Part 2

Through natural and artificial selection, through use of seed of strong shoots from superior roots, there has been improvement in the size and yield of asparagus; from the peculiar adaptability of soil and climate, and the effect of manure and high cultivation, there have appeared certain variations in the product of different beds which have led to the bestowing of a new name; but the effect of this care and these favorable conditions is not sufficiently strong to produce distinct varieties with fixed characteristics. Therefore, with correct and rational treatment of the plant from the time of seeding through all the stages of culture, satisfactory results may be reached with almost any of the varieties on the market.

AMERICAN VARIETIES

_Barr's Mammoth_ (Barr's Philadelphia Mammoth).--Originated with Crawford Barr, a prominent market gardener of Pennsylvania. It is one of the earliest varieties, is very productive, and grows to the largest size. In Philadelphia it is much sought after, and brings the highest prices.

_Conover's Colossal_ (Van Siclen's Colossal).--Originated with Abraham Van Siclen, of Long Island, N. Y., and was introduced by S. B. Conover, a commision merchant of West Washington Market, New York City, some thirty years ago. The superiority of this variety over all other kinds known at that time made it soon supplant all other varieties, and it is to this day better and more favorably known than any other sort.

_Columbian Mammoth White._--This was introduced by D. M. Ferry & Co., in 1893. The immense shoots are clear white, and, in favorable weather, remain so until three or four inches above the surface, without earthing up or any other artificial blanching. The crown or bud of the young stalk is considerably smaller than the part just below it, thus further distinguishing the variety. All but a very few of the seedlings will produce clear white shoots, and the green ones can be readily distinguished and rejected when planting the permanent bed.

_Donald's Elmira._--Originated by A. Donald, Elmira, N. Y., and was first introduced by Johnson & Stokes, Philadelphia, Pa. This is characterized by the delicate green color of its stems, different from any other kind. Its stalks are very tender and succulent, while its size is all that can be desired.

_Eclipse_ (Dreer's Eclipse).--A light green mammoth strain of excellent quality and attractive appearance. The stalks, not rarely, measure two inches in diameter, and even when twelve to fifteen inches long are perfectly tender and of a delicate light green color.

_Hub._--Originated in New Hampshire several years ago, and was introduced by Joseph Breck & Sons, Boston, Mass. Although not generally catalogued, it is a distinct and valuable variety that has made a decided record for itself in the tests of the Kansas Experiment Station, where its yield, by weight, was greater than any other.

_Mammoth._--This is a somewhat indefinite term, as almost any prominent seedsman and grower who has a particularly good and large strain of asparagus suffixes it to his own name. Among the best known of these are Vick's Mammoth, Maule's Mammoth, Prescott's Mammoth, etc.

_Moore's Cross-bred._--This originated with J. B. Moore, who for twenty years was awarded the first prize on asparagus at the exhibitions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, at one of which the weight of twelve stalks was 4 pounds 6-1/4 ounces. It retains the head close until the stalks are quite long, and is of uniform color, while for tenderness and eating quality it is excelled by none. It is particularly recommended for cultivation in New England.

_Palmetto._--A variety of Southern origin, but suitable for the North also. At the South it is somewhat earlier than Conover's Colossal, but its great advantage is that it is almost destitute of, what dealers call, culls, nearly all shoots being of a uniform and large size. The bunch from which the engraving (Fig. 12) was made measured twenty-two inches in circumference, and contained forty-eight stalks of nine inches in length and remarkably uniform in size. It was taken on March 30th from a field of fifty acres, near Charleston, S. C. But the greatest point in its favor is its comparative security from the attacks of rust.

_Purple Top_ and _Green Top_.--These were the only distinct sorts in cultivation before the introduction of Conover's Colossal, but are now almost unknown to the trade and cultivators.

EUROPEAN VARIETIES

The named varieties of asparagus of European origin are very numerous, as almost every locality in which asparagus is cultivated extensively and successfully has given its name to a strain more or less distinct. Generally these varieties differ only in a single characteristic, and these differences, for the most part, are so little that they are lost when grown under different climatic and soil conditions. The best-informed authorities recognize three cultivated varieties, which have distinct commercial characteristics and whose seeds reproduce them in the seedlings.

_German Giant._--This variety embraces most of the German and French sorts--the Giant Dutch Purple, Ulm Giant, Giant Brunswick, Large Erfurt, Early Darmstadt, and many others.

_Argenteuil._--Of this three sub-varieties are recognized--the early, intermediate, and late; and these are the kinds grown almost exclusively in the vicinity of Paris, France, where its culture and improvement have steadily developed for centuries. Under good culture the late Argenteuil produces stalks from three to six inches in circumference, at eight inches below the tips.

_Yellow Burgundy._--The distinctive characteristic of this variety is that the young shoots below the surface of the soil are light yellow instead of white to tips, being greenish-yellow. It is also claimed to be more rust-resisting than other European sorts.

VARIETY TESTS

To determine the comparative effects of manuring on different varieties of asparagus, and also their comparative earliness, Prof. S. C. Mason and his assistant, W. L. Hall, of the Kansas Experiment Station, have made some interesting and instructive experiments, the results of which are given in Bulletin 70, as follows:

"The seed of ten varieties of asparagus was planted. A good stand was secured, and the young plants were cultivated during the summer in the usual way. Early the following spring the entire patch was dug up and the roots heeled in. The same ground was then prepared for a permanent plantation, by plowing it deeply and marking it with furrows four feet apart. These furrows were made as deep as possible, but after the loose soil had run back into them they were on the bottom hardly six inches below the level of the ground. In these furrows the roots of the seedlings were planted (240 feet of row for each variety), making altogether a patch of 35.25 square rods, or a little more than one-fifth of an acre (.22 of an acre). The plants were set about a foot apart in the row, and covered only an inch or two above the crown, leaving along the rows depressions some two inches deep, which were gradually filled up during the summer, by the many cultivations. During the winter the stalks were cleared off, but nothing was done with the patch in the spring more than to cut and note the earliest shoots, the first cutting of which was made April 13th. The patch was cultivated during summer as before, except that the size of the plants interfered somewhat--many of the plants growing six feet high and correspondingly broad. During the fall the north half of each variety was manured, at the rate of fifty loads per acre, with strong barnyard manure, and in the spring the effect was noted.

"The following table gives results as shown by the records of ten cuttings made the spring of 1897, from April 20th to May 19th, inclusive; varieties averaged in order of yield:

======================================================================== VARIETIES | YIELDS IN POUNDS 240 feet of row in each, one-half manured +---------+-----------+------- and one-half unmanured |_Manured_|_Unmanured_|_Total_ ------------------------------------------+---------+-----------+------- 1 Hub | 31 | 27 | 58 2 Donald's Elmira | 29 | 29 | 58 3 Vick's New Mammoth | 26 | 20 | 47 4 Palmetto | 20 | 18 | 39 5 Moore's Cross-bred | 19 | 15 | 35 6 Conover's Colossal | 16 | 17 | 33 7 Barr's Philadelphia Mammoth | 17 | 16 | 33 8 Columbian Mammoth White | 18 | 13 | 32 9 Dreer's Eclipse | 16 | 14 | 30 10 Giant Purple Top | 15 | 14 | 29 +---------+-----------+------- Totals | 207 | 183 | 394 ========================================================================

"Of the two heaviest yielding varieties, Hub and Donald's Elmira, the last named is the earliest, though Hub is also quite early. As nearly as can be judged from the notes, the ten varieties rank for earliness about as follows, though all kinds yielded something at the first cutting:

{10 Giant Purple Top. { 7 Barr's Philadelphia Mammoth. { 2 Donald's Elmira.

{ 6 Conover's Colossal. { 3 Vick's New Mammoth. { 1 The Hub. { 9 Dreer's Eclipse.

4 Palmetto. 5 Moore's Cross-bred. 8 Columbian Mammoth White.

"Those included within a brace have little or no difference of season. The numbers mark their rank with regard to yield, 1 being the highest. The ground occupied by this plantation is a rather low bottom-land, being built up of a clay silt from the former overflow of two creeks, mixed with vegetable mold. It is rather too compact for the best growth of asparagus, as it contains very little sand."

IV

SEED GROWING

The asparagus plant begins to produce seed when two years old. When fully developed the stalks are from five to six feet in hight, with numerous branches upon which are produced a profusion of bright scarlet berries, containing from three to six seeds each. It is not advisable, however, to harvest seed from plants less than four years old.

To save the seed the stalks are cut close to the ground as soon as the berries are ripe, which may be known by their changing color, from green to scarlet, and softening somewhat. The entire stalks are then cut off, tied in bundles, and hung up in a dry place safe from the attacks of birds, some kinds of which are very fond of this seed. After the berries are fully dried they are stripped off by hand, or thrashed upon a cloth or floor, and separated from the chaff. They are then soaked in water for a day or two to soften the skin and pulp of the berries, after which they are rubbed between the hands, or mashed with a wooden pounder, to break the outer shells. The separation of the pulp from the seed is accomplished by washing. When placed in water the seeds will settle with the pulp and the shells will readily pass away in pouring off the water. To clean the seeds thoroughly the washing has to be repeated three or four times. It is then spread on boards or trays to dry in the sun and wind. After the first day it should be removed from the sun, but exposed to the air in a dry loft, spread thin for ten days or more. When thoroughly dried the seed is stored in linen or paper bags until needed.

When cheapness of the seed is the main consideration such promiscuous harvesting may be permissible, but when only the best is desired careful selection and preparation becomes necessary. Even if the parent plants are of choice types, not all the seeds from them are equally good. The seed, for instance, which has been gathered from a stool which has flowered side by side with an inferior kind, and at the same time, may be worthless, because it has been fertilized badly. Then the last heads generally yield nothing but doubtful seed which seldom reproduces the proper type. The seeds which grow at the end of the shoots also, as well as those produced by the upper and lower extremities of the stem, have the same defect.

In order to insure the production of the very best asparagus seed a sufficient number of pistillate or seed-bearing plants, which produce the strongest and best spears, should be selected and marked so that they may be distinguished the following spring when the shoots appear. These clumps should be close together and near some staminate or male plants which have to be marked likewise, as without their presence fertile seed can not be produced. The number of the male to the female plants should be about one to four or five. The following spring all the sprouts of the selected male plants are allowed to grow without cutting any. On each hill of the female plants the two strongest and earliest stalks are allowed to grow, cutting the later appearing spears with the others for market or home use. Thus these early stalks of both male and female plants bloom together before any other stalks, and the blooms on the female plants will be fertilized with the pollen of the selected male plants. This last is of prime importance, for on proper fertilization depends the purity of the seed as well as the vigor of the resultant plant. Not all seed of even a good plant properly fertilized should be used for reproduction, as of the seeds gathered from any plant some will be better than others. Only the largest, plumpest, and best matured seeds should be used, for by saving these the most nearly typical plants of the sort will be most certainly produced. The selection of the best seed from typical plants is as essential to success as are good soil, thorough cultivation, and heavy manuring.

The best seeds are produced from the lower part of the stalk, hence it is well to top the plant after the seed is well set, taking off about ten inches, and to remove the berries from the upper branches, that all the strength may go to the full development of the more desirable berries. If, after this has been done, there is more than sufficient seed for the purpose desired, a second discrimination can be made between the seed of plants which produce numerous berries and those which are shy bearers, the latter being desirable, as this indicates a tendency in the plant to produce stalk rather than seed, and it is as a stalk producer that asparagus is valuable.

Harvesting, cleaning, and preserving the seed is, of course, to be done carefully; the separation of the heavy and the light seeds can be accomplished by means of water, while the larger can be selected from the resultant mass by the use of a properly meshed sieve.

V

THE RAISING OF PLANTS

Asparagus can be propagated by division of the roots, but this method gives so unsatisfactory results that it is rarely practiced. Raising the plants from seed is therefore the only method worth considering. The seed may be sown either in the fall or spring. But far more important than the time for sowing is the quality of the seed. While asparagus seed retains its vitality for two or more years, it is not safe to use seed older than one year. Fresh seed may be recognized by its glossy black color and uniform smooth surface, while old seed has a smutty gray color and its surface is generally rough and wrinkled. Yet even with this as a guide it is not easy to distinguish bad from good seed, and still more difficult, if not impossible, is it to distinguish the seed of different varieties. It is therefore advisable to procure seed only from dealers of undoubted reliability and pay a fair price for it rather than to accept poor seed as a gift. A uniformity of the individual plants in the asparagus bed or field is a matter of prime importance; only large, fully developed seeds should be used, screening out and rejecting all small and inferior ones.

In northern latitudes spring sowing is preferable to fall sowing. The ground of the seed-bed should be well drained and fairly retentive of moisture. As soon as the soil admits of working it should be well pulverized and enriched with decomposed manure. On a small scale a spading-fork is the best implement for preparing soil for nursery rows of asparagus plants.

Straight lines should be marked about fifteen inches apart and drills made about an inch deep when the sowing is done very early in the season, and one-half to one inch deeper when the sowing is done later. In these drills the seed should be dropped two or three inches apart. The covering may be made with a hoe, after which the soil should be well pressed down with the foot. As the seed is slow to germinate--in from four to six weeks, according to weather conditions--it is well to sow with it a few radish seeds, which will soon appear and mark the lines of the drills, so that cultivation may begin at once. Soaking the seed in luke-warm water for twenty-four hours before sowing will hasten its germination.

The cultivation of the young plants consists in keeping the soil about them light, and free from grass and weeds. Most of this work can be done with a garden cultivator, or a hoe and rake or prong hoe, but some hand weeding is generally necessary in addition. Strict attention to this will save a year in time, for if the seed-bed has been neglected, it will take two years to get the plants as large as they should be in one year if they had been properly cared for. In consequence of this very frequent neglect of proper cultivation of the seed-bed, it is a common impression that the plants must be two years old before transplanting. One pound of seed will produce about 10,000 plants, but as many of these will have to be thinned out and poor ones rejected, it is not safe to count upon more than one-half of this number of good plants. The number of plants required for an acre varies according to the manner of planting. If planted in rows three feet apart and two feet in the rows, it will require 7,260 plants per acre; if planted three by four, 3,630 per acre.

SOWING THE SEED WHERE THE PLANTS ARE TO REMAIN

Growing asparagus without transplanting is gradually finding many advocates among those who raise only the green article. It is not only a cheaper but in some respects a better method than the raising of the plants in a special seed-bed, from which they are transplanted after a year or two. "The plan is very simple," wrote Peter Henderson in _American Agriculturist_, "and can be followed by any one having even a slight knowledge of farming or gardening work. In the fall prepare the land by manuring, deep plowing, and harrowing, making it as level and smooth as possible for the reception of the seed. Strike out lines three feet apart and about two to three inches deep, in which sow the seed by hand or seed-drill, as is most convenient, using from five to seven pounds of seed to each acre. After sowing, and before covering, tread down the seed in the rows with the feet evenly; then draw the back of the rake lengthwise over the rows, after which roll the whole surface.

"As soon as the land is dry and fit to work in the spring, the young plants of asparagus will start through the ground, sufficient to define the rows. At once begin to cultivate with hand or horse cultivator, and stir the ground so as to destroy the embryo weeds, breaking the soil in the rows between the plants with the fingers or hand weeder for the same purpose. This must be repeated at intervals of two or three weeks during the summer, as the success of this plan is entirely dependent on keeping down the weeds, which, if allowed to grow, would soon smother the asparagus plants, that, for the first season of their growth, are weaker than most weeds. In two or three months after starting, the asparagus will have attained ten or twelve inches in hight, and it must now be thinned out, so that the plants stand nine inches apart in the rows. By fall they will be from two to three feet in hight and, if the directions for culture have been faithfully followed, strong and vigorous.

"When the stems die down (but not before) cut them off close to the ground, and cover the lines for five or six inches on each side with two or three inches of rough manure. The following spring renew cultivation, and keep down the weeds the second year exactly as was done during the first, and so on to the spring of the fourth year, when a crop will be produced that will well reward all the labor that has been expended. Sometimes, if the land is particularly suitable, a marketable crop may be secured the third year, but as a rule it will be better to wait until the fourth year before cutting much, as this would weaken the plants. To compensate for the loss of a year's time in thus growing asparagus from seed, cabbage, lettuce, onions, beets, spinach or similar crops that will be marketable before the asparagus has grown high enough to interfere with them, may be planted between the rows of asparagus the first year of its growth with but little injury to it."

GOOD CROPS TWO YEARS FROM SEED

In answer to the many inquiries as to how asparagus can be grown to weigh two and three-fourths pounds per bunch of twenty-six stalks from plants two years old from seed, as exhibited at a recent American Institute spring exhibition, George M. Hay, of Connecticut, writes in _American Gardening_ as follows:

"Select a piece of ground where the soil is light, but of a good depth, and plow thoroughly. About the 1st of May mark off the rows three or four feet apart--for myself I prefer the latter distance as giving plenty of room for cultivation. Run a two-horse plow over the same furrow two or three times and you will have a depth of from fourteen to eighteen inches.

"Trenches having been all made, we come to the most important part--namely, manuring. In order to give the young plants a good start after germination we have to use liberal quantities of well-rotted stable manure, and in this the young plants make roots that in a short time are surprising. I use a one-horse load of manure to every seventy-five feet of drill, tramping it well down, and with a rake draw from each side of the trench soil to cover the manure to a depth of from two to three inches. The surface is raked level, and with the end of a rake or hoe a furrow one inch deep is drawn.

"We are now ready for the seed, which should have been soaked in tepid water for at least twenty-four hours. This will insure the immediate starting of the seed when the soil is moist and has not had a chance to dry out. If unsoaked seed is used and we have a dry spell for two or three weeks, the seed will be almost useless by the time it receives moisture enough to start.

"When the asparagus is two or three inches high thin out to one foot apart, being very careful not to disturb the plants left. A piece of a stick cut to the shape of a table-knife is an ideal tool for thinning out the young plants. It will be necessary to weed the rows by hand, while the plants are very small, for a distance of six inches on each side, as the cultivator, if run too close, will cover up the young plants. Keep the horse cultivator at work as often as possible to maintain moisture for the young roots.