Good Crops Two Years From Seed

In answer to the many inquiries as to how asparagus can be grown to

weigh two and three-fourths pounds per bunch of twenty-six stalks from

plants two years old from seed, as exhibited at a recent American

Institute spring exhibition, George M. Hay, of Connecticut, writes in

American Gardening as follows:



"Select a piece of ground where the soil is light, but of a good depth,

and plow thoroughly. About the 1st of May mark off the rows three or

four feet apart--for myself I prefer the latter distance as giving

plenty of room for cultivation. Run a two-horse plow over the same

furrow two or three times and you will have a depth of from fourteen to

eighteen inches.



"Trenches having been all made, we come to the most important

part--namely, manuring. In order to give the young plants a good start

after germination we have to use liberal quantities of well-rotted

stable manure, and in this the young plants make roots that in a short

time are surprising. I use a one-horse load of manure to every

seventy-five feet of drill, tramping it well down, and with a rake draw

from each side of the trench soil to cover the manure to a depth of from

two to three inches. The surface is raked level, and with the end of a

rake or hoe a furrow one inch deep is drawn.



"We are now ready for the seed, which should have been soaked in tepid

water for at least twenty-four hours. This will insure the immediate

starting of the seed when the soil is moist and has not had a chance to

dry out. If unsoaked seed is used and we have a dry spell for two or

three weeks, the seed will be almost useless by the time it receives

moisture enough to start.



"When the asparagus is two or three inches high thin out to one foot

apart, being very careful not to disturb the plants left. A piece of a

stick cut to the shape of a table-knife is an ideal tool for thinning

out the young plants. It will be necessary to weed the rows by hand,

while the plants are very small, for a distance of six inches on each

side, as the cultivator, if run too close, will cover up the young

plants. Keep the horse cultivator at work as often as possible to

maintain moisture for the young roots.



"By fall you will be surprised to learn how far the young roots have

traveled and the crowns prepared for next year's crop. Cover the rows

with stable manure for the winter, and in spring give a dressing of one

pound of nitrate of soda to one hundred feet of drill, and you will be

well repaid for the extra labor and outlay by being able to cut

asparagus of extra size in two years from the time of sowing the seed,

doing away with the transplanting of two-year-old roots, and then

waiting two more years before the first crop can be cut."



The principal objection which has been made against this system of not

transplanting is that it does not admit of a careful choice of plants,

as the plants must be kept in the places where sown, while in the

transplanting method we need use only the choicest plants; then, if two

or three seeds come up close together, it is very difficult to thin

them out, and if left they will produce an inferior growth.