ever practicable the asparagus bed should be
protected from cold winds, and so slope that the full benefit of the
sunshine will be obtained during the whole day. Brinckmeier, in his
"Braunschweiger Spargelbuch," gives the following three rules for
guidance in selecting a location for asparagus beds:

"1. One should choose, in reference to ground characteristics, open,
free-lying land, protected to the north and east [which, for American
conditions, should be north and west], of gradual slope, free from trees
or shrubbery.

"2. The field should be exposed to the rays of the sun all day long;
therefore, a southern exposure is desirable, or, if that is not
obtainable, a southwesterly or southeasterly slope, because either east,
west, or north exposure will cause shade during a greater or less
portion of the day.

"3. Standing, stagnant ground water, which cannot be drawn off by
drainage, is to be avoided, the requirements of the plants indicating a
somewhat damp subsoil, but not too high ground water."

For commercial purposes on a large scale, and when the trucker has the
choice of location, a well-drained, light, deep, sandy loam, with a
light clay subsoil, is to be preferred to any other. Heavy clay soil, or
land with a hard-pan subsoil, or, in fact, any soil that is cold and
wet, is totally unfit for profitable asparagus growing, unless it is
thoroughly underdrained and made lighter by a plentiful addition of sand
and muck.

Freedom from weeds is very desirable, even more so than great
fertility, for the latter can be produced by heavy manuring, which the
future cultivation will require; and to the end that weeds may be few,
it is well that for a year or two previous to planting the land should
have been occupied by some hoed crop, such as potatoes, beets, cabbage,
etc. Land on which corn has been growing for two or three years is in
excellent condition for an asparagus field, provided it has been heavily
manured one year previous to the planting of the roots.

PREPARATION OF THE GROUND

Asparagus differs from most other vegetables in that it is a perennial,
and when once planted properly, in suitable soil, it will continue to
produce an annual crop for a generation if not for an indefinite period,
while if the work is done carelessly and without consideration for the
plant's requirements the plantation will never prove satisfactory and
will run out entirely in the course of a few years. The establishing of