=Tools.=--No special tools are demanded in asparagus culture, though such tools are on the market. Any long knife will do for cutting the shoots, although a very good knife is especially made of solid steel, and can be bought for 25 cents. The cut should be made just below the surface of the ground, care being taken not to injure other shoots just coming up. Crooked shoots often make their appearance, resulting from injury done by the cutting knife. Other causes, such as insects, hard soil, etc., produce crooked or deformed shoots. Asparagus bunchers, made of wood and metal, mentioned in the seed catalogues, are sometimes used, the Acme, heretofore referred to, being the best and cheapest. [Illustration: Solid Steel Asparagus Knife.] Any light plow with a wheel will answer for the asparagus bed. A light-weight harrow is also desirable. Where asparagus trenches are laid out and dug by hand of course a garden line must be used, in order to have them straight and uniform. The practice of digging deep trenches for asparagus still prevails to some extent in private gardens, but the farm gardener must use cheaper methods. =Roots per Acre.=--With rows 5 feet apart and plants 2 feet apart in the rows, it is evident that each plant represents just 10 square feet of space. Hence, about 5,000 asparagus plants would be required for an acre of land set at these distances; they are, however, often set closer than this, sometimes at the rate of 7,000 roots and over per acre. An asparagus bed containing 100 roots will supply an ordinary family. BEANS. Bean-growing in a small way is fully warranted in every garden, but on a large scale it is a different question, being somewhat a matter of soil and location. =Food Value.=--The bean is one of the most excellent of human foods. Its botanical kinship is close to the pea, and both are legumes. The leguminous plants, it will be remembered, have the rare ability of obtaining nitrogen through the tubercles on their roots, taking this expensive element partly from the air, and not greatly impoverishing the soil by their growth. Something of the food value of the bean may be learned by comparing its chemical analysis with that of beef. In 100 pounds of beans there are 23 pounds of protein (nitrogenous matter), while in 100 pounds of beef there are but about 15 to 20 pounds of protein. Peas are almost as rich as beans in protein, which is the tissue-building element of all foods, and, hence, it is easy to realize the fact that both beans and peas are foods of the highest economic value. They are standard foods of the world, entering into the diet of soldiers, laborers and persons needing physical strength. It is generally safe to grow beans for the retail market of any town or centre of population, but to compete in the open wholesale market demands experience and good equipment on the part of the grower to insure profits. [Illustration: Improved Round Green Pod Extra Early Valentine Bean.]