50 ASPARAGUS 



DISTANCE TO PLANT 



As to the best distance between the rows and the 

 plants in the rows there is a wide difference of opinion, 

 more so than with almost any other cultivated plant. 

 No unvar3-ing rule can be laid down on this point, as 

 it depends largely upon the mechanical condition, 

 depth, and fertility of the soil. In a rich, moderately 

 heavj- soil, the roots may be planted closer than in a 

 poor, light soil. The tendency of the present day is 

 for giving the plants considerably more room than 

 what formerly was thought to be ample. Intelligent 

 observers could not fail to notice that crowded aspara- 

 gus beds produce later and smaller crops, and of 

 inferior size and qualit}^ ; that the}' do not last as long; 

 and that they are more liable to attacks from insedls 

 and fungi than w^hen more room is gi\'en to the plants. 



Gardeners of but a few decades ago had no idea of 

 the possibility of raising a profitable crop of asparagus 

 planted four or five feet apart, and would have looked 

 with derision upon any one advocating so wild a 

 scheme. The remains of run out, old-time asparagus 

 beds are still in evidence in many old farm gardens. 

 The rows in these were originally one foot apart and 

 the plants in the rows even closer than this, and per- 

 haps after every third or fourth row there was a path 

 two feet wide. Of course, in such a bed, after a few 

 3'ears, the entire ground became a solid mass of roots, 

 and the stalks became smaller and tougher from j-ear 

 to year. 



In most asparagus se(5lions special customs prevail, 

 and even in these different growers have their indi- 



