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ASPARAGUS
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ASPARAGUS , a genus of See also:plants (nat. ord. See also:Liliaceae) containing more than too See also:species, and widely distributed in the temperate and warmer parts of the Old See also:World; it was introduced from See also:Europe into See also:America with the See also:early settlers. The name is derived from the See also:Greek avnrapayos or avMapayor, the origin of which is obscure. Sperage or sparage was the See also:form in use from the 16th to 18th centuries, cf. the See also:modern See also:Italian sparagio. The vulgar corruption See also:sparrow-grass or sparagrass was in accepted popular use during the 18th See also:century, " asparagus " being considered pedantic. The plants have a See also:short, creeping, under-ground See also:stem from which See also:spring slender, branched, aerial shoots. The leaves are reduced to See also:minute scales bearing in their axils tufts of See also:green, See also:needle-like branches (the so-called cladodes), which simulate, and perform the functions of, leaves. In one See also:section of the genus, sometimes regarded as a distinct genus Myrsiphyllum, the cladodes are flattened. The plants often climb or scramble, in which they are helped by the development of the See also:scale-leaves into persistent spines. The See also:flowers are small, whitish and pendulous; the See also:fruit is a See also:berry. Several of the climbing species are grown in greenhouses for 'their delicate, often feathery branches, which are also valuable for cutting; the See also:South See also:African Asparagus plumosus is an especially elegant species. The so-called smilax, much used for decoration, is a species of the Myrsiphyllum section, A. medeoloides, also known as Myrsiphyllum asparagoides. The See also:young shoots of Asparagus o ficinalis have from very remote times been in high repute as a culinary See also:vegetable, owing to their delicate flavour and diuretic virtues. The plant, which is a native of the See also:north temperate See also:zone of the Old World, grows See also:wild on the south See also:coast of See also:England; and on the See also:waste See also:steppes of See also:Russia it is so abundant that it is eaten by See also:cattle like grass. In See also:common with the See also:marsh-See also:mallow and some other plants, it contains See also:asparagine or aspartic acidamide. The roots of asparagus were formerly used as an aperient See also:medicine, and the fruits were likewise employed as a diuretic. Under the name of Prussian asparagus, the spikes of an allied plant, Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, are used in some places. The diuretic See also:action is extremely feeble, and neither the plant nor asparagine is now used medicinally. Asparagus is grown extensively in private gardens as well as for See also:market. The asparagus prefers a loose, See also:light, deep, sandy See also:soil; the See also:depth should be 3 ft., the soil being well trenched, and all surplus See also:water got away. A considerable quantity of well-rotted dung or of See also:recent seaweed should be laid in the bottom of the See also:trench, and another See also:top-dressing of manure should be dug in preparatory to planting or See also:sowing. The beds should be 3 ft. or $ ft. wide, with intervening alleys of 2 ft., the narrower bedstaking two rows of plants, the wider ones three rows. The beds should run See also:east and See also:west, so that the See also:sun's rays may strike against the See also:side of the See also:bed. In some cases the plants are grown in equidistant rows 3 to 4 ft. apart. Where the beds are made with plants already prepared, either one-See also:year-old or two-year-old plants may be used, for which a trench should be cut sufficient to afford See also:room for spreading out the roots, the crowns being all kept at about 2 in. below the See also:surface. Planting is best done in See also:April, after the plants have started into growth. To prevent injury to the roots, it is, however, perhaps the better See also:plan to sow the seeds in the beds where the plants are to remain. To experience the finest flavour of asparagus, it should be eaten immediately after having been gathered; if kept longer than one See also:day, or set into water, its finer flavour is altogether lost. If properly treated, asparagus beds will continue to See also:bear well for many years. The asparagus grown at See also:Argenteuil, near See also:Paris, has acquired much notoriety for its large See also:size and excellent quality. The See also:French growers plant in trenches instead of raised beds. The most common method of forcing asparagus is to prepare, early in the year, a moderate hot-bed of See also:stable See also:litter with a bottom See also:heat of 70°, and to See also:cover it with a common See also:frame. After the heat of See also:fermentation has somewhat subsided, the surface of the bed is covered with a layer of light See also:earth or exhausted tan-bark, and in this the roots of strong mature plants are closely placed. The crowns of the roots are then covered with 3 to 6 in. of soil. A common three-light frame may hold 500 or 600 plants, and will afford a See also:supply for several See also:weeks. After planting, linings are applied when necessary to keep up the heat, but care must be taken not to scorch the roots; See also:air must be occasionally admitted. Where there are pits heated by hot water or by the tank See also:system, they may be advantageously applied to this purpose. A See also:succession of crops must be maintained by annually sowing or planting new beds.
The " asparagus-See also:beetle " is the popular name for two beetles, the " common asparagus beetle " (Crioceris asparagi) and the " twelve-spotted " (C. duodecimpunctata), which feed on the asparagus plant. C. asparagi has been known in Europe since early times, and was introduced into America about 1856; the rarer C. duodecimpunctata (sometimes called the " red " to distinguish it from the " See also:blue " species) was detected in America in 1881. For an admirable See also:account of these pests see F. H. Chittenden, Circular 102 of the U. S. Dep. of See also:Agriculture, See also:Bureau of See also:Entomology, May 1908.
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