302 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



{October, 



[Our correspondent, as well as some others, 

 mistakes the question. Mr. Conover never made 

 any pretense that he used the different sexes in 

 crossing; in fact he candidly said that his plants 

 were raised from a package of asparagus seeds 

 received, as any one else might, and others 

 doubtless did, from the Agricultural Department 

 at Washington. By good culture he raised good 

 asparagus ; and hundreds of other people have 

 had just as good asparagus by good culture as 

 any one ever had from seeds of Mr. Conover's 

 plants. Indeed, the knowledge that asparagus 

 had separate sexes did not exist when Mr. Con- 

 over or any of the supposed improvers intro- 

 duced tlieir new varieties. This was only made 

 known within the few past years through the 

 medium of the proceedings of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



Whether a stalwart race of giant asparagus 

 would be established or not, through the medium 

 of separate sexes, is yet to be proved. The 

 point in question is, that so far no such experi- 

 ment has been made. The analogy between 

 plants and animals misleads here, as it so often 

 does in horticultural questions. If two distinct 

 animals yield a "Grand Duke," or a "Royal 

 Duchess," there is the end of the experiment. 

 We cannot slice them up like potatoes, or cut 

 eyes out of them and graft or bud, and con- 

 tinue and multiply them for years or for centu- 

 ries. We might by selecting a large female 

 asparagus and a large male asparagus get a large 

 seedling asparagus, and if we were to increase 

 the plant by division we should certainly keep 

 that variety true ; but would this slow way pay? 

 It is just possible that the seedlings of an im- 

 proved variety, raised by such a selection, might 

 reproduce and not show any tendency to revert 

 to the originals. But this is not usual experi- 

 ence. At any rate, it is just the point which has 

 not been proved, and can only be answered 

 when somebody tries it. In the meantime we 

 may safely repeat what we have often said, that 

 there has been no distinct variety of asparagus, 

 because no one knew of the separate sexes. 

 "All sorts" of pollen has resulted in "all sorts" 

 of plants.— Ed. G. M.] 



SEX IN ASPARAGUS. 



BY J. R., TIPTON, MO. 



Seeing your notes on sex in asparagus, I am 

 tempted to write a few lines in regard to the 

 subject. Twelve years ago, among some trees 

 and shrubs received from St. Louis, there was 



found an asparagus plant, which I set in a cor- 

 ner of my garden. When this plant flowered 

 and produced no seeds, I set it down as a male 

 plant. I was not aware then that asparagus 

 flowers bore the sexes on different plants. 

 Valuing this plant, I dug it up and divided it, 

 making six or seven plants, one of which I set 

 in an old asparagus bed ; but none of these six 

 or seven plants ever bore seeds. In my old as- 

 paragus bed I have a plant differing much from 

 the others. It grows larger and has a stem 

 as white as if bleached. I have often been 

 asked to raise seedlings from this plant, but 

 knowing that perhaps but one in a hundred 

 would be like it, I intend to take it up and di- 

 vide it. It is thus more easily propagated than 

 rhubarb. When going over my asparagus bed 

 annually to cut off the seed stalks I am alwaj^s 

 reminded to try to make my next bed of male 

 plants, to save myself this trouble. 



A DESTRUCTIVE REMEDY. 



BY A. C. L., MADISON, INDIANA. 



Many years ago the " Peabody " Strawberry 

 was introduced, creating quite an excitement in 

 the land. It was sold by subscription. I ob- 

 tained enough plants to make a small bed, but 

 found the grubs had a wonderful liking for them. 

 Casting about for a remedy, a fellow amateur 

 suggested a mole as a cure. He was kind enough 

 to obtain one for me, and I turned him loose in 

 the patch. I had provided against his escape by 

 digging a narrow trench about twenty inches 

 deep and filling it up with sharp cinders, obtained 

 from a foundry. The day following I was up 

 early to see what this exterminator had done, 

 and the sight that met my eyes was wonderful. 

 The mole seemed to understand the purpose for 

 which he was placed there. It had followed five 

 rows, and every plant was raised up four or five 

 inches. We went for that mole, but he made 

 the circuit before he was caught. 



EDITORIAL NOTES 



Pearl Millet. — Mr. John S. Twells finds the 

 Pearl Millet an excellent fodder plant in Cam- 

 den county, Xew Jersey. The stalks were seven 

 to nine feet high, and many from the same root. 



Peaches in New England. — The Massa- 

 chusetts Ploughman, says there is every prospect 

 of the peach being found as profitably '" at 



