124 



GARDENING. 



clean to the last the strong shoots push 

 up to the detriment of the lesser ones, 

 and set large crown e\'es, which mean 

 large shoots next spring. It is a case of 

 the survival of the fittest; the strong be- 

 come stronger and the weak weaker. 



The white grass is produced l)y ridging 

 the soil up over the rows 8 inches deep 

 above the level of the ground. The beds 

 are cut every day, even,' spear of grass as 

 soon as its tip peeps above the ground is 

 cut 9 inches long, which means 9 inches 

 under ground. This is done with a long 

 chisel-blade knife, 1%. inches wide at the 

 cutting end, and tapering narrower near 

 the top, then it is bent to give purchase to 

 the hand, and set in a common wooden 

 handle; altogether the implement is 15 

 inches long. The saw-edge asparagus 

 knife has always been disliked; in fact 

 many of the fanners, before this new knife 

 came out, used long-stemmed carpenter 

 chisels. 



The crop is sent to commission agents 

 in New York, or to canneriesin the neigh- 

 borhood everv' day as cut. Some of the 

 canning factories buj' up the produce in 

 the vicniity and in other cases (Latting- 

 town, within a mile and a quarter of 

 Dosoris for instance) a few of the fanners 

 join together and build a factory of their 

 own and can their own grass. The 

 present prices paid for prime grass is 10 

 cents a bunch, and 4 to 5 cents for culls 

 or second quality, but some of the larger 

 growers who made contracts with the 

 factories last winter are getting 12 cents 

 for prime gra.ss. A bunch is about 9 inches 

 long and weighs 21/2 pounds. 



Nowadays the factories are very par- 

 ticular about the grass they can; they 

 have made a reputation for certain brands 

 and must preserve it. A few years ago 

 some canners in order to get their grass 

 as cheap as possible would only buy it 

 when it was cheap, and when the New 

 York market would become glutted they 

 would buy up the glut at 2 or 3 cents a 

 bunch and ship it back to be canned. 

 Those who have a reputation at stake 

 don't do that now, indeed, so particular 

 are they that not only must they get the 

 grass as soon as it is bunched, but insist 

 upon it that the grass shall ntt be stood 

 in water before they get it. And when it 

 is cut Saturday evening and kept over 

 till Monday morning the farmer must 

 keep it in a cold cellar and never stand it 

 on end in a tray of water as he used to. 



The ridging tends to produce large 

 grass; under the surface it is larger than 

 above ground. A fair crop from a planta- 

 tion in good bearing, Mr. George Hall 

 one of our best growers tells us, is about 

 a thousand bunches per acre, a season. 



Just as soon as the cutting ceases the 

 ridges are plowed down and manured, 

 the manure being spread along the center 

 of the rows and then covered up. Farm 

 yard is preferred. Our opinionis thatthe 

 depth at which asparagus is now planted 

 will be lessened by a few inches licforc 

 long. 



Bean-weevils.— Will R. N., Va., please 

 send us a sample of his infested beans? 

 The insect is probably lirucliits rufimanus. 

 but we wish to make sure of this. 



Mushrooms. 



QUESTIONS ABOUT MUSflROOMS. 



1. Have you spawn for sale, etc? 



2. Can Agaricus suhntfcsccns be grown 



3. Is A. cawpestris the one generally 

 raised for the market? 



4. What profit is there in the business, 

 assuming that it is intelligently managed? 



5. How do youmarketthem — commis- 

 sion men, hotels, families? Measure or 



be required to furnish a given amount, — 

 say $10 a week? 



7. Would it pay to make a cave In- 

 digging into a hillside, putting up timbers 

 and covering with earth? (Pitchmanure 

 in from above, and out to wagons, 

 below). 



8. Do you use or advise small pack- 

 ages, say like ice cream paper boxes, or is 

 it as well to ship in bulk? 



9. Is the market alwavs good? 

 New Jersey. Dr. O. B. B. 



1. No. 



2. Yes very. But it comes in crops, 

 sometimes shyly, and at other times in 

 extravagant abundance. 



3. Yes, almost entirely. Suhrutescens 

 isn't known enough yet to cut a figure in 

 the market. 



4. It is impossible to tell. We know 

 market gardeners who arenow, and have 

 been for thirty years, making money 

 growing mushrooms for market, and we 

 know men who went into the business 

 without knowing anything practically 

 about it and made a big success the first 

 year and as big a failure the second. 



5. They are sold by weight, and may 

 be marketed in either of the three ways 

 you mention. Large growers generally 

 send to commission agents. 



6. Three-fifths of a pound to the square 

 foot of bed is considered a fair crop; beds 

 often bear more, and not infrequently 

 less. The price varies according to supply 

 and demand. 



7. In that way you could make a 

 capital mushroom house, but whether it 

 would pay or not we cannot tell. If you 

 pitched in the manure from above you 

 probably would prepare it above— for it 

 needs preparation— and it depends a good 

 deal on the convenience in preparing the 

 manure for the beds and other local cir- 

 cumstances whether or no your plan is a 

 good one. Remember that the best mush- 

 room houses like the best plant growing 

 greenhouses are not at all the most elab- 

 orate or expensive structures. 



8. Before your mushrooms come in 

 decide upon how and to whom you are to 

 sell them; if to hotels or private parties 

 use light cheap baskets holding a few 

 pounds only, but if to a commission 

 agent go to "him and let him advise you 

 about how to pack and ship the mush- 

 rooms; they like small baskets, or chip 

 boxes. They will show you how to pack 

 a good many small boxes into one basket 

 or crate for shipment. While they may 

 be willing to take all you can send them 



of Al fresh mushrooms, bear in mind that 

 it is to your advantage as well as to 

 theirs to pack in small measures each 

 holding say from two to four pounds, — 

 packages so small that they can be sold 

 directly to the consumers without being 

 disturbed. 



9. For Al fresh mushrooms there is a 

 steadv demand. 



SPflWN-SPURIOUS FUNOI-COST. 



E. M.J. , Arlington avenue, Baltimore, 

 asks: 1. Is it true that the spawn procured 

 from florists, when planted produces 

 spurious, poisonous mushrooms as well 

 as the edible, I have heard so. As I desire 

 to engage in the business for profit I 

 hesitated to make the venture on this ac- 

 count, fearing I might pluck the bad with 

 the good (aslamnotfamiliarwiththem). 

 If it is true how can they be known and 

 avoided? 



2. From whom can I get the best 

 spawn and what is the price, and what 

 will he the probable cost ol manure and 



1. If you cannot tell a good mushroom 

 from a bad toadstool, let the business 

 alone, or get somebody who knows mush- 

 rooms at sight to show you one. If you 

 know a mushroom at sight, you cannot 

 mistake it for anything else, or anything 

 else for it. Spurious fungi are liable to 

 spring up anywhere, even in your mush- 

 room bed, but whether or no they were 

 produced from the planted mushroom 

 spawn cakes we cannot tell; anyone, how- 

 ever, who is at all acquainted with mush- 

 rooms would never give heed to such a 

 fear. 



2. -The seedsmen advertising in Gar- 

 dening can supply you with spawn. Get 

 their catalogues, the price is quoted in 

 them. Every dealer's spawn is "best, "no 

 one keeps tv^o qualities, while it is an 

 easy matter to tell very good or very bad 

 spawn, intermediate grades are puzzling 

 even to experts. The cost of manure and 

 loam is entirely a local matter; we can 

 get good loam here for $1.00 a wagon 

 load, and manure for $1.50 to $2.00 

 delivered, but by buying city stable 

 manure and getting it here by the car or 

 boat load it is considerably cheaper. 



Nurserymen and Florists 



ew Trade List 



ad finest assort- 



should have on 

 for Autumn 1S( 

 of the largest : 



ORNAriENTAL TREES. 

 SHRUBS, SMALL FRUITS and 

 VINES. Send for one. 



1 Giirdeulnn. 



SKEDS- 



etc. Kc; (. 

 free. 



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