ASPAKACrS— RALSINC. HKOWINd. AND FORCINO. 
43 
AVitli the plot system tlio distances between the rows should ha 4 feet, 
and 18 inches between the plants in the rows. 
These distances by some may be considered unnecessarily wide, but 
they are not so, for if good results are to be obtained the plants must have 
room for the tops to fully develop without crowding. The French give 
even more space than this — they allow 1 feet from row to row, and 
8 feet in the rows. 
One-year-old plants are much the best ; if older they do not trans- 
plant so well. Some recommend the sowing of seeds in the permanent 
beds or plot : by so doing, the ground, according to my experience, is 
occupied by it one year unnecessarily, as one-year-old plants do equally 
well. 
During the season of planting, besides watering, attention to weeding 
is all that is required. In the autumn or early winter, after the tops are 
dead and cleared off, a dressing of decayed manure should be spread on 
the beds, a stake driven in the corner of each bed, the sides marked off, 
and about 8 inches of soil from the alleys placed over the manure ; 
or, in the case of the plot, the manure is dug in between the rows. 
About the same time in each year afterwards a dressing of manure or 
sea-weed is required to be dug in, and the surface left rough. In the 
spring, before the shoots begin to push, the surface should be made 
smooth with a rake, and this is the best time to apply a dressing of 
salt, not only for its saline qualities as a manure, but it also kills insects 
and weeds. Of artificial manures I have found nitrate of soda to produce 
a marked effect when applied early in the spring, to old beds past their 
best. Where the soil is not of so calcareous a nature as desired, a dressing 
of fresh lime applied early in the spring will supply the defect. 
On the cutting of the crop there is but one opinion of the time to 
begin on a new plantation, and that is not until the third season of 
growth ; and my advice is to cut them but very sparingly, only taking about 
two early cuttings of the strongest shoots. After the third year they may 
be considered in bearing order, and, with liberal and careful management, 
will continue so for a dozen years or more. Of how to cut, different rules 
have been advocated by different growers ; some cut all that rises above 
ground until the middle or end of June, others only take the strongest 
shoots and leave the others to grow up, and no doubt this latter is the 
best rule, only then more ground must be devoted to Asparagus, a matter 
which all growers cannot afford. Personally, I adopt a medium rule, by 
cutting all that rises till the middle of the season, i.e. about the middle of 
May, and after that only the strongest shoots till June 15, and if, by any 
chance, emergency demands a cutting later, it is very reluctantly supplied. 
After the cutting season, growth must have time to develop and ripen 
before the autumn. On the vigour of the gro^vth to a large extent 
depends not only the size of the shoots the following year, but even the 
life of the plants. Many beds are ruined through over- cutting. I have 
even heard a gardener say that to have good Asparagus, beds should be 
cut from only in alternate seasons. . 
As so much depends on the maturing of strong growths, care must be 
taken to protect them against wind. A few^ pea stakes stuck into the 
ground amongst them, for the tops to lean against, form a good wind guard. 
