52 VEGETABLE GROWING. 



it is what gardeners term a gross feeder. The ferti- 

 lizer usually employed contains a great deal of organic 

 matter, such as compost and rakings from yards ; this 

 is mixed thoroughly with the soil and is often applied 

 before the plants are set out. After they have started 

 a top dressing of potash and phosphoric acid is given. 

 When the plantation is made considerable distance 

 from the sea coast it is customary to give a heavy ap- 

 plication of salt ; this may be applied without injury 

 at the rate of two pounds per square yard. 



PLANTING. 



The quickest and surest way to make a beginning in 

 asparagus growing is to buy several hundred or a 

 thousand roots from a seedsman. These are not expen- 

 sive, and will make a fair test as to whether it will be 

 desirable or not to go into growing it as a business. 



Lay off rows three feet apart and set the plants a 

 foot to eighteen inches apart in the row. During the 

 first year the field should be well worked and no weeds 

 allowed to get a start. The second year less cultiva- 

 tion will do. 



Plants one, two and three years old 

 may be obtained in the market. The 

 two-year-old plants will be found to 

 be the best, and are usually a little 

 higher priced than the others. 



CUTTING. 



2 While plants will be found to give 



Figure 2 is a cut a ^ ew s t ems one year from transplant- 



SSii'Slt'Ky in s> it] is betfcer P ractice to let them 



ma?kef ?o e r d a s n maii S row U P and cut onl y sparingly, even 



fo ic this B one e it r wm fche second > ear - In gathering, care 



stoo^hcw t^con- should be taken to cut all the thin, 



struct one at home, spindly stems and leave a few strong 



