ASPARAGUS. 



15 



cuttings may be made daily until about the first of July. No other 

 vegetable will take its place at this season of the year. 



VARIETIES 



While many varieties are cultivated, only a few are grown ex- 

 tensively. Palmetto is by far the most important variety. It is 

 grown most extensively in all of the large producing districts. The 

 shoots are of good size and of fine quality. This variety seems to 

 be more resistant to rust than any other and this is perhaps the 

 main reason for its popularity. 



Argenteuil, a French variety, has attracted considerable atten- 

 tion in recent years. There are two strains of this variety, known as 

 Early and Late Argenteuil. The varieties are not apparently well 

 adapted to clay soil, but they have been at least fairly successful in 

 the sandy types of New Jersey and elsewhere. 



Conover's Colossal is an old variety which has been grown ex- 

 tensively in Pennsylvania and other states in the Union. Because 

 of the smaller shoots, the variety should not be recommended for 

 general cultivation. 



Barr's Mammoth, Reading Mammoth, Dreer's Eclipse and Cali- 

 fornia Mammoth White are excellent varieties for either the home 

 garden or commercial plantation. 



SOIL 



While a sandy loam is unquestionably the ideal soil for the 

 growing of asparagus, this crop is grown successfully on a great 

 variety of soil types. A sandy soil is especially desirable for grow- 

 ing white or blanched asparagus, because the sandy soils offer no re- 

 sistance to the stems and they make perfectly straight shoots. It is 

 possible then, to reach several inches under the surface of the ground 

 with a knife in cutting, thus securing long, white shoots. The larg- 

 est plantations in the East are upon soils of this type, although there 

 are many profitable fields on the heavier types of soils. Our markets 

 are demanding green asparagus more and more every year, and this 

 may be grown with great success upon any moist, fertile soil. It has 

 been said that any soil that will produce a good crop of corn will also 

 grow good asparagus. While a field of average fertility will not pro- 

 duce maximum profits, it will return as large profits as any other 

 garden crop which may be cultivated with a horse. As previously 



