46 THE CULINARY GARDEN. [MAR, 



Of planting Asparagus. 



The method of planting is this : Stretch the line 

 across the ground ; tread, or beat the surface quite 

 smooth and even, upon the line, and a few inches on 

 each side of it ; then cut with the spade, perpendi- 

 cularly by the line, to the depth of six inches ; thus 

 forming a drill upright on one side. Place the roots 

 along this drill or furrow, with their crowns two 

 inches under the surface, and at the distance of six, 

 crown from crown ; carefully spreading out the 

 fibres sidewise, and covering up, yard by yard, as 

 you go on. It is of very great importance for the 

 insuring of success in the planting of this vege- 

 table, to lift the roots carefully, and to expose them 

 to the air as short time as possible. While planting, 

 therefore, keep the roots in a hamper or basket 

 among a little light earth, covered over with a mat. 

 One, or at most two year old roots are fittest. 

 Older do not succeed well. It is a better method 

 to plant in single rows, thirty inches or a yard apart, 

 than in beds, as said above*. 



Of spring-dressing Asparagus. 

 Now rake off the rough part of the covering, 

 (see November), and point the small or rotten part 

 of it into the intervals of the rows, or into the al- 



* I lately saw a row of asparagus that was planted, by way of 

 experiment, about the middle of last June (1809). The plants 

 were two years old, and did remarkably well. 



