102 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



should be three feet high. As soon as they are dead, they 

 should be cut off close to the ground with a heavy, sharp hoe 

 or similar tool, and then the land should have a light plow- 

 ing or be worked up with a harrow to a depth of four inches. 

 No care need to be taken about the plants when cultivating at 

 this season of the year, but the whole surface may be culti- 

 vated or plowed three inches deep as though no crop was in 

 the land. In the spring the land should be cultivated as soon 

 as it will work well in order that it may warm up quickly. 

 There will be no crop to cut until the spring of the third year; 

 a very little, however, may be safely cut the second year after 

 planting. The cultivation in subsequent years should be very 

 much the same as that given above, but, in addition, when the 

 crop has been all harvested and cutting is to cease, which 

 will be about the middle or last of June in the northern states, 

 the whole bed should have a thorough cultivation to the depth 

 of three inches without regard to the rows, and if manure is to 

 be used, it should be put on at this time. Under this method 

 of treatment, it is unnecessary to do much hand weeding, and 

 it is very easy to keep the soil in the best condition by horse 

 power. After the thorough cultivation in June, all the sprouts 

 that come up from the roots should be permitted to grow un- 

 til autumn, by which time they should be about five feet high 

 if in good soil and will have ripe seed. It is necessary to 

 allow the top to grow to this extent in order that plant food 

 may be stored up in the roots. Very late cutting weakens the 

 growth of the plants. 



Cutting.— When the crop is grown for marketing, it is not 

 desirable to cut the shoots until the third season after plant- 

 ing the roots; however, in the case of small beds in the gar- 

 den where the planter is very anxious to test the fruit of his 

 labor, it may be well to note that no harm is liable to come 

 from a very slight cutting the second season. The sprouts 

 should be cut as they appeal* in the spring, and all of them 

 should be cut when of the proper size, although they may not 

 be needed at that time. If permitted to grow, they interfere 

 with subsequent cutting and prevent the growth of new sprouts. 

 They will also be in the way of cultivation later in the season. 

 The sprouts are generally cut off when about six inches high 

 about two inches below the surface of the ground, and in this 



