4 The Colorado Experiment Station. 
distant markets. These crops are adapted to certain districts and 
from a commercial standpoint are not adapted to all districts. On 
the other hand, the truck crops for the home garden may be grown 
in practically all parts of the State, even though certain ones are 
not sufficiently adapted to the conditions to produce a maximum of 
yield and quality. For this reason, we will take up the various 
vegetables that are in any way adapted to our climate in the alpha¬ 
betical order, as a matter of convenience, rather than in the order of 
their importance. 
Asparagus. —Asparagus, is one of the most satisfactory crops 
for the gardens of Colorado. There are comparatively few tro.ubles 
or pests that interfere with growing this crop in the home garden. 
In fact, the vegetable easily becomes a weed and may be found 
growing wild along the creeks and ditches in nearly all parts of 
the State. There is no reason why every garden should not have a 
sufficient supply for family use. Whether this vegetable may be 
grown for a canning proposition, we are not prepared to say. An 
experiment is now under way to demonstrate this point. 
April 12, 1910, about one-tenth of an acre in the College gar¬ 
den was sown to three of the leading varieties of asparagus, i. e. 
Conovers Colossal, Palmetto, and Barr’s Mammoth. Asparagus is 
slow in germinating. Five weeks elapsed before this seed germin¬ 
ated sufficiently to be seen. It has been thought that asparagus 
would not do well in this climate. This, however, has made a per¬ 
fect stand and has grown as well as could be expected at any place. 
In fact, some of these plants have attained a heighth of more than 
two feet. At present, the one year roots are being dug for storage 
and planting next spring. The yield will not be less than 15,000' 
plants, or at the rate of 150,000 plants per acre. The culture of 
asparagus for the garden is very simple. It is only necessary to 
have the soil thoroughly prepared by deep plowing, and well fer¬ 
tilized by mixing with the soil not fewer than twenty to thirty 
loads of decomposed stable manure per acre. If the asparagus is 
to be planted in a small plot in the garden, the plants may be set in 
early spring in the ground in a trench, with the plants from one 
foot to eighteen inches apart. The plants should be set in a trench 
at least six inches deep, and covered with not more than two inches 
of soil at the time of setting. The roots should be spread out in 
the bottom of the trench with the crowns up. During the season, 
the trenches may be gradually filled so as to level the ground. When 
frost kills the tops in the fall they should be cut, and when suffi¬ 
ciently dry should be burned. This will help destroy the insects and 
fungus pests that trouble the plants. After the plot is cleared, it 
should be covered with a good coat of stable manure, which should 
be harrowed into the soil the following spring. 
