66 BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



tion) apart, and set the plants crown up and roots 

 down and well spread out about two feet apart, in 

 the bottom of the furrows. Cover three inches deep, 

 and when the shoots are up a few inches, work the 

 rest of the dirt into the furrows and level the ground. 

 (If all the covering is put on at once, the first shoots 

 may be too feeble to push through six inches of soil.) 

 When planting, expose the roots to sun and wind as 

 little as possible. 



Let the plants grow at will the first season ; sim- 

 ply keep the ground well cultivated and free from 

 weeds. Applications of salt are not really necessary, 

 although salt is helpful to keep down weeds. After 

 frost has killed the tops, mow them off close to the 

 ground and burn them ; then apply a good mulch of 

 stable manure. The second season, the same. The 

 third (and subsequent) seasons, work the ground 

 lightly and early, keep out weeds and asparagus seed- 

 lings, cut every shoot clean and about three inches 

 deep until about June 2Oth, then let the plants grow ; 

 cut off and burn them after frost, stir the ground 

 lightly and apply manure, etc. (In the early spring 

 the coarser portion of the mulch may be forked off, 

 and the remainder lightly forked or cultivated in. 

 It is important not to cut a bed longer than six 

 weeks, and not at all until two years old. Use com- 

 mercial fertilizers in June or July on a bearing bed, 

 in addition to the fall mulch.) 



Blanched asparagus : Some people and markets 

 demand "blanched" (whitened) shoots; these are no 

 better to eat, but have an attractive, distinctive ap- 

 pearance. Blanching is accomplished by ridging or 

 "hilling up" (plowing or throwing the soil toward) 

 the rows in the early spring before the shoots appear ; 

 the shoots have to push through several inches of 



