64 ABPA&ASUB auiaxfBM. 



crops earlier than when employing plants of one year old. In 

 order to disabuse their minds of this old-fashioned prejudice, 

 we shall place before them the result of some compara- 

 tive experiments which we have recently made in spite of the 

 question having long since been decided. We planted twelve 

 stools of one, two, and three years old respectively in the 

 same soil under the same conditions and at the same time. 

 CaUing those plantings Nos. 1, 2, and 3, the following is the 

 result obtained during the first year : — 



No. 1. — All the stools came up before May 4 and were well 

 grown. 



No. 2. — ^Ten stools showed above ground before May 4, 

 one on the 10th, and one appeared to be dead. The Asparagus 

 heads were veryfifle — ^finer, indeed, than those of No. 1. 



No. 3. — ^Eight stools showed above ground before May 4, 

 one on the 12th, and three gave no signs of Ufe. The heads 

 were very fine at first, but they became bent towards the 

 end of the year (September 15) and were much weaker than 

 those of No. 2. 



Second Year. — ^No. 1. — ^Well-grown, regular, and strong 

 heads, which measured on September 15 1 in. in circum- 

 ference. 



No. 2. — ^Well-grown, but irregular heads, somewhat weaker 

 than those of No. 1. 



No. 3. — Only pretty weU-grown heads, very irregular, some 

 of the stools having as many as eight or ten, but aU very 

 weak. One stool died after growing two heads. 



Third Tear. — ^No. 1. — Magnificent growths, the heads 

 measuring on April 10 from 2 in. to 3i in, in circum- 

 ference. 



No. 2. — Growth passable only, but very irregular. Some 

 of the stools are very small The finest of them produced 

 heads which from April 8 to 10 only measured 2 J in. in 

 circumference. 



