luke-warm water for twenty-four hours before sowing will hasten its
germination.

The cultivation of the young plants consists in keeping the soil about
them light, and free from grass and weeds. Most of this work can be done
with a garden cultivator, or a hoe and rake or prong hoe, but some hand
weeding is generally necessary in addition. Strict attention to this
will save a year in time, for if the seed-bed has been neglected, it
will take two years to get the plants as large as they should be in one
year if they had been properly cared for. In consequence of this very
frequent neglect of proper cultivation of the seed-bed, it is a common
impression that the plants must be two years old before transplanting.
One pound of seed will produce about 10,000 plants, but as many of these
will have to be thinned out and poor ones rejected, it is not safe to
count upon more than one-half of this number of good plants. The number
of plants required for an acre varies according to the manner of
planting. If planted in rows three feet apart and two feet in the rows,
it will require 7,260 plants per acre; if planted three by four, 3,630
per acre.

SOWING THE SEED WHERE THE PLANTS ARE TO REMAIN

Growing asparagus without transplanting is gradually finding many
advocates among those who raise only the green article. It is not only a
cheaper but in some respects a better method than the raising of the
plants in a special seed-bed, from which they are transplanted after a
year or two. "The plan is very simple," wrote Peter Henderson in
_American Agriculturist_, "and can be followed by any one having even a
slight knowledge of farming or gardening work. In the fall prepare the
land by manuring, deep plowing, and harrowing, making it as level and
smooth as possible for the reception of the seed. Strike out lines three
feet apart and about two to three inches deep, in which sow the seed by
hand or seed-drill, as is most convenient, using from five to seven
pounds of seed to each acre. After sowing, and before covering, tread
down the seed in the rows with the feet evenly; then draw the back of
the rake lengthwise over the rows, after which roll the whole surface.

"As soon as the land is dry and fit to work in the spring, the young
plants of asparagus will start through the ground, sufficient to define
the rows. At once begin to cultivate with hand or horse cultivator, and
stir the ground so as to destroy the embryo weeds, breaking