VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 269 



will throw up new shoots and be much weakened. Re- 

 move the stalks and all weeds, cover the beds with three 

 or four inches of good stable manure, and let it remain 

 until time for the spring dressing. If you have charcoal 

 dust at command, a layer of an inch thick over the manure 

 will be found quite useful in preventing the loss of ammo- 

 nia. When the weather grows warm and spring has 

 fairly opened, and the ground is sufficiently dry, before 

 growth commences, with an asparagus fork dig in the 

 manure placed on the beds in the fall, and loosen the 

 earth four inches deep, taking care not to wound the 

 crowns of the plants. Give the beds a top-dressing of salt, 

 two pounds to the square yard, or kainit at the rate of 

 six hundred pounds per acre, before growth commences, 

 and water freely in dry weather. Applications of liquid 

 manure are likewise very salutary. A good liquid manure 

 for asparagus is an ounce of fertilizer and four ounces 

 of salt to two gallons of water. Fertilizer or night soil 

 composted with charcoal, so as to be entirely inodorous, 

 is also beneficially applied at any time. Another slight 

 covering of charcoal dust, after the spring dressing, will 

 be of service, and make the shoots earlier. 



Asparagus should be cut before the heads lose their 

 compact form, when only four or five inches above the 

 ground.* Remove the earth to the bottom of the stalk, 

 and cut it off sloping with a pointed knife, taking care 

 not to wound any other shoots that may be near it, as 

 they are constantly putting forth from the crowns. Too 

 many shoots should not be cut from the beds, nor the 

 gathering prolonged too late. Whenever the bed puts 

 up weak and small shoots, these should be allowed to 



* Some market gardeners now send to the market green asparagus 

 that is all cut above ground, because of the demand. The vegetable 

 in this stage is considered to be tenderer and better flavored than 

 the white. 



