CULTURE IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES 1 53 



plow on either side and run it astride the row, covering 

 everything in the row. Doing this on Saturday after- 

 noon holds the asparagus back over the following 

 day. Then we take the middle out with a one-horse 

 cultivator. This is done probably three times during 

 the cutting season, which is eight weeks. With the 

 help of one of these weeders, which we use at least once 

 a week, we keep the bed quite clean of all weeds, and 

 this I consider very essential. The cultivation should 

 continue after cutting until the top growth becomes so 

 large as to protedl the ground, and then there will be 

 but little trouble late in the season about weeds. It 

 doesn't pay to grow them an^'where, and especially not 

 in asparagus beds. 



In planting, the ground should be well prepared 

 and furrowed out eight inches in depth, four and one- 

 half feet apart, and the plants two and one-half feet in 

 the row, with a little fine manure in bottom of row; 

 put about two inches of soil on the plants to cover. 

 Then as the sprouts come up, keep on filling the 

 furrows by cultivation. 



I have been using some commercial manures the 

 past two years, applying at the rate of one ton to the 

 acre about the rows in the spring; then nearly a ton of 

 salt to the acre applied at any time. It helps keep 

 weeds down and gives the asparagus a good flavor. 

 Above all, do not forget to apply the fertilizer, and 

 Plenty, with a big " P," of it — either stable manure or 

 commercial fertilizers. Probably there will be less 

 weeds by using the latter, but there needs to be a great 

 deal of the former in the beginning for several years, 

 to give the bed a good body of rich earth, from which 



