ASPAKAGUS. 39 



productive the yield will be when the ])]ant8 are fair- 

 l.y established. Barn-yard manure, composted with 

 the salt and lime mixture^ will be found an excellent 

 manure for Asparagus. 



In garden-culture the ground selected should be 

 forked over to the same depth-, and plenty of manure 

 added before planting. Ground in "good heart," 

 with an application of from forty to fifty two-horse 

 loads of manure to the acre, will produce paying 

 crops. A dressing of fifteen or twenty bushels of 

 salt to the acre, before setting the plants, will be 

 found of service. 



PI.ANTING. 



It has long been a mooted question whether the 

 Fall or Spring is the best time to plant an Asparagus- 

 bed. In most cases more will depend on the condi- 

 tion and tilth of the soil than on the time of setting 

 out the roots. "\ATiere the soil is heavy and retentive 

 of moisture, and the Winters long and severe, un- 

 doubtedly the Spring is the best time. But on sandy 

 or clay loam, and as far south as Delaware or Vir- 

 ginia, Fall-planting will do just as well, and often 

 better than Spring-planting, under similar circum- 

 stances. 



When the ground has been prepared by frequent 

 ploughings and sub-soilings for field-culture, or the 

 garden-spot thoroughly trenched with the spade or 

 digging-fork, then open furrows ten or twelve inches 

 deep, four feet apart one way and two feet the other. 

 When the bottoms of the furrows are levelled, they 

 should not be more than nine inches deep. A single 



