No. 4.] GROWING ASPARAGUS. 121 



GROWING AND MARKETING ASPARAGUS. 



BY MR. FRANK WHEELER, CONCORD, MASS. 



Since the asparagus rust has estabhshed itself in this country it is 

 well known by the most experienced asparagus growers that the vari- 

 ety introduced from France, known as Aryenteuil, or Palmetto, as it 

 has been renamed since its introduction here, is much more resistant 

 to rust than are other varieties, and is the more desirable kind to 

 grow. One-year roots are much to be preferred to older ones, as they 

 will not be so much mutilated in transplanting to the field from the 

 seed plot, and will suffer less check; neither are they so likely to be 

 stunted in the seed bed if dug as one-year roots as if allowed to grow 

 three years ; also, the one-year roots will get to the producing stage as 

 soon as the older ones. 



Procure seed that you know is true to name, preferably from some 

 selected strain, known to be resistant to the rust, and of good market 

 qualities. Sow the seed as early in the spring as the land can be made 

 ready, on an early, moderately heavy, sandy loam, thoroughly enriched 

 for two or more years with stable manure and chemicals, in drills 1 

 inch deep, 16 or 18 inches apart, thinly, or 1 to 2 inches in the row. 

 This prevents crowding, and it is not necessary to thin the plants, 

 which is desirable, as they are difficult plants to pull up so as to get 

 all the root and prevent that plant coming up again. Keep this seed 

 bed free from weeds by frequent wheel or scuffle hoeing and hand 

 weeding. If troubled by the asparagus beetles or slugs protect the 

 plants by dusting with Paris green, put on with a powder gun when 

 the plants are wet with dew, or dusting slaked lime on the plants and 

 slugs. The 'lime will stick to the slugs and kill them by contact. It 

 is well to cover the plants in the seed bed through the winter with 

 coarse, strawy manure or old hay, to protect the roots, as strawberries 

 are covered or mulched for the winter. 



The soil most favoral)le to the production of asparagus is a sandy 

 loam, of a smooth texture, free from coarse grit, gravel or stones, 8 to 

 12 inches deep, underlaid with a smooth, yellow, loamy subsoil, chang- 

 ing to a close sand at a depth of 3 feet or more. It is better to pre- 

 pare the field for the permanent bed one or two years before setting 

 the roots, by growing some crop that requires high fertilization and 

 thorough cultivation. The soil should, during this one or two years 



