104 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



ment will keep the sprouts from starting for a week or more 

 at a season when it is most relished and the market price is 

 the highest. On this account it is an excellent plan to manure 

 asparagus in June at the close of the cutting season, as it can 

 then be thoroughly cultivated into the soil and does not inter- 

 fere in any way with the growth of the plants in the spring. 

 Asparagus is a rank feeder and needs lots of manure for the 

 best results. Salt may be applied to asparagus to such an 

 extent as to kill all the weeds without injuring the plants, and 

 yet careful experiments seem to show that salt is of no special 

 value as a manure for this crop. 



Asparagus seed is readily taken from the fruits in which 

 it grows by macerating the fruit in water and then drying it. 



Forcing Asparagus for early use is being done to some ex- 

 tent near large cities, where it is often a profitable undertak- 

 ing. For this purpose the roots must be dug in the fall and 

 ca,refully stored in earth in a cellar. In March make a good, 

 slow hotbed and put the roots in it in good soil. It is im- 

 portant to start the roots slowly, or the shoots will be spind- 

 ing and weak. The roots stored as recommended may also 

 be forced into growth in a warm cellar, shed, greenhouse, or 

 in a part of a permanent bed enclosed in glass or cotton 

 sheeting. 



Varieties.— There are a number of varieties, and they are 

 all of them desirable when given good cultivation. Among 

 the best kinds are Conover's Colossal, Moore's and Palmetto. 



BEANS [Phaseolus.) 



Annual. — Thecommon beans of this country are natives of 

 the warmer parts of South America. They are sometimes 

 referred to as kidney or French beans ( P. vulgaris.) Besides 

 these, the Lima beans ( P. lunatus) are cultivated to a limited 

 extent. The common broad bean of Europe is an entirely 

 different vegetable from the kinds generally grown here and 

 is not sufficiently prolific in this section to make it worthy of 

 cultivation. There are many varieties of beans, and the 

 varieties of each species readily cross together, the flowers 

 being especially adapted to crossing. They vary from one 

 another in many particulars; some are low, bushy and erect, 

 while others are twining and have stems that grow ten or more 



