XII 



FORCING 



T' HE forcing of asparagus in various methods has 

 ____^ been practiced for centuries, and is rapidly 

 ^^^ developing into an important industry. The 

 forcing may be done in any place where a 

 temperature of 50° to 60° can be secured, in the green- 

 house, hot-bed, pit, cellar, or in the garden and field. 

 Whichever plan is pursued, the management of the 

 plants to be forced is the same. The roots should not 

 be less than three years old, and, if obtainable, four or 

 five-year-old plants are to be preferred. These may be 

 dug up from ordinary out-of-door plantations, or, if 

 the forcing is to be done on a large scale and as a per- 

 manent industry, the plants have to be grown from 

 seed for this special purpose. To keep up a continu- 

 ous succession new sowings have to be made ever>' 

 year. The sowing of the seed and the management 

 of the plants during the first j'ear is the same as 

 described in Chapter V. 



The following 3'ear, as early as the season permits, 

 the one-year-old seedlings are planted out in rows, to de- 

 velop as much strength as possible. As the plants are to 

 remain only two j-ears in the nursery bed, they may be 

 placed closer than in a permanent plantation. A dis- 

 tance of two and one-hal f feet between the rows and one 

 foot in the rows is, however, the narrowest limit, and, 



