AND VEGETABLE-GARDEN MANUAL. 109 
ASPARAGUS. 
Large Green Purple Top. 
There are, it is said, several varieties of Asparagus, but the dif- 
ference mainly arises from the nature of the soil. On strong loamy 
land, the growth is more robust and the shoots more tender than 
on sandy soil. 
In making Asparagus beds, the chief point to be considered is. 
to make choice of a proper soil. It should not be wet nor too 
strong, but moderately light and pliable, so that it will readily fall 
to pieces in digging or raking, and in a situation that receives the 
full sun. The ground intended for Asparagus beds should have a 
large supply of well-rotted manure, laid several inches thick, and 
should be then regularly trenched two or three feet, and the ma- 
nure buried equally in each trench as the process goes on. The 
ground being leveled, it should be divided into beds, four feet and 
a half wide, with alleys two feet wide between the same. Four 
rows of Asparagus should be planted in each bed, ten or twelve 
inches distance being allowed between the plants in the rows, let- 
ting the outside rows of each bed be nine inches from the edge. 
They may be planted only in single rows, two feet and a half dis- 
tant, or in narrow beds containing two rows of roots only. It is 
of very great importance for insuring success in the planting 
of Asparagus to lift the roots carefully, and to expose them to the 
air as short a time as possible. While planting, it will be found 
advisable to keep the roots covered. No plant feels an injury in 
the root more keenly than Asparagus, and from the brittleness 
of the roots when they are once broken, they do not readily shoot 
again. 
The seed of Asparagus should be planted early in the spring. 
Soak them in warm water for twenty-four hours, and drill them 
thinly in rows sufficiently wide apart to admit being worked with 
the hoe. When two years old, they may be transplanted to per- 
manent beds, which should be so situated as to cast off an excess 
