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.



Gardeners of but a few decades ago had no idea of the possibility of

raising a profitable crop of asparagus planted four or five feet apart,

and would have looked with derision upon any one advocating so wild a

scheme. The remains of run out, old-time asparagus beds are still in

evidence in many old farm gardens. The rows in these were originally one

foot apart and the plants in the rows even closer than this, and perhaps

after every third or fourth row there was a path two feet wide. Of

course, in such a bed, after a few years, the entire ground became a

solid mass of roots, and the stalks became smaller and tougher from year

to year.





In most asparagus sections special customs prevail, and even in these

different growers have their individual preferences; but all agree that

asparagus should never be planted closer than two feet in rows three

feet apart. For the home garden there is no better plan than to plant

but a single row, with the plants two or three feet apart, along the

edge or border of the ground, but not nearer than four or five feet to

other plants, and in case of grape-vines even more room should be given.

Here they require but little care, and the plants have an unlimited

space for the extension of their roots in search of moisture and food.

Asparagus needs considerable water, and an acre of land will hold so

much water and no more. The more plants there are on an acre the less

water there will be for each plant, and what is true of water is also

true of plant food.



In field culture the distance adopted by asparagus growers varies from 3

x 3 feet (4,840 plants per acre); 3 x 4 feet (3,640 plants per acre); 4

x 4 feet (2,722 plants per acre); 4 x 5 feet (2,178 plants per acre); 5

x 6 feet (1,452 plants per acre); 6 x 6 feet (1,210 plants per acre),

and even more. If the idea is to have the plants so far apart that their

roots can not interlace, twenty feet each way would not be too

extravagant a distance, under favorable conditions, as will readily

become apparent by a glance at Fig. 14. This illustration is an exact

reproduction of the root system of an asparagus plant four years from

the seed. The roots spread out upon a level floor measured thirteen feet

from tip to tip, the single roots averaging the thickness of a lead

pencil. This root grew in Madison County, Ill., and was washed out of

the ground--without having any of its roots torn--by the unusually heavy

spring rains which caused the Piasa River to overflow its banks and sent

a current rushing through the asparagus field in which it grew. If the

plant had remained in its position a few years longer its roots would

probably have extended ten feet in each direction.



From this it does not follow, however, that asparagus should be planted

twenty or even ten feet apart to produce the largest returns, but it

plainly shows why the roots should not be planted as closely together

as was customary in former years; and it obviously demonstrates that

when land is cheap and manure and labor high, asparagus can not be hurt

by giving it plenty of room. It should also be considered that

earliness, size, and quality make a great difference with the price and

profits when early and large shoots are in demand. It might be possible

to get double the number of shoots per acre from thick than from thin

planting, but they might be so small and spindling as not to be worth

the labor and expense of cutting and marketing.