rtant
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.

POT-GROWN ASPARAGUS PLANTS

In the tests made at the Missouri Ex