Vermont State Horticultural Society. 53 



Her step grew firmer on the hills,. 



That watch our homesteads over ; 

 On cheek and lip from summer fields, 



She caught the bloom of clover. 



For health comes sparkling in the streams, 



From cool Chocorus stealing; 

 There's iron in our northern winds, 



Our pines are trees of healing. 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



N. e;. jack. 



To begin with I would remind those of my hearers who 

 contemplate growing asparagus as a means of livelihood, that 

 in this as in many otlier vocations, there is no royal road to 

 wealth, but one must be prepared for hard work and much of 

 it; be prepared also for the emergency that when all his ''help" 

 leaves him,, he is able to bend his own back and put in a stren- 

 uous day's cutting. 



The amateur grower wants to first consider his market. 

 \^''hether he is going to sell to the local trade, or, ship to some 

 city or town, then ascertain whether that market prefers green, 

 white or purple varieties. The writer knows instances where 

 strong objections were made because a few stalks of "Colum- 

 bian Mammoth" were mixed in a bunch of a purple variety. 

 The consumer thought it was "not ripe!" 



After consulting the taste of his customers it would be well 

 to consult his own convenience and perhaps let some of his 

 customers go, and plant the varieties that are least likely to 

 rust. The best of these have so far proved to be Palmetto and 

 Argenteuil. 



In starting a bed two different methods are sometimes 

 adopted. Planting the seed directly where one intends to have 

 the permanent bed, thinning out the plants to one or two feet 

 as they develop, and cultivating and keeping especially free 

 from weeds the first three years of the young plant's life. By 

 this method it is claimed that when the cutting season commences 

 the plants are well established and can withstand the shock of 

 the first year's cutting. The method most generally used is 

 taking well developed, two year old "crowns" and planting 

 where wanted. These crowns can be got from almost any re- 

 liable nurseryman or can be grown on the home farm. If the 

 latter way is intended the seed should be sown in drills in rich 



