ASPARAGUS. 101 



they are likely to fail when removed in the autumn. Aspar- 

 agus may be increased by dividing- the crowns, but this is an 

 expensive process, and plants so grown have no peculiar merit 

 over those from seed. By buying the plants, instead of sow- 

 ing the seed. to start with, one or two years' time may be saved, 

 and frequently it is cheaper to buy the plants than to raise 

 them in a small way. It is said that plants that do not bear 

 seed produce more sprouts than those that do. 



Planting. — While asparagus should always be moved in 

 the spring, it is not necessary to move it very early, though 

 it is better to do so : it may be successfully transplanted as 

 late as the first of June. Any long sprouts that may have 

 started should be broken off when the plants are set out. 

 The land for planting should be heavily manured, deeply- 

 plowed and finely pulverized, and it is important to do this 

 work well, as asparagus beds well made should last at least 

 twenty years. The opinions of different growers as to dis- 

 tance between plants vary much. It has been advocated to 

 set the plants four feet apart each way, and if the soil is re- 

 markably fertile this distance will not be too great: if the 

 land is not very rich, it is customary to put the plants at in- 

 tervals of three feet in rows four feet apart. Where a bed for 

 a family garden is desired, it is probably best to set the 

 plants three by three feet apart. About 100 plants will pro- 

 duce all the sprouts needed in an ordinary garden. 



Depth to Plant. — For ordinary purposes asparagus roots 

 should be planted about six inches deep: the deeper they are 

 planted, the later they will be about starting in the spring; if 

 planted less than six inches deep, the roots push up to the 

 surface and interfere with cultivation. The plants should not 

 be covered to the full depth of six inches at once, or the 

 shoots may never be able to push up to the surface. The 

 furrow r s should be made with a plow T to the proper depth, the 

 plants placed in the bottom of the furrow and covered about 

 three inches to begin with, and the furrows filled in by after 

 cultivation as the tops grow. By the middle of the summer 

 the furrows should be level full. 



Cultivation during the first year can be done almost entire- 

 ly with a horse, though some hand hoeing will be necessary 

 between the plants. By autumn of the first year, the tops 



