so 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



yields to that grown in square plots. Most of the Argenteuil 

 Asparagus is grown in isolated stools in Vineyards. 



In Clumps.— In newly-planted orchards we may pknt 

 between each tree a clump of eight stools, which will yield 

 good crops for fifteen years. The manure and cultivation 

 given to the Asparagus helps the neighbouring trees. Thus 

 we may increase our fruit crop and grow Asparagus at the 

 same time. 



Each of these methods has its peculiar advantages. Plant- 

 ing in the open square bed allows us to choose the most 

 favourable situation for growing the plant without disturbing 

 the harmony of our ordinary kitchen garden, but the yield 

 is not so good and the plantation does not last so long. In 

 the long-bed system we may grow Asparagus nearly any- 

 where, and thus destroy the symmetry of our kitchen garden, 

 injure the neighbouring crops, and increase the difficulty of 

 gathering, by reason of the large extent of ground .to be 

 traversed by the labourer. If we plant in wall borders we 

 often utilise ground which otherwise would be very often lost, 

 but with a southern aspect we must take care to plant at a 

 distance of at least 10 in. from the foot of the wall. With 

 a northern, western, or eastern aspect we can plant in the plot 

 at a less distance. In the isolated stool system we may 

 obtain very fair results in well ventilated situations. In 

 Vineyards, for instance, we may obtain large crops of 

 Asparagus of excellent quality. It is by adopting this 

 method of Asparagus growing that the Argenteuil growers 

 obtain such fine results both in the way of the natural 

 product and the pocket. These isolated stools cost but little 

 to establish, and last for a long time. We have seen stools 

 twenty-eight years old, which still gave excellent crops. On 

 the clump system, when planted amongst tall trees, we may 

 gain great advantages from this mode of culture. As yet it 

 has been but little practised, but we strongly recommend it, 

 on account of the excellent results which it yields. It may 

 easily be conceived that if we grow Asparagus at the foot of 



