462 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
crop may be cut somewhat, but not sooner if a lasting bed is desired, 
as the effort to replace the stalks has a tendency to weaken the plant 
unless the roots are well estab- 
lished. The cutting should 
cease in June or early July, or 
the roots may be much weak- 
ened. In cutting, care should 
be taken to insert the knife 
vertically, so that adjoining 
crowns will not be injured (Fig. 
296). 
The yearly treatment of an 
asparagus bed consists of clean- 
ing off tops and weeds in the 
296. Good (A) and poor (B) modes of fall and adding a dressing of 
inserting the knife to cut asparagus. well-rotted manure to the 
shoots rather than eut them, depth of 3 or 4 inches, this ma- 
nure tobe lightly forked into the 
bed the following spring; or the tops may be allowed to stand for 
winter protection and the mulch left off. A top-dressing of nitrate of 
soda, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, is often beneficial as a spring 
stimulant, particularly in the case of an old bed. Good results will also 
follow an application of bone meal or superphosphate at the rate of 
some 300 to 500 pounds per acre. The practice of sowing salt on an as- 
paragus bed is almost universal; yet beds that have never received a 
pound of salt are found to be as productive as those having received an 
annual dressing. Nevertheless, a salt dressing is recommended. Two 
rows of asparagus 25 feet long and 3 feet apart should supply a large 
family with an abundance throughout the season, and if well taken care 
of, will last a number of years. 
Conover Colossal is the variety most generally grown, and is per- 
haps the most satisfactory sort. Palmetto, a variety originating at 
the South, is also very popular. 
Artichoke. — The artichoke of literature is a tall, coarse perennial 
of the thistle tribe, producing edible flower-heads. Cardoon is a re- 
lated plant. 
