, asparagus can not be hurt
by giving it plenty of room. It should also be considered that
earliness, size, and quality make a great difference with the price and
profits when early and large shoots are in demand. It might be possible
to get double the number of shoots per acre from thick than from thin
planting, but they might be so small and spindling as not to be worth
the labor and expense of cutting and marketing.

DEPTH OF PLANTING

Contrary to the all but universal belief, asparagus is not a deep-rooted
plant. In the wild state its most frequent habitat is on the fertile
marshes of the shoreline in Europe, on ground but a few inches above the
tidewater which permeates the sandy subsoil. As the roots can not live
in water, they naturally grow to long distances parallel with the
surface and retain this habit under cultivation. The tendency of growth
in the asparagus roots in this direction is obviously demonstrated in
Fig. 14.

The proper depth of planting asparagus roots varies somewhat, according
to the character of the soil, the method of cultivation, and the kind of
spears desired, whether white or green. As the new crowns rise somewhat
above the old ones annually, it seems but rational that the plants
should have sufficient room for the new growths before their crowns
become even with the surface of the land. When the crown once comes near
the level of the soil it is impossible to give proper cultivation,
unless the entire bed be raised by adding soil to the whole surface.

While it is true that the deeper the crowns are planted the later they
will start in the spring, this is of account only during the first few
years. Besides, the factor of earliness is not of nearly as much
importance now as it was before northern markets were so bountifully
supplied with the southern grown crops several months before the opening
of the northern season. Shallow-planted asparagus sprouts earlier, but
soon exhausts itself, sending up spindling, tough shoots, while the
deeper-planted crowns produce large and succulent sprouts throughout the
season. When green asparagus is desired, and there is no danger of the
beetles eating the sprouts before they are fit for use, a depth of two
or three inches is sufficient, but for white or blanched asparagus a
depth of from eight to ten inches is necessary.

MANNER OF PLANTING

As in other details of asparagus culture, the methods of planting have
undergone very material changes