THE RAISING OF PLANTS 



ASPARAGUS can be propagated by division of 

 the roots, but this method gives so unsatis- 

 factory results that it is rarely practiced . 

 Raising the plants from seed is therefore the 

 only method worth considering. The seed may be 

 sown either in the fall or spring. But far more im- 

 portant than the time for sowing is the quality of the 

 seed. While asparagus seed retains its vitality for 

 two or more j'ears, it is not safe to use seed older than 

 one year. Fresh seed may be recognized by its glossy 

 black color and uniform smooth surface, while old seed 

 has a smutty gray color and its surface is generally 

 rough and wrinkled. Yet even with this as a guide 

 it is not easy to distinguish bad from good seed, and 

 still more difficult, if not impossible, is it to distinguish 

 the seed of different varieties. It is therefore advisa- 

 ble to procure seed only from dealers of undoubted 

 reliability and pay a fair price for it rather than to 

 accept poor seed as a gift. A uniformity of the indi- 

 vidual plants in the asparagus bed or field is a matter 

 of prime importance ; only large, fully developed seeds 

 should be used, screening out and rejecting all small 

 and inferior ones. 



In northern latitudes spring sowing is preferable 

 to fall sowing. The ground of the seed-bed should 

 be well drained and fairly retentive of moisture. As 



