MAY: FIRST WEEK 117 



the rows, and shallow enough in the rows so that you will 

 not dig into the crowns or break many of the large fleshy 

 roots. But go over the entire surface. If you like your 

 asparagus blanched white a ridge may be thrown up along 

 each row at this time, to be worked down later when you 

 have stopped cutting. 



Even among authorities there is some difference of opinion 

 as to the best time to apply manure and fertilizer to the 

 asparagus crop. But all are agreed that a great deal should 

 be used, and that there is practically no danger of the home 

 gardener's getting on too much. Commercial growers some- 

 times use as much as three tons of fertiUzer to the acre, which 

 would be sixty to seventy pounds for a ten-by-fifty-foot plot. 

 When a good dressing of manure is used it is not necessary to 

 use so much fertilizer. A high-grade complete fertilizer, 

 with an analysis of 4-8-10, will answer. About a third of 

 the fertilizer and manure should be applied when the bed 

 is worked over in the spring. As soon as the shoots start 

 give a top dressing of nitrate of soda — two to four pounds to 

 a ten-by-fifty-foot bed — and repeat this two or three times 

 during the cutting season. 



Not the least of the things to know about asparagus 

 growing is proper harvesting. There is always a great 

 temptation, especially during the first two or three seasons, 

 for the gardener to keep on cutting longer than he should. 

 Even when the bed is well estabhshed the cutting season 

 should not extend more than six to eight weeks, and half 

 that time is plenty for the first two or three seasons. 



Cut Regularly During the Season 



In cutting care should be taken to insert the knife as per- 

 pendicularly as possible until the desired depth is reached. 

 If the knife is thrust in diagonally some distance from the 

 stalk you run the chance of cutting off the tips of other 

 sprouts that are just starting below the surface. A mistake 

 commonly made in the home garden is to let the stalks go 

 for two or three days if they are not needed for immediate 



