ASPARAGUS. 



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inches if to be worked with a horse. If the seed is very choice and 

 the grower is anxious to obtain the best plants, the seed should be 

 dropped three inches apart. If a large number of plants are desired, 

 the seed may be sown with a drill, although the hand method is 

 preferred by some because it secures equal space for the development 

 of the roots and tops. Do not cover the seeds with more than one 

 and a half inches of soil. iVs the asparagus seed is very slow to 

 germinate, it is desirable to sow a few radish seeds with the asparagus, 

 so that the young radish plants will mark the rows and cultivation 

 may be begun a few days after sowing. If a radish plant grows 

 every four or five feet in the row, they will be sufficient to enable the 

 cultivator to keep between the rows, and thus avoid disturbing the 

 asparagus seeds or young plants which may be coming up. The 

 asparagus nursery should receive thorough tillage until late in the 

 fall. If the plants do not grow rapidly, nitrate of soda should be 

 applied at intervals of about three weeks at the rate of one hundred 

 pounds to the acre. In small nurseries, an excellent plan is to top 

 dress with fresh horse manure about the twenty -fifth of July. The 

 mulch of manure should be hea^y enough to prevent weed growth 

 and conserve soil moisture. 



PLANT SELECTION 



Experiments at the Pennsylvania State College have shown that 

 the strongest roots are very much the most profitable. In an experi- 

 ment w^hich has been in progress for several years. No. 1 roots have 

 produced $100 more to the acre than No. S roots. Practical growers 

 in many sections have had the same experience, and this information 

 shows how important it is for the commercial grower to produce 

 probably twice as many plants as will be needed to plant his fields, 

 and then to select and plant only the strongest. No information can 

 be given in this talk which w^ill count for larger profits than the 

 proper selection of plants. 



SOIL PREPARATION 



A heavy clover sod provides the best conditions for the growing 

 of a good crop of asparagus. The field should be heavily manured 

 in the fall and also plowed in the fall, so that the vegetable matter 

 will be partly decayed at planting time the follow^ing spring. It is 

 necessary to plant at the earliest possible date in order to secure the 

 greatest growth the first season. There should be no delay in harrow- 



