THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



will produce fuller stools of asparagus and larger 

 shoots than if the plants are set closer together. 



In preparing the ground for the plants, it should 

 be trenched to a depth of eighteen or twenty inches, 

 several inches of rich manure worked into the bot- 

 tom of the trench, and the plants set in this. Suf- 

 ficient earth should be filled in about the roots to 

 cover them three inches deep, more soil to be added 

 in cultivating after the plants are set. Place the 

 roots in a natural position, rounding up the soil 

 somewhat under the crown and spreading out the 

 roots ; press down the earth firmly about them and 

 level all off gradually in cultivating. 



Thorough culture may be given the first year, 

 or resort may be had to a mulch of straw, marsh 

 hay, or lawn clippings, which will greatly reduce 

 the care of the beds, and if sufficient material is 

 used, keep the beds in quite satisfactory condition. 



As soon as the plants have become old enough 

 to bear berries I prefer to cut the fruiting tops 

 before the seed shall have ripened and burn them, 

 replacing with other litter; but this should not be 

 done till the tops have quite matured. I find that 

 allowing the old plants to seed will, in a short time, 



produce a crop of young plants which, unless re- 



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