In the fall preceding planting the land should be plowed deeply and left in the rough state during the winter. Subsoiling has often been recommended, yet practical growers but rarely make use of the subsoil plow in the preparation of asparagus plantations, although the value of subsoiling where the subsoil is heavy can not be doubted. Where stable or barnyard manure can be had cheaply, and the soil is heavy, a liberal coat spread broadcast over the surface and left to the action of the weather during winter will ameliorate the ground considerably. In most cases, however, the same object may be obtained by applying the manure in spring. Joseph Harris mentions a case in which a bed was plowed and subsoiled in the fall and the soil filled with manure, while another bed near by was planted without manure, or extra preparation of any kind, relying entirely on artificial fertilizers after planting, and the latter was by far the better bed. As early in spring as the ground is in suitable condition to be worked it has to be plowed and harrowed and brought into as perfect condition as possible.
VIII
PLANTING
hroughout the Middle and Northern States, spring, as soon as the soil can be worked to good advantage, is decidedly the most favorable time for planting asparagus. If it is not practicable to plant thus early, the work may sometimes be delayed up to the middle of June. In planting thus late, however, preparation has to be made for watering the plants in case of drouth, else failure be inevitable. It is also necessary to do the work as expeditiously as possible, so as not to expose the roots to the drying influences of the sun and wind. Fall planting is advisable only in climates where there is no danger of winter-killing of the roots.
After the ground has been plowed and harrowed, or spaded and raked over, and brought into as mellow a condition as possible, the rows for planting are to be laid out. It is usually recommended to have the rows run north and south, so as to readily admit the sunlight. When this is not practicable, however, it need not deter any one from making an asparagus bed, as it is more important to have the rows run with the slope of the land than in any particular direction of the compass, in order to provide ready surface drainage.
DISTANCE TO PLANT
As to the best distance between the rows and the plants in the rows there is a wide difference of opinion, more so than with almost any other cultivated plant. No unvarying rule can be laid down on this point, as it depends largely upon the mechanical condition, depth, and fertility of the soil. In a rich, moderately heavy soil, the roots may be planted closer than in a poor, light soil. The tendency of the present day is for giving the plants considerably more room than what formerly was thought to be ample. Intelligent observers could not fail to notice that crowded asparagus beds produce later and smaller crops, and of inferior size and quality; that they do not last as long; and that they are more liable to attacks from insects and fungi than when more room is given to the plants.