THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 151 



in well-drained, light soils as soon as the ground 

 can be worked. Even on poor, gravelly soils, they 

 yield well. The drills should be 3 feet apart and 

 the tubers dropped 18 to 24 inches asunder. Cul- 

 tivation is the same as for potatoes, though the 

 plants will succeed with less if the ground is free 

 from weeds. When they shade the soil, they may 

 be laid by. When grown for market they are har- 

 vested like potatoes, or left in the ground until 

 needed. Frost does not injure, but improves them, 

 they can be dug with a pickax in midwinter. Un- 

 less left in the ground or stored in pits or in sand 

 in a root cellar, they shrivel and lose their quality. 

 Properly grown they will yield 200 bushels of 

 tubers or more to the acre. The White and the 

 Red Brazilian generally yield the largest crops. 

 The crop requires about five months to mature." 



ASPARAGUS 



According to W. G. Dawson of Dorchester 

 county, Maryland, " Asparagus, when properly 

 grown and carefully packed, is a good paying crop, 

 and probably the most certain of all in the perish- 

 able list. This is because the supply rarely ex- 

 ceeds the demand, asparagus being used so exten- 

 sively in its fresh state and for canning. As to 

 varieties, there is much difference of opinion, but 

 one cannot go far astray in choosing Palmetto, 

 Giant Argenteuil, or Barr's Mammoth. All of 

 these are good, but more depends upon the grower 

 than upon the variety. 



" Where one desires to produce the plants for 

 setting, it is best to sow the seed in drills early in 

 the spring, in order that it may germinate and get 

 a. Start before the grass and weeds come along. 



