he best way to replant these dead or dying roots is to go over the rows
each fall, before the ground freezes, and drive a stake wherever there
is a plant missing, as in the spring, before the plants have started, it
would be difficult, if not impossible, to indicate the blank spaces. For
replanting in the second year good strong two-year-old roots should be
used. For the third and future years it is best to raise and keep a
supply of a sufficient number of reserve plants for this special purpose
in a similar manner as is done for forcing. As early in spring as the
season permits these clumps should be carefully lifted and transferred
to the permanent plantation. For three-year and older beds good strong
three-year-old roots should be used, as younger ones would have but a
poor chance between two older and well-established clumps.

CARE DURING THE THIRD AND FUTURE YEARS

The third year cutting may begin in a moderate way, but too much should
not be attempted. If all the conditions of growth have been favorable
half a crop may be cut without injuring the roots, but under no
circumstances should cutting in the third year be continued for more
than three weeks. The general care of the bed during the third year is
similar to that of the second, with the exception that the soil is
worked more toward the rows, ridging them slightly.

In the spring of the third and each succeeding year, as soon as the
ground can be worked it should be plowed between the rows, turning the
soil toward and over the crowns, leaving a dead furrow between the rows,
as seen in Fig. 19. If bleached asparagus is desired, these ridges over
the rows should be twelve inches higher than the bottom of the dead
furrows between the rows, and when the soil is very light and sandy a
hight of fifteen inches is preferable. For green asparagus the ridges
are left lower, and the shoots are allowed to grow several inches above
the ground before cutting, provided the asparagus beetle does not
appropriate them sooner.

[Illustration: FIG. 19--PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF AN ASPARAGUS FIELD PROPERLY
RIDGED IN EARLY SPRING MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION]

After the furrows are plowed out between the rows a home-made ridger is
used to smooth the ridges and complete the work. This is formed of two
heavy oak boards shod with tire iron, sloping upward and backward,
attached to a pair of cultivator wheels. This requires a good team, one
horse walking on either side of