PREFACE 



THE cultivation of asparagus for home use as 

 well as for market is so rapidly increasing, 

 and reliable information pertaining to it is so 

 frequently asked for, that a book on this sub- 

 jecft is evidently needed. While all works on vegetable 

 culture treat more or less extensiveh^ on its cultiva- 

 tion, so far there has been no book exclusivel}' devoted 

 to asparagus published in America. Asparagus is 

 one of the earliest, most delicious, and surest produces 

 of the garden. Its position among other vegetables is 

 unique, and when once planted it lasts a lifetime; it 

 ma}' be prepared for use in great variety, and ma\- be 

 canned or dried so as to be available at any time of 

 the year; and 3'et in the great majority of farm gar- 

 dens it is almost unknown. The principal reason for 

 this negle(5l is based upon the erroneous idea that 

 asparagus culture requires unusual skill, expense, and 

 hard work. While this was true, in a measure, under 

 old-time rules, modern methods have so simplified 

 every detail connedled with the cultivation of aspara- 

 gus as to make it not necessarily more expensive and 

 laborious than that of any other garden crop. T«t '^^ 



