ASPARAGUS 
sive culture. Asparagus is the first green 
vegetable of the spring and therefore is 
in great demand for home use and for 
market. 
To prepare a permanent bed of aspara- 
gus the land should be heavily manured 
(at least 10 to 15 tons) and broken deeply 
in the fall. In early spring the land is 
replowed, disced both ways and thorough- 
ly harrowed. This thorough preparation 
incorporates the manure with the soil 
The best time to plant asparagus in the 
South is in late January or early in 
February but in the North plantings can 
be made as late as November, provided 
the land has been thoroughly prepared 
some time in advance so that the manure 
is well decomposed. 
Only strong one-year-old plants should 
be used, though seed can be sown in the 
row and the plants can be thinned out 
to the desired distance. Plants can be 
secured from any reliable seed dealer. 
The distance that the plants should be 
set varies with different growers but for 
most purposes the best plan is to plant 
five feet between the rows and place the 
plants three feet apart in the row. 
The land at planting time should be 
checked off with the plow both ways, 
running one way twice to make a deep 
furrow. The plants are set in these 
checks allowing a space of from 6 to 8 
inches between the top of the crown and 
the surface of the ground. The plants 
Should not be entirely covered with soil 
at the time of planting; the upper three 
or four inches of space will be gradually 
filled in by the subsequent cultivation as 
the plant grows through the soil. 
During the first season the land should 
be kept well cultivated to maintain a 
soil mulch and also keep down weeds. 
Cultivation should continue until the tops 
have matured. 
When the berries on the plants have 
turned red the tops should be cut down 
and left in the field to dry thoroughly. 
On a windy day the patch can be burned 
Over thus destroying the rubbish and 
troublesome insects. After the patch has 
559 
been burned over spread a coating of 
manure over it and allow this to remain 
as a mulch until spring. 
Marly in the spring of the second year 
the rough manure should be raked off and 
the ground should be worked. It is a 
good plan to plow furrows in both direc- 
tions over the row thus leaving a ridge 
on the row and a dead furrow between 
the rows. After plowing use a spike 
toothed harrow or cultivator and level 
down the beds. 
Cultivation should be given as outlined 
for the first season. Cut down the tops, 
burn over the patch and top dress with 
manure as before. An application of a 
high grade fertilizer in early summer will 
produce a good strong growth that forms 
a good root system. 
The patch can be cut the third season 
but this cutting should be rather light. 
The bed should be worked as outlined for 
the previous seasons but early in the 
spring an application of from 75 to 100 
pounds of nitrate of soda per acre should 
be made as a top dressing near the plants. 
This fertilizer is readily available and 
will give results in the crop to be cut. 
When cutting has ceased or about May 
Ist, the patch should receive an applica- 
tion of 1,000 pounds of fertilizer made 
up as follows: 
Acid phosphate .. 400 Ibs. 
Nitrate of soda .. . . 1... weeue 100 Ibs. 
Cotton seed meal .. 2... ce ee ee ee 350 lbs. 
Muriate of potash ........  ....- 150 lbs. 
Total .. 2... ce cae eee wee 1,000 lbs. 
The above is a 7-4-8 goods and it should 
be broadcasted and disced in running the 
disc across the rows. Cultivation should 
then be kept up as in previous years. 
When cutting the asparagus select 
those stalks which are about 6 inches 
long and run the knife about 2 inches 
down under ground. Care must be taken 
in cutting not to injure the shoots which 
are just pushing up through the soil. 
Every stalk whether it is thin or fleshy 
should be cut at each cutting as this pre- 
vents insects from laying eggs on the 
old shoots that are left and it also con- 
serves the strength of the plants. As 
soon as the asparagus stalks are cut 
