CULTIVATION 63 



during the first year is to keep close and constant 

 watch over the asparagus beetle, and at its first 

 appearance to apply the remedies recommended in the 

 chapter on injurious insedls. Plants deprived of their 

 foliage at this early stage of their life have but a poor 

 chance to recover from the loss. 



If it is found that some of the plants have not 

 started by the middle of June, it is best to replace 

 them with growing plants of the same age, which 

 should have been kept in a reserve bed for this pur- 

 pose. If this replanting is done carefully, so as not 

 to mutilate any of the roots, and on a cloudy day, it 

 is best not to cut back the tops very severely. Unless 

 a copious rain sets in soon after planting, the roots 

 have to be heavily watered, after which they will 

 keep on growing at once without suffering any set- 

 back. 



The formerly all but universal practice was to cover 

 the roots with manure after the stalks had been 

 removed in the fall for fear of frost injuring or kill- 

 ing the roots. In sedlions where winters are very 

 severe this may still be desirable, as may be seen from 

 the statement of so keen an observ^er as Professor J. C. 

 Whitten , of the Missouri Experiment Station : ' ' Most 

 writers advise applying dressing of old fine manure 

 during the growing season when the plants can use it. 

 In our soil better results are obtained by applying it in 

 winter. It prevents the soil from running together 

 and hardening, and also prevents the sprouts from 

 coming through, as they otherwise often do, too early 

 in spring, and becoming weakened by subsequent 

 severe freezing. ' ' 



