58 MV HANDKERCHIEF GARDEN. 



reason it is perhaps better, if just as convenient, to 

 set this crop in the fall. The soil should be forked 

 up and made free from stones, and heavily manured. 

 If spread over the soil two or three inches deep, it 

 will not be too much, as this plant has a tremendous 

 appetite, and the bigger the dinner you give it, the 

 bigger the rhubarb pies it will give you. The plants 

 are mere clumps of fleshy roots and should be set at 

 equal distances across the end of the lot, and just 

 deep enough to have the top or crown covered about 

 three inches. Spread straw or manure over the surface 

 after the planting, and leave the bed till spring. If 

 planted in the spring, the roots must be obtained 

 very early and set in the ground with the deep red 

 buds just under the surface. The after-culture the 

 first year is to merely keep the weeds down, and there 

 is no better way to do this than to rake the soil over 

 lightly after every rain. When flower stalks appear, 

 cut them off as soon as they rise above the leaves. 

 In the fall spread more manure over the surface 

 around the plants, as soon as the leaves die and dis- 

 appear. The following spring the first crop of stalks 

 can be gathered. Do not be too greedy. Give the 

 plants a chance and gather only a few from each, 

 rather than a quantity from one. Two stalks from 

 each plant at a picking is enough, and once a week 

 through the season is all you should expect. After 

 that year perhaps twice as much can be taken every 

 year for many years to come. Take good care of the 

 plants, feed them well, and they will care for you and 

 supply perhaps the best early crop you can give to 

 the young folks round your table. 



The asparagus bed needs a richer and deeper soil 

 than any other crop. There is little danger of plant- 

 ing in too rich a soil, for you must remember that 

 the bed is to be laid down once for all. and need not 



