ASPARAGUS 261 



It is for each man to find out the best method and the best 

 place to use. I never beUeved in carrying the plants over the second 

 year. It can be done and is done with good results, but a yearly 

 clean-up means more. From strong stock costing in the neighbor- 

 hood of ten dollars per hundred you can cut greens from September 

 on, 



In early Spring clean out the benches and use the space for 

 something else, and then replant with new stock. These Asparagus 

 plants are great feeders and should have liquid manure and a mulch 

 during Fall and Winter. Don't strip every plant in early Fall. 

 There are times when it is cheaper to buy what green youjwant, for 

 your own won't spoil. Go slow about it, as it means twice as much 

 to you with zero weather outdoors, when, usually, it is at a premium. 

 Go over the hanging baskets once in awhile and see to it that there 

 is enough moss around the edges, so that when you apply water the 

 plants will get the benefit of it. This Asparagus doesn't differ from 

 the garden variety in regard to always wanting moisture around 

 its roots; you cannot grow either in a dry soil nor where drainage 

 is lacking. 



Asparagus Sprengeri is easily, grown from seed, but if you only 

 use a few hundred plants it hardly pays, since it is possible to pur- 

 chase small stock at a reasonable price. Frequently you have call for 

 Asparagus baskets in May and June for porch decoration. You may 

 be able to use some of those you cut from during Winter, if you 

 didn't cut them too close, but a better way is to make up the baskets 

 fresh about April. A heavy fining of good sheet moss looks best, and 

 about five 4-in. pot plants wiU in six weeks cover the sides, and 

 with proper care look fine all Summer. 



You can also by June use the plants out of 4-in. pots for filling 

 vases or window boxes for shady positions; they will do there 

 when some other so-called hanging plants or vines will not. You 

 should have a supply of small plants on hand during the Fall and 

 Winter; for indoor window boxes to go with Boston Ferns they are 

 just the thing. 



Asparagus plumosus nanus 



Aside from the fact that this variety is excellent for cutting 

 when planted out and that it often can be used where a Sprengeri 

 won't do, it is of still greater value to the florist as a pot plant in 

 the smaUer sizes. So much so that every retail grower should 

 always have a stock consisting of 2-, S}4-, 4- and 5-in. plants on 

 hand. Good plants in 5- ot 6-in. pots will do for cutting and the 

 others come in handy when calls are made for plants to be used in 

 fiUing baskets, pans and dishes. 



