PERENNIAL 
203 CROPS 
it is unwise to have rows closer together than 
four feet. Seedsmen sell asparagus plants, but 
it is usually better to grow your own plants, 
although they take so long to mature. Seeds 
may be soaked in warm water for a day before 
planting and are then sown in drills and covered 
about an inch deep. The plants should be 
thinned to stand three or four inches apart in 
the row. 
Give frequent tillage throughout the entire 
season, and in the spring following they will 
be ready to plant in their permanent place. 
Here they are set deep, in a furrow or trench, 
say six to ten inches, so that the young crown 
of the plant is covered two or three inches deep 
with loose earth or good fine compost. As the 
plants grow the trench is gradually filled. If 
filled at first, the young plants might not be 
strong enough to push their way up. 
You will see from this that the asparagus plot 
must be deeply sub-soiled, for if you do not have 
the land properly prepared at the first, you will 
never have good results. Besides, unless the 
soil is rich in humus, asparagus cannot thrive 
at all, for it requires a moist soil at the roots all 
the season. 
When you have planted your yearling seed- 
lings you must give them another year before 
