Outside of that region this fungous 

 disease is hardly known. Burning the infected stalks 

 is recommended. According to the Massachusetts Ex- 

 periment Station, "the best means of controlling the 

 rust is by thorough cultivation in order to secure vig- 

 orous plants, and in seasons of extreme dryness plants 

 growing on very dry soil with little water -retaining 

 properties should, if possible, receive irrigation." As- 

 paragus anthracnose has appeared in a few instances. 

 Of insect enemies, only two have thus far attacked As- 

 paragus plants in America, namely, the common Aspara- 

 gus beetle (Crioceris Asparagi, Linn.), and the 12- 

 spotted Asparagus beetle (C. 12-punctata, Linn.). The 

 following remedies are recommended : Chickens and 

 ducks ; close cutting of the young shoots in the early 

 season, and the freense of fresh, air-slaked lime or of 

 arsenites dusted on the dew-wet plants after the cut- 

 ting period. Even with all kinds of vegetables in abun- 

 dant supply and much cheaper than ever, there is hardly 

 any danger that a superior article of Asparagus will go 

 begging for customers in any of otir markets, or that the 

 grower of such product could not get several hundred 

 dollars per acre for his crop. 



There are no books of American origin devoted wholly 

 or chiefly to Asparagus ; but all the vegetable-garden- 

 ing manuals discuss it. T. GREINER. 



