That strong, healthy, one-year-old plants are in every way to be preferred to two or three year old ones has been demonstrated by many carefully conducted experiments, and is now universally recognized by intelligent and observant asparagus growers. The most noteworthy and accurate experiments in this line were made by the famous French asparagus specialist M. Godefroy-Leboeuf, who planted twelve stools of one, two, and three years old respectively in the same soil under the same conditions and at the same time. Calling those plantings Nos. 1, 2, and 3, the following are the results obtained:
_First Year._--No. 1.--All the stools came up before May 4th, and were well grown.
No. 2.--Ten stools showed above ground before May 4th, one on the 10th, and one appeared to be dead. The asparagus heads were very fine--finer, indeed, than those of No. 1.
No. 3.--Eight stools showed above ground before May 4th, one on the 12th, and three gave no signs of life. The heads were very fine at first, but they became bent toward the end of the year (September 15th), and were much weaker than those of No. 2.
_Second Year._--No. 1.--Well-grown, regular, and strong heads, which measured on September 15th one inch in circumference.
No. 2.--Well-grown but irregular heads, somewhat weaker than those of No. 1.
No. 3.--Only pretty well-grown heads, very irregular, some of the stools having as many as eight or ten, but all very weak. One stool died after growing two heads.
_Third Year._--No. 1.--Magnificent growths, the heads measuring on April 10th from two inches to three and one-quarter inches in circumference.
No. 2.--Growth passable only, but very irregular. Some of the stools were very small. The finest of them produced heads which from April 8th to 10th only measured two and one-half inches in circumference.
No. 3.--Growth very poor and very irregular. Some of the stools continued to produce small heads not much thicker than a quill pen, the largest being from one and one-half inch to two inches in circumference.
_Fourth Year._--No. 1.--Growth very remarkable. The heads began to show on April 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 10th. Some were from three and one-quarter inches to four inches in circumference, and measured four and three-quarter inches. Fifty of the heads formed a bundle which weighed seven pounds.