Selection Of Plants

That strong, healthy, one-year-old plants are in every way to be

preferred to two or three year old ones has been demonstrated by many

carefully conducted experiments, and is now universally recognized by

intelligent and observant asparagus growers. The most noteworthy and

accurate experiments in this line were made by the famous French

asparagus specialist M. Godefroy-Leboeuf, who planted twelve stools of

one, two, and three years old respectively in the same soil under the

same conditions and at the same time. Calling those plantings Nos. 1, 2,

and 3, the following are the results obtained:



First Year.--No. 1.--All the stools came up before May 4th, and

were well grown.



No. 2.--Ten stools showed above ground before May 4th, one on the

10th, and one appeared to be dead. The asparagus heads were very

fine--finer, indeed, than those of No. 1.



No. 3.--Eight stools showed above ground before May 4th, one on the

12th, and three gave no signs of life. The heads were very fine at

first, but they became bent toward the end of the year (September

15th), and were much weaker than those of No. 2.



* * * * *



Second Year.--No. 1.--Well-grown, regular, and strong heads,

which measured on September 15th one inch in circumference.



No. 2.--Well-grown but irregular heads, somewhat weaker than those

of No. 1.



No. 3.--Only pretty well-grown heads, very irregular, some of the

stools having as many as eight or ten, but all very weak. One stool

died after growing two heads.



* * * * *



Third Year.--No. 1.--Magnificent growths, the heads measuring on

April 10th from two inches to three and one-quarter inches in

circumference.



No. 2.--Growth passable only, but very irregular. Some of the

stools were very small. The finest of them produced heads which

from April 8th to 10th only measured two and one-half inches in

circumference.



No. 3.--Growth very poor and very irregular. Some of the stools

continued to produce small heads not much thicker than a quill pen,

the largest being from one and one-half inch to two inches in

circumference.



* * * * *



Fourth Year.--No. 1.--Growth very remarkable. The heads began to

show on April 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 10th. Some were from three and

one-quarter inches to four inches in circumference, and measured

four and three-quarter inches. Fifty of the heads formed a bundle

which weighed seven pounds.



No. 2.--Growth passable, but later than No. 1. The heads made their

first appearance on April 6th, 10th, and 11th. Many of them were

very small; fifty of them barely made half a bundle, and only

weighed three and three-quarter pounds.



No. 3.--Growth but poor, and somewhat late. The heads made their

appearance on April 4th, 6th, 9th, and 11th; one did not show till

the 22d. Fifty heads barely formed half a bundle and only weighed

two and one-half pounds.



To sum up, it is clear that the plants of a year old in their

fourth season--that is to say, after having been planted out for

three years--gave a bundle weighing seven pounds, while those of

two years old only gave three and three-quarter pounds, and those

of three years old only two and one-half pounds; in other words,

taking round numbers, the plantation made with the one-year-old

plants produced double the crop of the two-year-old plants and

treble that of the three-year-old plants. The reader may easily

draw his conclusions from the preceding facts.



Equally important is a careful selection of the individual plants to be

set out. A crown with four or five strong, well-developed buds is far

better than one with a dozen or more of weak and sickly ones, as the

latter will always produce thin and poor spears of poor quality. It is

therefore highly to be recommended to select only plants with not over

six buds and discard all others. The roots should be strong and of

uniform thickness, succulent and not too fibrous. Dry or withered roots

have to be cut off, and plants with many bruised or otherwise damaged

roots should be rejected entirely. The best roots are the cheapest.