The common kitchen garden asparagus is best propagated by means of seeds. These are sown in spring as soon as the ground can be worked, usually in rows a foot or two apart. Thin the young plants to two or three inches apart in the row and give good culture, and the plants can be set in the field the following spring, and they will give a fair crop after growing there two seasons. Small growers nearly always buy plants of nurserymen. Old asparagus crowns can be divided, but seeds give better plants. The ornamental species of asparagus are propagated by seeds when they are obtainable; otherwise, by division. =Asperula.= _Rubiaceæ._ Increased by seeds and by divisions of the roots during spring and early summer. =Asphodeline.= _Liliaceæ._ Propagated by division. =Asphodelus= (Asphodel). _Liliaceæ._ Propagated by seeds and by division of the root in early spring. =Aspidistra.= _Liliaceæ._ =Aspidium.= See under Ferns. =Asplenium.= See under Ferns. Propagated by suckers. =Assonia.= _Sterculiaceæ._ Propagated by young cuttings, which will root freely in sand with strong bottom heat, if covered with a bell-glass. =Astartea.= _Myrtaceæ._ Increased by young cuttings, in sand, in gentle heat, under a bell-glass. =Astelma.= _Compositæ._ Propagated by seeds sown in pots of light, open soil, in gentle heat. By half-ripened cuttings, which will root readily in sandy soil with a hand-glass over them. =Astephanus.= _Asclepiadeæ._ Propagated by divisions; and by cuttings, in sandy soil, in moderate heat. =Aster= (Aster, Michælmas Daisy, Star-wort). _Compositæ._ Propagated by seeds sown in spring, or by root divisions made in autumn; also by cuttings, which root freely in sandy soil under a hand-glass, with little heat. =Asteracantha.= _Acanthaceæ._ Propagated by seeds sown in August; and by divisions in spring. =Asteriscus.= See Odontospermum. =Asterocephalus.= See Scabiosa. =Asteropterus.= See Leyssera. =Asterostigma.= See Staurostigma. =Astilbe.= _Saxifrageæ._ Propagated by division in early spring, and by seeds if they are produced. =Astragalus= (Milk Vetch). _Leguminosæ._ Seeds should be sown in pots of sandy soil placed in a cold-frame, as soon as ripe, or early in the spring, as they may lie a long time before germinating. The herbaceous perennials also increase by divisions, and the shrubby kinds slowly by means of cuttings placed in a cold-frame. =Astrantia.= _Umbelliferæ._ Increased by seeds and root divisions in autumn or spring. =Astrapæa.= _Sterculiaceæ._ Propagated by cuttings of young wood made in spring, placed in a compost of loam and peat, or sand, under a bell-glass, in heat. =Astrocaryum=, Phœnicophorum. _Palmæ._ Increased by seeds sown in spring in a hot-bed; or by suckers, if obtainable.