I06 ASPARAGUS 



must be removed when the asparagus begins to shoot. 

 When the shoots are about three inches out of the 

 ground they may be cut. The mats must be taken ofi" 

 in the daytime, but the heat must be well kept up. else 

 the roots and buds will fail to push. The beds are 

 forced every second year only. The gathering of the 

 asparagus may continue for about two months but no 

 longer, or the plantation would be injured. When the 

 gathering is over the frames are taken away, and the 

 soil which was dug up from the alleys is put back 

 again. 



An ingenious method of forcing asparagus in the 

 field by means of shallow tunnels was devi.sed and suc- 

 cessfully carried out by Prof. J. C. Whitten, at the 

 Missouri Experiment Station, who gives the following 

 account in Bulletin No. 43 : 



' ' The field seledled for the experiment was planted 

 to asparagus about ten years ago. The plants were 

 in fair vigor, though of a small variety. The first 

 sedtion forced embraced six rows, four feet apart, and 

 fifty feet long. Fig. 35 shows this sedlion with one 

 tunnel uncovered. Trenches were first made between 

 the rows. This was done by plowing between them, 

 twice in a place, throwing the furrows on the plants 

 so as to cover each row with two furrows of loose 

 earth. These trenches between the rows were then 

 made uniform by means of the spade. When finished 

 they were three or four inches lower than the crowns 

 of asparagus in the adjacent rows. These trenches 

 were then covered with twelve-inch boards, which 

 rested on four-inch blocks, placed at frequent interv^als 

 along either side of the trenches. This formed tun- 



