The following method of raising Colossal Asparagus was written in 1846,
but is just as true and to the point to-day as then. We copy it for the
benefit of our readers who wish to raise an extra fine article, and
because his remarks upon cutting the shoots so fully corroborate the
suggestions we ventured to give on this point at page 40. Our author
says:
“About the first of November, or as soon as the frost has well blackened
the Asparagus tops, I take a scythe and mow them close down to the
surface of the bed, let it lie a day or two, then set fire to the heap
of stalks, burn it to ashes and spread the ashes over the surface of the
bed. I then go to my barn-yard, take a load of clean, fresh stable
manure, and add thereto half a bushel of hen-dung, turning over and
mixing the whole together throughout. I apply one such load to every
twenty feet in length of my Asparagus beds, which are six feet wide.
With a strong three-pronged spade or fork, I dig this dressing under. In
the Spring, as early as possible, I turn the top of the bed over lightly
once more, and cover the surface about a quarter of an inch thick with
fine packing salt; it is not too much. As the Spring rains come down it
gradually dissolves. Not a weed will appear during the whole season, but
it would do your eyes good to see the strong, stout, tender stalks of
the vegetable itself, pushing through the surface. I do not at all
stretch a point when I say that they are often as large round as my hoe
handle, and as tender and succulent as any I ever tasted. The same round
of treatment is given to my bed every year.
“I have a word to say about cutting Asparagus and then I am done. Market
gardeners, and I believe a good many other people, cut Asparagus as soon
as the point of the shoot pushes an inch or two through the ground. They
have then about two inches of what grows above ground and from four to
six inches of what grows below. The latter looks white and tempting; I
suppose people think that because the white part of celery is tender the
white part of Asparagus must be too. But it is as tough as a stick, and
this is the reason why people, when it is boiled, always are forced to
eat only the tops, and leave the bottom of the shoots on their plates.
My way is never to cut any of the shoots below the surface of the
ground. Cut it as soon as it has grown to proper height, say five or six
inches above ground. The whole is then green, but it is _all tender_, it
will melt in your mouth.”
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THE PLUM CURCULIO, _Conotrachelus Nenuphar_.