April, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



159 



Plants stunted by crowding— nine plants in five inches. 

 Plant only the larger ones 



has yet to be found, and though breeding 

 experiments are in progress, nothing positive 

 has been accomplished. 



Sow the seed an inch apart (which will 

 mean about three hundred feet to the ounce) 

 and an inch deep; if but half of it sprouts, 

 a poor percentage, it will even then have to 

 be thinned. 



The germination being delayed by cold 

 nights, plants will come up in ten to twenty 

 days. Thin the plants as soon as they can 

 be handled, not more than a week after they 

 appear. Thin to at least three inches apart, 

 better to six, and if possible to nine inches 

 or a foot. At three inches the tops and roots 

 will both interfere. At six inches the tops 

 will do well enough, but the roots will cross 

 and occasionally pierce each other. But at 

 a foot the plants will scarcely trespass; 

 therefore if there is so much space for them 

 give it. 



Throughout the growing season the plants 

 should be well fertilized; asparagus can 

 scarcely be overfed. In any drought the 

 plants should be watered; regular irrigation 

 in the best possible thing for them. In the 

 meantime prepare, as deeply and richly as 

 possible, the soil for the permanent bed. 

 Asparagus will send its roots as deeply as 

 it has any encouragement, six feet and more ; 

 at the same time it is able to support itself 

 entirely by its lateral feeding roots, and the 

 expense of deep preparation and deep setting 

 is now considered unwarranted. As to 

 depth of setting, it is now usual to set the 

 crowns an inch or two below the depth of 

 ordinary cultivation, seven to nine inches 

 down. 



WHEN TO TRANSPLANT 



In mild climates plants may be trans- 

 planted in the first fall, but usually it is best 

 to do the work in the second spring. Dig 

 the roots up carefully with a fork, first 

 loosening the earth at least a foot away from 

 the row on both sides. The trenches should 

 be already prepared, of the desired depth 

 and a foot wide at the bottom, so that the 

 plants can be set immediately, a few at a 

 time as they are dug, with the least possible 

 exposure to sun and wind. It is well, by 

 the way, not to dig the plants until the shoots 

 have started, in order to be able to discard 

 any which were winter-killed. Transplant- 

 ing may even be delayed until the shoots 

 have leaved out, but this of course is not 



to be advised. The rows should be from 

 three to six feet apart; four feet is plenty for 

 a hand-cultivated garden. The plants in the 

 row should be two feet apart if possible, and 

 150 of them will, when in full bearing, 

 yield three or more bunches a day. 



Careful selection of the roots is of import- 

 ance. Choose those which have thick 

 storage-roots and whose crowns are larger 

 than the average, even if they may be fewer. 

 They will send out large stalks, and are to be 

 preferred to those which will send out more 

 but smaller shoots. In growing seedlings 

 it is therefore wise to have twice as many 

 as will be needed, in order to be able to 

 choose only the large, coarse-growing plants. 



In the trench set each root upon a little 

 mound, an inch or less high, made by the 

 hand. Spread out the roots so as not to 

 interfere with each other, firm the earth over 

 them to a depth of three inches, give a quart 

 of water if possible, to settle the earth, and 

 when it has drained away mulch lightly with 

 dry soil. This will take less than a minute 

 to each plant, and the time is well bestowed. 

 It is a French habit, and a good one, to set 

 a stake beside each plant (set it first, so as 

 not to injure the roots) and to tie the shoots 

 to it as they grow, lest by moving in the 

 wind they keep the crown loose in the earth. 



Finally, fill in the trench, while cultivating 

 during the summer, until in the fall the 

 ground is level. Such is the best gardening 

 method of raising and setting asparagus roots. 



FOR EARLIER RESULTS 



There is another way, which with less 

 labor will give earlier results, although for 

 the first year the work is greater. By this 

 method the plants are sown where they are 

 to stand. 



Make the trenches as before, but a little 

 deeper; scatter in fertilizer or work manure 

 into the subsoil; cover this with an inch of 



Plants ready for setting. By letting them start those 

 winter-Killed can be discarded 



loam, sow the seed at generous distances, 

 and cover about an inch. Thin as before, 

 to the permanent spacing, and fill in the 

 trenches as the plants grow; when the tops 

 are dead and pulled, level off the bed. By 

 this method there will be no transplanting 

 at the period of spring rush, and the plants 

 will send up much larger shoots. And one 

 of the best results will be in the rust-resisting 

 power of the plants. In my own bed I 

 found that while my shallow-sown plants, 

 well fed as they were, showed signs of rust 

 by mid-September (and that is a good record) 

 my deep-sown plants remained green till 

 their tops were killed by frost. This was 

 probably due to the more certain water 

 supply, but it says much for the method. 

 Selection of the more vigorous plants is 

 quite possible, if the seed is sparsely 

 sown, by delaying thinning until the plants 

 are growing well, and show their character- 

 istics. 



■m 





The difference between shallow-sown and deep-sown seed. The back row, shallow-sown, became badly 

 rusted about the middle of September; the front row, sown eight inches deep, was immune 



