European Varieties

The named varieties of asparagus of European origin are very numerous, as almost every locality in which asparagus is cultivated extensively and successfully has given its name to a strain more or less distinct. Generally these varieties differ only in a single characteristic,



and these differences, for the most part, are so little that they are lost when grown under different climatic and soil conditions. The best-informed authorities recognize three cultivated varieties, which have distinct commercial characteristics and whose seeds reproduce them in the seedlings. German Giant.--This variety embraces most of the German and French sorts--the Giant Dutch Purple, Ulm Giant, Giant Brunswick, Large Erfurt, Early Darmstadt, and many others. Argenteuil.--Of this three sub-varieties are recognized--the early, intermediate, and late; and these are the kinds grown almost exclusively in the vicinity of Paris, France, where its culture and improvement have steadily developed for centuries. Under good culture the late Argenteuil produces stalks from three to six inches in circumference, at eight inches below the tips. Yellow Burgundy.--The distinctive characteristic of this variety is that the young shoots below the surface of the soil are light yellow instead of white to tips, being greenish-yellow. It is also claimed to be more rust-resisting than other European sorts.

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