DREER’S VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS. 73 
To prepare for this work a proper location, with warm 
exposure, is selected. Three rows of asparagus are planted, 
the rows two feet apart. They are given the usual treatment, 
being well cultivated in summer and heavily manured in 
the late autumn. The greatest strength and development 
are sought for by the gardener so that the roots will respond 
to the demands made upon them. 
About the third year after planting the asparagus may 
be forced with glass. Lines of boards are set on their edges 
on both sides of the bed, about eight feet apart, and eight- 
foot sashes are laid crosswise, making an ordinary cold frame. 
The glass materially hastens the genial soil warmth 
which must precede the ‘‘shooting’’ of the asparagus, and 
an early crop is thus secured. 
In summer the sashes are removed, and the bed permit- 
ted to renew its strength under open-air culture and condi- 
tions. The roots are never disturbed. 
The labor and expense of this plan of forcing asparagus 
are so light, comparatively, that the practice is regarded as a 
profitable one. 
No plan which involves disturbing the roots is advis- 
able, except under peculiar circumstances. The feeding roots 
are long and slender, and are injured or broken if the plant 
is moved. The cold frame plan, or a modification of it, is 
the best of the cheap ways of forcing asparagus. 
Imperial Long-Standing kale is sowed broadcast in the 
open ground in August and September, for spring cutting. 
It must be protected with straw or litter during the winter 
months. 
