GARDENING 13 
3. Plant when the ground is warm and danger from frost is 
over : beans, sweet corn, melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash. 
4. Perennials. (a) One of the most valuable of all vege- 
tables is asparagus, and every family that is fond of it should 
raise it. Two or three years are needed for the plants to 
acquire sufficient strength to 
yield a good crop, but once 
established the asparagus 
bed requires very little labor 
and lasts a lifetime. The 
roots may be secured from 
dealers and set out early 
in the fall or early in the 
spring. The chief require- 
ment for success is an abun- 
dance of fertilizer. 
(b) Rhubarb or pie-plant is usually started by division of 
old clumps. Very often a person can secure a clump for 
| that purpose 
from a neighbor. 
Set the plants 
three or four feet 
apart in the row. 
(c) Horse-rad- 
ish is started by 
setting pieces of 
small roots in the 
ground so that one end is near the surface. A few of 
the roots may be planted in an unused corner of the vege- 
table garden. 
Hotbeds. — In the hotbed we may produce early vegetables 
for table use in the spring long before they could be raised in 
HUBBARD SQUASH 
