4 
The Colorado Experiment Station. 
Irrigation .—While the various vegetables require different 
amounts of water, it is thought advisable to treat the matter in a 
general way at this point to avoid useless repetition. Vegetables 
contain from 85 to 90 per cent of water, so it is very necessary that 
they have plenty of moisture. The soil in which the plants are 
growing should be moist at all times and the plants should never 
become wilted or checked for lack of water. This condition is best 
maintained by thorough but not too frequent irrigation. The soil 
should be wet to a good depth and then not irrigated again until 
needed. This causes the plants to send their roots deep into the 
soil and economizes water. Frequent, light irrigations induce a 
shallow root system, so that plants are much more easily affected 
by dry weather. 
The furrow method of irrigation is preferable. It is more 
economical of water than the flooding method and is one factor in 
controlling plant diseases. Where a garden is irrigated with a 
lawn sprinkler, the tendency is always to give too little water. The 
soil appears to be wet when in reality it is not. If this method is 
used, the garden should be thoroughly soaked and not sprinkled 
again for a week. Sprinkling every day or two will cause the 
plants to be shallow rooted. 
ASPARAGUS. 
Soil .—Asparagus will grow well on a variety of soils, the one 
condition to be avoided being that of too much moisture. If earli¬ 
ness is desired, a rich sandy loam with a southern or eastern ex¬ 
posure is best. Such a soil will warm up earlier in the spring than 
a heavier one. 
Preparation .—In the fall preceding the planting, the land should 
be well plowed to a depth of ten or fourteen inches and left to the 
action of the weather during the winter. In the spring twenty or 
more tons of well rotted stable manure per acre is applied and 
plowed under. This is followed by a thorough harrowing which 
puts the soil in the best condition for planting. This thorough 
preparation is very necessary to the success of the crop. New land 
should not be used for asparagus culture. 
Plants and Planting .—If the plants used are purchased from a 
seedsman, good one-year-old plants should be procured. One may 
grow very satisfactory plants from seed. The seed are gathered 
when ripe and put in water in order to soften the pulp which sur¬ 
rounds them. They are mashed up and the hard seed worked out, 
washed and dried. They are stored during the winter and planted 
in the spring. The rows should be two and a half or three feet 
apart to permit horse cultivation and the seed planted one to two 
