Ill 



CULTURAL VARIETIES 



LTHOUGH but one species of edible asparagus 



has found its way into general cultivation, 



many varieties and strains are recognized. 



Up to within a comparatively recent period 



was thought that there existed onl}^ one distindt 



d, or variety, of asparagus. As late as 1869 so keen 



observer as Peter Henderson believed that ' ' the 



J)aragus of our gardens is confined to only one 



^■ie y, and the so-called giant can be made gigantic 



Oinerwise, just as we will it, and the purple top 



[iecy will become a green top whenever the compo- 



)on of the soil is not of the kind to develop the 



fple, and vice versa. All pradtical gardeners know 



W different soils and climates change the appear- 



ice of the same variety. Seeds of cabbage taken 



pm the same bag and sown at the same time, but 



anted out in soils of light sand}^ loam, heavy clayey 



am, and peat or leaf-mold, will show such marked 



jfferences when at maturity as easily to be pro- 



ninced different sorts. This, no doubt, is the reason 



hy the multitude of varieties of all vegetables, when 



^nted side by side to test them, are so wonderfully 



jiuced in number. ' ' 



But after inspedting an acre of ordinary asparagus 

 d an acre of Abraham Van Siclen's Colossal — which 

 is afterward introduced as Conover's Colossal — at 



