A CITY FRUIT GARDEN. 59 



bq re-planted for twenty years. Spring is the best 

 time to plant and the earlier the better, for the 

 asparagus is among the first to stir with life after the 

 frosts have gone. The roots should be carefully 

 plantied in rows three feet apart, taking pains to 

 spread them out carefully in a shallow trench, about 

 a foot apart in the rows and with the point of the 

 root buried about three inches. As soon as the shoots 

 appear above ground, keep the soil light and open 

 till the shoots begin to shade the ground with their 

 tall feathery plumes. The weeds will then die out in 

 the shade, and the last part of the season the bed will 

 require very little attention. Do not cut any stalks, 

 but let all grow as they will. Your object the first 

 year is to get good strong plants, and you must wait 

 till the following spring for the first dividends laid 

 on the dinner table. 



Strawberries are also good eaters, and it will pay 

 well to treat them well. Your object is to obtain the 

 greatest possible return from the smallest space, and 

 to do this the best plan is to set the plants one foot 

 apart each way, covering the entire space between 

 the walks. As the plants are so near, you must not 

 trouble them to search for food. Each plant must 

 be so well fed that it is content to stay in its own 

 limited spot of soil and not send its roots wandering 

 off in search of something to eat. Neither must any 

 plant be allowed to send out runners. In June and 

 July, when runners appear, they must be rigorously 

 cut off. If taken in hand early, when the runners are 

 soft and green, they can be pulled off without trouble. 

 A girl of ten ought to keep all the runners down, by 

 going over the bed two or three times a week for 

 about a month. A narrow rake is the best tool to 

 keep the weeds down between the plants and to keep 

 the soil loose after rains. When the ground freezes 



