The process of gathering is interesting to the stranger. Asparagus knives of various forms are described in both French and English books, but one is confidently told by the growers that they are only fitted for amateurs who do not care to soil their fingers. The cultivators here never use a knife, the work being done with the hands. Gatherings are made every second day about the end of April, but in May when the growth is more active the stools are gathered from every day.
The French mode of cultivating asparagus differs from the English principally in giving each plant abundant room to develop into a large healthy specimen, in paying thoughtful attention to the plants at all times, and in planting in trenches instead of a raised bed. They do not, as is done in England, go to great expense in forming a mass of the richest soil far beneath the roots, but rather give it at the surface, and only when the roots have begun to grow strongly.—W. Robinson, in "Parks and Gardens of Paris."
INDEX
PAGE
American varieties, [18]
Barr's Mammoth, [18]
Columbian Mammoth White, [19]
Conover's Colossal, [19]
Donald's Elmira, [19]
Eclipse, [19]
Hub, [20]
Mammoth, [20]
Moore's Cross-bred, [20]
Palmetto, [20]
Purple top or green top, [21]
Asparagus culture in different localities, [145]
in New England, [145]
on Long Island, [150]
in New Jersey, [152]
in the South, [154]
in California, [158]
in France, [164]
Asparagus species, [6]
plumosus nanus, [6]
medeoloides, [6]
Sprengeri, [6]
falcatus, [8]
laricinus, [8]
racemosus, [10]
sarmentosus, [10]
Broussoneti, [13]
officinalis, [13]
acutifolius, [16]
aphyllus, [16]
Botany, [4]
Bunchers, [91]
Bunching, [89]
Canning, [112]
Eastern methods, [112]
Pacific coast methods, [118]
Crates, [96]
Cultivation, [61]
the first year, [61]
the second year, [64]
the third and future years, [66]
Cultural varieties, [17]
Cutting, [83]
Manner of, [84]
Drying, [122]
Edible species, [13]
European varieties, [21]
German Giant, [22]
Argenteuil, [22]
Yellow Burgundy, [22]
Fall treatment, [68]
Fertilizers and fertilizing, [72]
Forcing, [100]
in greenhouse, [101]
in hotbeds and frames, [103]
in field, [104]
in Cornell asparagus house, [110]
Fungus diseases, [137]
Asparagus rust, [137]
Asparagus leopard spot, [144]
Growing asparagus without transplanting, [32]
Harvesting and marketing, [83]
Historical sketch, [1]
Insects, [126]
Common asparagus beetle, [126]
Twelve-spotted asparagus beetle, [133]
Spotted ladybird, [130]
Asparagus miner, [135]
Knives, [88]
Male and female plants, [40]
Marketing, [96]
Ornamental species, [6]
Planting, [49]
Distance to plant, [50]
Depth of, [53]
Manner of, [54]
Placing the roots, [59]
Plants, Raising of, [30]
Pot-grown asparagus plants, [36]
Preparation of the ground, [45]
Preserving asparagus, [112]
Raising of plants, [30]
Renovating old asparagus beds, [70]
Rubber bands, [93]
Salt as a fertilizer, [81]
Seed-growing, [26]
Selection of plants, [38]
Soil and its preparation, [43]
Sorting, [89]
Sorting and bunching, [89]
Sterilizing, [116]
Subsoiling, [47]
Transplanting, Growing asparagus without, [32]
Tying material, [92]
Variety tests, [22]