Special Needs 117 



set well down and frequently cultivated, on most 

 soils this will not be necessary. They all do best 

 in very deep, moderately heavy soil, heavily ma- 

 nured and rather moist. An application of lime 

 some time before planting will be a beneficial pre- 

 caution. With this group rotation also is almost 

 imperative. (See page 106.) 



The most troublesome enemies attacking these 

 plants are: the flea-beetle, the cabbage-worm, the 

 cabbage-maggot (root) and "club-root"; directions 

 for fighting all of which will be found in the fpllow- 

 ing chapter. 



Asparagus: — Asparagus is rightly esteemed one 

 of the very best spring vegetables. There is a gen- 

 eral misconception, however — due to the old meth- 

 ods of growing it — concerning the difficulty of hav- 

 ing a home supply. As now cared for, it is one of 

 the easiest of all vegetables to grow, when once the 

 beds are set and brought to bearing condition. Nor 

 is it difficult to make the bed, and the only reason 

 why asparagaus is not more universally found in 

 the home garden, beside that mentioned above, is 

 because one has to wait a year for results. 



In selecting a spot for the asparagus bed, pick 

 out the earliest and best drained soil available, even 

 if quite sandy it will do well. Plow or dig out 

 trenches three feet apart and sixteen to twenty inches 

 deep. In the bottoms of these tramp down firmly 



