40 ASPARAGUS 



Equally important is a careful selection of the indi- 

 vidual plants to be set out. A crown with four or five 

 strong, well-developed buds is far better than one 

 with a dozen or more of weak and sickly ones, as the 

 latter will always produce thin and poor spears of poor 

 quality. It is therefore highly to be recommended to 

 seledl onl}^ plants with not over six buds and discard 

 all others. The roots should be strong and of unifonn 

 thickness, succulent and not too fibrous. Dry or 

 withered roots have to be cut off, and plants with 

 many bruised or otherwise damaged roots should be 

 rejedled entirely. The best roots are the cheapest. 



MALE AND FEMALE PLANTS 



It has long been obser\-ed that all of the asparagus 

 plants in a bed do not produce seeds, owing to the 

 facfl that the male and female flowers in asparagus are 

 nearly alwaj-s borne on separate plants. Seed bearing 

 is an exhaustive process, and, as might be supposed, 

 those plants that have produced seed have less vigor 

 than those that have not. In order to determine the 

 difference in vigor between the seed bearing and non- 

 seed bearing plants. Prof. William J. Green, horticul- 

 turist of the Ohio Experiment Station, staked off fifty 

 of each in a plantation of half an acre. When the 

 cuttings were made the shoots taken from male and 

 female plants were kept separate, and the weight of 

 each recorded in Bulletin No. 9, Volume III., of the 

 Ohio Station, as follows : 



' ' The cuttings were made at regular intervals and 

 in the ordinary manner, as for market purposes. The 

 weight of shoots taken at each cutting is not given in 



