This valuable plant was formerly a luxury on the tables of the rich,
but is now during the season a vegetable seen daily upon the tables
of people of moderate or even small incomes. It is also frequently
recommended as an article of diet for the sick and convalescent. To the
asparagus grower there are two methods by which plants can be secured,
(1) by purchasing or saving the seed from which to raise them, and (2)
by purchasing the plants from either a seedsman or some grower. Taking
the second method, as being the quickest way to start a bed as well as
the most easily disposed of, it is suggested that roots over two years
old be rejected, and only one-year-old roots selected if a sufficient
number can be secured, as the latter are much better and will in the
course of a few years produce more and larger spears to the plant and
yield profitable crops for a longer period. It is best to deal with
reliable firms; they will be more likely to supply plants of both the
kind and age desired.
_Seed._--Only reliable seedsmen should be trusted, or the seed should
be procured from some neighbor who has the desired variety and has
taken proper care in producing and saving the seed, if the first
plan is to be followed. If one already has an asparagus bed of the
desired sort, producing fine spears, and of the proper age (8 to 12
years old) for seed production, it is always best to save seed from
it for new plantings. The growing of one's own plants is preferable,
both because of the extra year intervening between the determination
to plant and the actual setting out of the bed, thereby permitting
the soil of the proposed bed to be put in a better and more friable
condition, and because, good seed having been secured and proper care
given to the young plants, a more satisfactory supply of the young
roots is obtained. That there are objections to growing one's own seed
is undoubtedly true, but there are also compensating advantages, and
if proper care is exercised it will pay the grower to raise his own
seed (from beds which are satisfactory) even if seed can be bought in
the open market for much less than the trouble of attending to the
home grown may cost. If, however, a grower is unwilling or unable to
exercise the necessary care in the production of seed, he would do
much better not to attempt it, but depend upon some reliable dealer,
studiously avoiding those whose claims to patronage are based upon
cheapness of stock. Good seed are worth good money; poor seed should
not be accepted under any conditions.
_Soil._--Asparagus will grow on most soils, and will yield large crops
upon stiff soils; but for the purpose of the grower for market, a light
sandy soil of fair fertility is much to be preferred, both because of
the earliness with which it produces marketable spears and the ease
with which it is cultivated. A soil on which water stands after rain,
or under which the standing subsurface water is near the surface, into
which the roots are liable to penetrate, is to be avoided. Of course,
such a soil, if otherwise suitable, can be made fit by a thorough
system of under drainage, since an occasional overflow, or even a
submergence of the beds for several days, is not necessarily injurious
if the drainage, either natural or artificial, is good. The soil
should be free of roots, stones, or any trash that will not readily
disintegrate or that will interfere with the growth of the spears. A
rather stiff but naturally well-drained soil which produces early and
fine asparagus, notwithstanding the fact that it is full of large
gravel, some of the stones being twice the size of a man's fist.
_Shade._--Fruit or other trees or high shrubs must not be allowed in
the asparagus bed, because of the shade they throw over the beds and
because their roots make heavy drafts upon the soil. Nor should high
trees, hedges, hills, or buildings be so near as to throw a shadow
upon the beds, because all the sunshine obtainable is needed to bring
the spears quickly to the surface. The land should be protected from
the north or east (or from the direction of the prevalent winds) and
so slope that the full benefit of the sunshine will be obtained during
the whole day. Freedom from weeds is very desirable, even more so than
great fertility, for the latter can be produced by the 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, cabbages, etc.
_Cultivation._--In the late fall or early winter the selected area,
should be a light sandy loam as described above, needs to be deeply
plowed, and if the subsoil is not already of an open and porous nature,
through which surface water will readily drain and the roots easily
penetrate, a subsoil plow should follow, breaking the soil to the
depth of at least 15 inches. After harrowing the field, a good compost
of well-rotted horse, cow, sheep, or other manure should be spread
broadcast and left to the action of the weather until as early in the
spring as the ground is in condition to be worked, when the manure
should be plowed in, the surface carefully harrowed, and the soil put
in a light and friable condition.
As early in the spring as the condition of the ground will permit work
to be done--when it is dry enough to bear plowing and the soil will
break up fine--rows should be marked off 4 to 6 feet apart and opened
up with a large plow, going a sufficient number of times to make a
furrow from 8 to 12 inches deep. Loose soil that the plow does not
throw up should be taken up with a shovel or wide-bladed hoe. It is in
these furrows that the crowns are to be set, the distance to be left
between plants varying, according to the opinion of the grower, from 18
inches to 5 feet.
_Planting._--Rows should be run north and south, so that the full
benefit of the sunshine will be secured. If the rows run east and
west, they will be shaded by the ridges in early spring, when the sun
is low in the south, and later in the season they will be completely
shaded on one side by the tall foliage. This delays sprouting in the
spring, and prevents the best development of the plants at all times.
Of course, any conditions, such as the slope of the land, etc., which
make it inadvisable to run the rows north and south must be considered,
but southeast to northwest or northeast to southwest is better than
due east or west, or, in short, the natural conditions permitting,
the course should be as far from east and west as possible. This is
especially important to those who ridge the rows to produce white
asparagus. Early in the spring of each year, after the plants are old
enough to cut, there must be a ridge made over the rows to blanch the
shoots, if white asparagus is to be cut; and once ridging is not
sufficient, but after the spears begin to appear the ridges will need
renewing every week or ten days during the cutting season, as the rains
beat them down and the sun bakes a crust upon the top. The grower of
green asparagus has about the same work, less the ridging and plowing
down. As it is necessary to keep down all weeds, some hoeing may be
necessary as supplementary to a free use of the 1-horse cultivator.
After the cutting season, a cutaway harrow run twice diagonally across
the rows loosens up the soil and destroys a vast number of weeds
without injury to the crowns, although some spears may be broken off.
_Brush._--The bushes should be cut as soon as the berries are fully
colored, as the growth will be sufficiently matured so that no injury
will be done the roots by removing the tops, thus avoiding a further
drain upon the roots to mature the seed, and preventing the dropping
of seed, followed by the springing up of innumerable young asparagus
plants.
All brush should be promptly collected and burned, that there may be
no lodging places for insects and diseases. In case the fields were
not leveled, harrowed, and manured at the close of the cutting season,
now is a convenient time to perform this work, although if the soil
is rather too moist it is well to leave the surface firm, that the
winter rains may run off rather than penetrate to the already too damp
subsoil around the roots.
_Manuring._--In nothing relating to asparagus has there been a greater
change than in the practice of manuring. Formerly it was thought
necessary to place large quantities of manure in the bottom of the
deep trenches in which the young plants were set out in order that
sufficient fertility might be present for several years for the roots,
as after the plants were once planted there would be no further
opportunity to apply the manure in such an advantageous place; it was
also considered necessary to use much manure every autumn to bank the
beds in order that the crowns should not be injured by the winter's
frost. These applications, especially that given prior to planting the
young crowns, made the outlay so great, and that for so many years
before any return would be received from the bed, that only small
plantings were possible to those who were without considerable capital.
Although asparagus is still heavily manured, the amount now used is
much less than was formerly supposed to be necessary, only about
double the quantity ordinarily used upon root crops, such as potatoes,
beets, etc. It is not a good practice to put manure in the bottom of
the trenches or furrows when setting out the crowns, because it is
demonstrated to be rather a waste of manure than otherwise, and besides
the roots of asparagus thrive better when resting upon a more compact
soil; nor is it necessary that the soil should contain great amounts
of humus or be in an extremely fertile condition when the plants are
first put out, since by the present system of top dressing a moderately
fertile soil soon becomes exceedingly rich and equal to the demands
which the plants make upon it. Considerable improvement is produced
in the mechanical condition of the soil by the use of stable manure
upon beds. By the addition of humus, porous sandy soil is made somewhat
more binding and its ability to take up and retain moisture thereby
increased; while, on the other hand, cold, heavy soils are made warmer
and more porous.
All organic manures are suitable for use on the beds; but care must be
exercised in the use of any of these lest they be too hot and injure
the plants, especially if applied directly to the roots and immediately
over the crowns. Where the young shoots come up through it, fresh, hot
manure is likely to produce rust or to render the shoots unsightly and
thus injure their sale. Especially is this true in light, sandy soils.
The time of applying manure on beds, and the position where it should
be placed, are of some importance. In the use of stable manure, both
writers upon the subject and growers actually engaged in producing
asparagus for the market almost unanimously state that "in the autumn,
after the stalks have matured and have been cut, manure should be
applied on top of the rows." Some give the caution not to put it just
over the crowns, lest the shoots next spring be injured by contact with
it. This plan of top dressing beds during the autumn or early winter is
gradually giving way to the more rational mode of top dressing in the
spring and summer. It was believed that autumn dressing strengthened
the roots and enabled them to throw up stronger shoots during the
following spring. This is a mistake.
It is during the growth of the stalks after the cutting season is over
that the crowns form the buds from which the spears of next season
spring, and it is probable that it is principally during this period
that the roots assimilate and store up the material which produce
these spears. This being true, the plant food added to the soil and
becoming available after the cessation of vegetation in the autumn can
have little, if any, effect upon the spears which are cut for market
the following spring; it first becomes of use to the plant after the
crop has been cut and the stalks are allowed to grow. In the use of
hot, or fresh, manure it may be that the winter season is none too
long to permit the fertilizing elements to become available and well
distributed throughout the soil, but if well-rotted manure is used
there is danger of the fertility being leached out of the soils by the
rains and melted snows of winter.
Those growers who apply a liberal dressing of stable manure or
fertilizer immediately after the cutting season supply the required
nourishment to the plants at the time they most need it and can most
profitably utilize it in the production of spears. Manure thus applied
will also act as a mulch, preventing the growth of weeds, keeping the
soil light and cool, and preserving the moisture intact. It should
not be made on top of the row. This suggestion the writer wishes to
emphasize.
Manuring in November in many cases does more harm than good, as the
mass of manure causes many roots to decay, and those which do survive
are weak and only produce small spears. It would be much better to rely
upon liberal supplies of food through the growing season than to give
manure when the bushes are cut, as at the former period the roots can
more readily absorb the food given. By feeding in spring and summer the
crowns are built up for the next season's supply of grass. The roots
of the asparagus are perhaps always active, but much less so in winter
than at any other season, and they will obtain as much nutriment from
the soil as they can then use. If heavily covered with manure sunshine
is excluded, growth is checked, and the roots have to fight hard for
existence at a time when they are none too strong.
In the culture of green spears the manure is best utilized by
broadcasting, this application to be followed by a thorough harrowing
of the field. When white asparagus has been cut, either manuring in the
trench between the ridges before disturbing them or harrowing down the
ridges and then manuring broadcast is perhaps the most rational way. As
between manuring in the row and between the rows, the latter should be
selected as the evidently advisable one by which the feeding roots of
the plants are most easily reached. Placing the manure in the row only
reaches those feeding roots which are to be found about midway between
the crowns, as just around the crowns are nothing but storage roots,
besides it is not desirable to place manure too close to the crowns,
but manuring between the rows puts the manure right where the summer
rains can carry the fertility directly down into the (as it were) open
mouths of the feeding roots.
_Green Crop._--If green asparagus is desired, the stalks need be cut
only so far beneath the surface as to furnish a 9 or 10 inch spear, the
major part of which, say 6 inches or more, will be green, and of course
above ground. If white asparagus is sought for, the rows will have been
ridged from 10 to 15 inches above the crowns, and the spears must be
cut as soon as they show at, and before they peep above, the surface.
This means cutting 9 or 10 inches below the surface. To accomplish
this, long chisel-like knives of various shapes are used.
Cutting should be done at least every day, and when vegetation is rapid
twice each day will be necessary for white asparagus, and is often
desirable when the green sort is being cut.
_Harvesting and Marketing._--Asparagus is one of the earliest
vegetables, especially if the roots are near to the surface or the soil
above them has been temporarily removed so that the rays of the sun
can easily penetrate to them. Some varieties are earlier than others,
and this difference in time of appearance varies from a day or two to
several weeks. For instance, the Early Argenteuil is about ten days
earlier than the ordinary asparagus grown in the same locality, and the
Late Argenteuil at least ten days later; so that there would be nearly
three weeks between the Early and Late Argenteuil. Among the ordinary
varieties, however, there is only a short period between the earliest
and the latest.--(F. B. 61, 255; U. Cal. 165; U. Mo. 43; U. Kans. 70;
U. Miss. 1905.)