The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots | Page 8

it be safe to transplant Asparagus until the end of
March or beginning of April, for although established roots will pass
unharmed through a very severe winter, those which have recently been
removed are often killed outright by a lengthened period of cold wet
weather, and especially by thawed snow followed by frost.
==Giant Asparagus.==--Some of the most critical judges of Asparagus
in the country are extremely partial to giant sticks. Their preference is
not based on mere superiority in size, but on the special flavour which
is the peculiar merit of these extra-large Asparagus when they are
properly grown. Although there is no difficulty whatever in producing
them, it must be admitted that to insure specimens weighing nearly or
quite half a pound, plenty of space must be allowed for the full
development of each plant and a prodigal use of manure is imperative.
Where drainage is effectual, the soil of any well-tilled garden can be
made suitable. The roots may be grown in clumps or in rows. Clumps
are planted in triangular form, two feet being allowed between the three
plants of each group, with a distance of five feet between the groups.
The more usual method, however, is to plant in rows. In both cases the
cultural details are almost identical, and to obtain the finest results it is

wise to get the preparatory work done at convenient times in advance
of the planting season. Assuming that rows are decided on, commence
operations by digging a broad deep trench, throwing out the soil to the
right and left to form sloping sides until there is a perpendicular depth
of twenty-seven inches from the top of the ridge. About one foot of
prepared soil should be placed in the bottom of the trench. This may be
composed of such material as the trimmings of hedges, sweepings of
shrubberies, twigs from a faggot pile, wood ashes and leaf-mould. The
constituents must to some extent depend on the materials at command.
What is wanted is a light compost, consisting almost wholly of
vegetable matter in a more or less advanced state of decomposition.
Add three or four inches of rich loam, and on this, at the beginning of
April, plant strong one-year roots of a robust-growing variety. Between
the plants it is customary to allow a space of at least two feet, and some
growers put them a full yard apart. Cover the crowns with three inches
of rich soil, previously mixed with manure and laid up for the purpose.
The second and following rows are to be treated in the same way, and
the work must be so managed that an equal distance of four and a half
or five feet is left between the rows. When the foliage dies down in
autumn, a layer of fertile loam mixed with rotten manure should be
spread over the surface. In the succeeding spring remove just the top
crust of soil and give a thick dressing of decayed manure alone, upon
which the soil can be restored. During the autumn of the second year
the furrow must be filled with horse manure for the winter. Remove
this manure in March, and substitute good loam containing a liberal
admixture of decayed manure previously incorporated with the soil.
The slight ridges that remain can then be levelled down. By this
treatment large handsome sticks of Asparagus may be cut in the third
year. To maintain the plants in a high state of efficiency, it must be
clearly understood that forcing with horse manure will be necessary
every subsequent year. Blanching may be carried out by any of the
usual methods, and Sea Kale pots are both convenient and effectual.
Not a weed should be visible on the beds at any time.
==Forcing== is variously practised, and the best possible system,
doubtless, is to force in the beds, and thereby train the plants to their
work so that they become used to it. The growers who supply Paris

with forced Asparagus produce the white sample in the beds, and the
green by removal of the roots to frames. Forcing in beds may be
accomplished by means of trenches filled with fermenting material or
by hot-water pipes, the beds in either case being covered with frames.
Where the demand for forced Asparagus is constant, there can be no
doubt the hot-water system is the cheapest as well as the cleanest and
most reliable; for a casual supply forcing in frames answers very well,
but it is attended with the disadvantage that when the crop has been
secured the roots are worthless. The practice of forcing may be said to
commence with the formation of the seed-bed, for if it is to be carried
on in a systematic and profitable manner, every detail must be provided
for in