. Manual of gardening : a practical guide to the making of home grounds and the growing of flowers, fruits, and vegetables for home use . Gardening. 462 MANUAL OF GARDENING crop may be cut somewhat, but not sooner if a lasting bed is desired, as the effort to replace the stalks has a tendency to weaken the plant unless the roots are well estab- lished. The cutting should cease in June or early Jiily, or the roots may be much weak- ened. In cutting, care should be taken to insert the knife vertically, so that adjoining crowns wiU not be injured (Fig. 296). The yearly treatment of an asparagus b
. Manual of gardening : a practical guide to the making of home grounds and the growing of flowers, fruits, and vegetables for home use . Gardening. 462 MANUAL OF GARDENING crop may be cut somewhat, but not sooner if a lasting bed is desired, as the effort to replace the stalks has a tendency to weaken the plant unless the roots are well estab- lished. The cutting should cease in June or early Jiily, or the roots may be much weak- ened. In cutting, care should be taken to insert the knife vertically, so that adjoining crowns wiU not be injured (Fig. 296). The yearly treatment of an asparagus bed consists of clean- ing off tops and weeds in the fall and adding a dressing of well-rotted manure to the depth of 3 or 4 inches, this ma- nure to be lightly forked into the or the tops may be allowed to stand for A top-dressing of nitrate of. 296. Good {A) and poor {B) modes of inserting the knife to cut asparagus. Some careful growers pull or break the shoots rather than out them. bed the following spring; winter protection and the mulch left off. soda, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, is often beneficial as a spring stimulant, particularly in the case of an old bed. Good results will also follow an application of bone meal or superphosphate at the rate of some 300 to 500 pounds per acre. The practice of sowing salt on an as- paragus bed is almost universal; yet beds that have never received a pound of salt are found to be as productive as those having received an annual dressing. Nevertheless, a salt dressing is recommended. Two rows of asparagus 25 feet long and 3 feet apart should supply a large family with an abundance throughout the season, and if well taken care of, will last a number of years. Conover Colossal is the variety most generally grown, and is per- haps the most satisfactory sort. Palmetto, a variety originating at the South, is also very popular. Artichoke. — The artichoke of literature is a tall, coarse perennial of the thistle tribe, producing edibl
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublis, booksubjectgardening
