* apo 
- 7 bb 
‘ ? A PA a 
84 yew ANNUAL REPORT. 
nary way. It will not, however, cut so long each ‘season. Cut 
last year up to 16th of August. Must, however, feed the roots if you 
cut so close and so long. Have sold from one-third acre $600. 
Cut under the ground so that the stems are white. My customers 
want it so, most of them. In this way the ground must be kept 
light. I dug it in the spring, and hacked it with a pronged hoe 
after every rain. The largest cut was 125 dozen bunches in one day. 
Mr. Elliot :—Have a bed 50x60 feet, on which I put 40 loads of 
the best manure. It did well till within a few years, when I quit 
manuring it. Have another field set by ploughing furrows four feet 
apart and setting plants three feet apart in the row. I cut to suit 
customers. Most of them want it cut at, or just under the sur- 
face. The bunches weigh about three to the pound. Brought 50 
to 75 cents per dozen last year. No vegetable produces so much 
per acre as asparagus. This field cultivation is the best for farmers. 
Mr. Smith :—Have heard of a bed 125 years old, which is good 
yet. Can’t get it out of the land. Buta plat only ten feet square . 
is required for a family. 
Mr. Elliot :—Can get it out by plowing three or four times. 
Mr. Scott :—Have yet to see when any one wanted to plow it up. 
Those in Minnesota who follow Henderson word for word will fail. 
Mr. Hart :—Would as soon think of a ilies up arow of Duchess 
trees as my asparagus bed. 
Mr. Smith:—I cut as regularly as I would milk, Monday, 
Wednesday and Friday mornings, and Saturday night. Cut when 
it is one-half or one inch above the surface. When cut in this way 
the roots must be set deep, or it may injure the crowns. Deep cul- 
tivation and digging, not alone for continuous and heavy yield, but 
also to enable it to withstand drouth. Asparagus is very sensitive 
to heat, and in hot weather it grows very rapidly, while a cold day 
or two will check its growth very materially. 
‘ 
WEDNESDAY EVENING. 
Meeting caled to order at 7: 30. 
Horticulture in Meeker County. 
The report of G. W. Fuller, on condition and prospects of Hor- 
ticulture in Meeker county, was read by the Secretary, and ordered 
by the Society to be published in the Transactions. 
