ASPARAGUS 29 



trenching the poor soil is kept underneath. Light 

 gravelly soil needs a different kind of treatment. In 

 this case trenching, i.e., turning up the poor inert 

 gravel soil, would prove injurious. The better plan 

 is to double dig and incorporate plenty of food in the 

 soil that is on the upper portion, not low down, and, if 

 possible, add to the surface soil some good loam. 



Sowing and Planting. Under this heading must 

 be considered sowing, although many good cultivators 

 prefer plants to seed, and planting, of course, means 

 a considerable saving of time, while it is not every- 

 one who can grow the seedlings for planting, but they 

 are easily obtained from growers who make their sale 

 a speciality. There is no difficulty about seed sow- 

 ing ; one point often overlooked is that the seed is 

 sown much too thickly ; the plants are not thinned 

 sufficiently, and there is too little space for the roots 

 later on, the result being that the produce is small, 

 and no matter how much manure is applied, if they 

 are much crowded it is impossible to get healthy 

 growth. Good Asparagus has been grown with little 

 labour and cost, but experienced cultivation is neces- 

 sary if fine heads are required from beds that will last 

 for years. Where the seed beds are to remain for only 

 three years, it will suffice to dig the land deeply, 

 manure and sow. The French market gardeners have 

 the rows of plants several feet apart, sometimes as 

 much as six feet, and crop the ground between with 

 Salad. In many gardens space is limited, so that this 

 width is impossible, but a fair distance would be to 



