ASPARAGUS. 305 



loth ; and if the house is yet to be builb, let the Aspara- 

 gus bed be planted at once, as it takes the roots two or 

 three years to acquire sufficient strength to give a crop. 

 For an ordinary family a bed of six rows of fifty or 

 sixty feet in length, and three feet apart, will be suf- 

 ficient, the plants in the rows being set nine inches 

 apart. In planting it is customary to use two-year-old 

 plants ; but it often happens that as large a plant 

 is raised from seed in good soil in one year as in a 



Fig. 109. ASPARAGUS. 



poorer soil in two years. In such cases the one-year- 

 old plant is preferable. 



The preparation of the Asparagus bed should be made 

 with more care than for most vegetables, from the fact 

 that it is a permanent crop, which ought to yield as well 

 at the end of twenty-five as of five years, if the soil has 

 been well prepared. The Asparagus bed, to start with, 

 should be on ground thoroughly drained, either naturally 

 or artificially, and if choice can be had, on a rather light, 



