ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



23 



be neatly levelled with a three -pronged fork, ^stirring np the 

 surface between the lines very slightly, as the levelling of the 

 fresh material proceeds. No further care will be required till 

 spring, when, just as the first heads begin to appear, the 

 whole may be slightly stirred on the surface, and over the 

 lines a little of the sand raked off. The process of mulching 

 with short grass, or, instead of it, other vegetable or 

 decomposing animal matter, is to be followed up, as already 

 described, from year to year. The second year some of the 

 thinnings may be fit for use, but by no means should any of the 

 strong heads be cut for that purpose, except where there are 

 too many to one plant, as the patience and forbearance now 

 exercised will be amply repaid by the produce next year, when 

 the crop may be regularly cut for use. In gathering 

 Asparagus, a habit prevails of cutting the heads a few inches 

 below the surface ; but for what useful purpose I am at a loss 

 to conceive ; inasmuch as the white or blanched part of the 

 grass is usually so hard and stringy as to be scarcely fit for 

 use ; whereas, by allowing the heads to grow the proper length 

 above the surface, say about eight inches or so, they will not 

 only still be compact, but the whole of the " Grass " will be 

 tender and eatable. 



ASPARAGUS PESTS. 



Foremost amongst the causes which tend to diminish the 

 yield of Asparagus deserve mention the luxuriant growth of 

 fungus on the part of the plant above-ground, the attacks of 

 wireworms on its roots, and the depredations of the Asparagus 

 beetle (Crioceris Asparagi), which abounds more in some 

 seasons than in others, and is sometimes very destructive in 

 one locality and almost unknown in others. The larvae feed 

 upon the leaves, perforate the buds, and even gnaw the rind of 

 the stems. When the beetle first appears it may be controlled, 

 but if to become established the task is hopeless. Whenever 

 the eggs or the larvae appear, cut and burn the plants as long 

 as any traces of the insect are visible. The larvae, beetles, and 

 eggs are generally found from the middle of June to September ; 

 its larva state continues only for about ten days, after which it 

 descends into the earth to undergo its changes ; and in three 

 weeks the perfect beetle is formed, when it ascends the plants 

 to deposit its eggs. The beetle, after eating into the vegetable, 

 lays its eggs in the tender juicy portion of the stalk and leaves, 

 and when the larvae (the produce of the eggs) issue forth, they 

 totally destroy those parts of the plant with which they come 



