The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-17
All Hail AsparaRus.

Every farmer ought to have a bed of
asparagus for home use If not to market,
says the American Cu(tiUdtOr. No vege-
table is more easily grown; the old idea that
a deep trench filed with stone to within a
foot of the surface was required has long
ago exploded All that the stone-flled
trench secures to the asparagus is drainage,
and at the lower end of the trench unless
an outlet has been provided there is not
even drainage. a foot of earth over heap
of stones is not enough for asparagus.
What this plant most needs Is a thor
oughly drained, and therefore warm and
rich soil. We can understand this better
by considering the nature OF the aspara{ gus
plant. 1t is perennial with branching
roots living from year to year while the
top annually decays just as quack and the
Canada thistle do from the root beneath.
Even the Canada thistle, which some
farmers fluid 1t hardest to get rid Of, does
not thrive we'll on soil water-soaked all
winter. 1t will liVs on such soils and so may
asparagus, but neither will attain their
greatest vigor.
The truth is that in water-soaked soil
part of both thistle and asparagus roots
have probably rosted during their long
dormancy through the winter. Hence their
later growth must be comparatively feeble.
But it Is a great thing for farmer to res
joce over that he can, IL he chooses, have
something that is valua ole living In his soil
through winter, and ready to spring up
with the first show Of warm weather when
it appears. He sows his garden vegetables,
peas and the like, but however hardy they
must start from seed. Hence they must
make feeble growth at first compared with
the thrifty asparagus whose roots are al
ready well established and the incipient
buds are ready to send no shoots as soon as
1aaNh a TNv1aag &c hat boo
asparagus our earliest garden vegetable as
some unknown poet beautifully said:
All hail to thee. asparagus, thou tender, bright
Thou CONTEST in thy beauty with the freshness of
the spring;
With tie coming in Of cucumber and the going
out Of kale,
AS soon as thou art cheap enough, asparagus all
hail.
If this poem to asparagus leads to more
extensive planting we shall be glad. 1t
ought o be on every table after its earliest
shoots appear until that later luxury, green
peas, makes its use unnecessary. But the
green pea has 10 start from seed, and this
gives five or six weeks usually when aspara-
gus is undisputed monarch OF the table.
The soil cannot BE- too deep and rich for
asparagus But it should be soil, not stones
or coarse manure. If a deep trench be
made, mix well-composted manure with
the soil with which it Is filled. Plant the
asparagus six or eight inches deep in this
and even deeper would be better. The
crowns OF the plants will all the time grow
upward, but livery year a fresh dressing
OF manure is applied a light blowing in
early spring will be beneficial and will not
disturb the roots. Do not plant too closely.
II the ground is made rich the stools planted
three feet one way by two the other will
soon fill the soil.
From such bed, MANFRED every winter
and lightly plowed each spring, u surpris-
ing amount Of asparagus may be procured
from a small surface, and when once estab-
lished the bed will grow better every year
for an indefinite period.