56 ASPARAGUS 



is planted ; then let the surface of the beds be raked 

 smooth and clear from stones, etc. 



' ' Some gardeners, with a view to having extra large 

 heads, place their plants sixteen inches apart in the 

 rows instead of twelve, and by planting them in the 

 quincunx manner — that is, by commencing the second 

 row eight inches from the end of the first and the 

 fourth even with the second — the plants will form 

 rhomboidal squares instead of rectangular ones, and 

 every plant will thus have room to expand its roots and 

 leaves luxuriantly." 



In diametrical contradistinclion, and as an example 

 of the ver}^ plainest and simplest of modern methods, 

 Joseph Harris wrote: "If you are going to plant a 

 small bed in the garden, stretch a line not less than 

 four feet from any other plant, and with a hoe make 

 holes along the line, eighteen inches or three feet 

 apart, four inches deep, and* large enough to hold the 

 plants when the roots are spread out horizontally. 

 Do not make deep holes straight down in the ground 

 and stick the roots in as you would a cabbage, but 

 spread out the roots. After the roots are set out cover 

 them with fine soil, and that is all there is to it. Then 

 move the line three feet from the first row and repeat 

 the planting until the bed is finished. In the field 

 make the rows with a common corn-marker, three feet 

 apart each way, and set out a plant where the rows 

 cross. It is but little more work to plant an acre of 

 asparagus than an acre of potatoes. ' ' 



Between these extreme methods many different 

 direcflions for planting asparagus have been given and 

 pracliced. Modern methods have not only greatly 



