nches of turf, six inches of very rotten dung,
eight inches of the best of earth. The last layer of earth must then be
well mixed with the last of dung. The compartment must now be divided
into beds five feet wide by paths constructed of turf two feet in
breadth and one foot in thickness."

A bed prepared in this manner, and planted and cultivated with as much
painstaking care, will no doubt produce asparagus of unsurpassed
quality, and may last forever. Yet the use of modern implements and a
better knowledge of the nature and requirements of the plant have
demonstrated that first-class asparagus can be produced with far less
expense and labor. While a deep and loose soil produces earlier and
better crops than a heavy and shallow one, indiscriminate deepening of
the soil by trenching or other means is not always desirable, even where
the cost does not come into consideration. When the subsoil is very
light and poor and deficient in humus, the placing of the better surface
soil below and the infertile lower strata above, trenching would be a
positive detriment. The same would be the case where the subsoil
consists of heavy impervious clay.

In the fall preceding planting the land should be plowed deeply and left
in the rough state during the winter. Subsoiling has often been
recommended, yet practical growers but rarely make use of the subsoil
plow in the preparation of asparagus plantations, although the value of
subsoiling where the subsoil is heavy can not be doubted. Where stable
or barnyard manure can be had cheaply, and the soil is heavy, a liberal
coat spread broadcast over the surface and left to the action of the
weather during winter will ameliorate the ground considerably. In most
cases, however, the same object may be obtained by applying the manure
in spring. Joseph Harris mentions a case in which a bed was plowed and
subsoiled in the fall and the soil filled with manure, while another bed
near by was planted without manure, or extra preparation of any kind,
relying entirely on artificial fertilizers after planting, and the
latter was by far the better bed. As early in spring as the ground is in
suitable condition to be worked it has to be plowed and harrowed and
brought into as perfect condition as possible.

VIII

PLANTING

Throughout the Middle and Northern States, spring, as soon as the soil
can be worked to good advantage, is decidedly the most favorable time
for planting asparagus. If it