8-+ DWYEK'S GUIDE. 



well drained, naturally or otherwise, and the land is loose and mellow. No 

 one should try to grow this vegetable on hard ground or land liable to 

 bake. The top soil should have a body of at least ten to twelve inches — 

 if more, so much the better. The ground should have been in cultivation 

 a year or more; under no circumstances should you plant in new plowed 

 sod ground. Use stable manure or the other fertilizers in tne same 

 quantities as advised for Strawberries! on page 50. It is also beneficial 

 to use stable manure directly over the rows during the Winter months, 

 as a protection to the roots, on the same principle as covering the Straw- 

 berry, except that the covering for the Asparagus need not be so heavy. 

 It would be better to have the manure more thoroughly rotted. After 

 your trenches have been made with the team and plow, if you are plant- 

 ing largely, or by the spade for the small garden bed, you should apply 

 in the bottom of these trenches a liberal dressing of well rotted stable 

 manure, or in its stead wood ashes or some complete fertilizer. This 

 can be readily and easily incorporated with the soil in the bottom of the 

 trench directly before the plants are set. The ground should be thorough- 

 ly prepared and the soil finely pulverized, freed from all stones, roots or 

 rubbish. Perhaps in the planting of no other fruit or vegetable is it of 

 such supreme importance and necessity that the land should be worked 

 and brought into the best possible condition as in the establishing of the 

 Asparagus bed, be it large or small, the great cost and labor is in 

 the beginning and it must be well done for best results. 



How the Roots Should be Planted. — Plant for garden culture, three 

 feet apart between the rows and one foot apart in the row; for field cul- 

 ture set the plants four feet apart between the rows and eighteen inches 

 apart in the rows. In either case be sure to set them, if possible, one foot 

 below the surface of the ground. Where the virgin soil is shallow, of 

 course, this cannot be done, but be sure always to plant as deep as pos- 

 sible and never work into the sub-soil more than two or three inches. 

 Spread the roots out, covering them not more than three inches deep; 

 every ten days or so after, or as the leader shows above the soil, fill in 

 again, and use this method of covering until the leader is above the sur- 

 face of the ground. We have in the past observed many failures of plants 

 to grow, that have wrongfully been charged to the inferiority of the 

 plants, that were caused by the planting in these deep trenches and fill- 

 ing in over the plants' level with the surface ground at the time of the 

 planting, the plants decaying in the ground for want of air, because of 

 this deep covering; then let it he remembered that while it is of the first 

 importance to get the roots deep in the ground, it should be done in the 

 manner described. 



When to Plant. — The plants may be set in the Spring during the 

 months of March, April and May, the earlier the better after the ground 

 is fit to work to get it into proper condition. As a matter of fact May is. 

 in early climates, too late. We must always study the condition of the 

 plant; when too far advanced it is more or less risky to transplant it. 

 Plant while stock is dormant and all will he well if other things are equal. 

 The writer has had good results on several occasions and in different sea- 

 sons with plantings made during the months of September and October, 

 in the Autumn, and feels safe in recommending these as good months in 

 which to plant the Asparagus. 



Cultivation. — This is very simple and easily done. Aim to do most of 

 the work with the horse plow and cultivator. Keep the ground mellow, 

 loose and free of weeds. In the Autumn it is desirable to bank up the 

 rows slightly with the soil from the middle between the rows. This can 



