THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 349 



Mr. Perkins : Yes, it is easy to grow head lettuce. 



Mr. McBroom: In the heat of summer, in August? 



Mr. Perkins : No, sir ; that is not the time of year to grow 

 it, unless you have the right soil and climate. 



Mr. McBroom : But there is a demand for it. 



Mr. Perkins: Yes, sir; there is a demand for it. Up at 

 Duluth, where the weather is cool, they can raise excellent head 

 lettuce. Around St. Paul and Minneapolis during the latter part 

 of August and September there are only a few men I know who 

 have success with it, and that is on account of the land mostly. 

 Lettuce wants a cool atmosphere, it won't stand much heat. 



Mr. McBroom: Does the Chinese cabbage do well in hot 

 weather ? 



Mr. Perkins: No, sir; I don't think so. Mr. Rasmussen, 

 have you had any experience with Chinese vegetables ? 



Mr. Rasmussen, Wis. : Yes, we grow a little ; as the demand 

 grows we will grow more. 



Mr. Perkins: Your climatic conditions are different than 

 ours? 



Mr. Rasmussen : There isn't much difference. It is hard to 

 grow in the warm months, it will go to seed. The time to have it 

 come on is after the cool weather comes on. We grow some head 

 lettuce in the summer. If you had a Skinner system to water it, 

 it would be all right. 



Mr. McBroom : Can you raise it under the Skinner system 

 in hot weather ? 



Mr. Rasmussen: Yes, sir; not always, sometimes circum- 

 stances are against it. As a rule we expect to get it through with 

 the water system. 



Mr. Perkins: Whereabouts are you located? 



Mr. Rasmussen: We are about in central Wisconsin. We 

 are on the banks of Lake Winnebago, so of course we have a little 

 more water. 



Rust-Resistant Asparagus. — According to the Weekly News Letter of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, under date of April 7, it is 

 announced that small quantities of the stock of a type of asparagus that is 

 so resistant to rust that it is practically free from injury even when exposed 

 to severe infection are now available for distribution by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture to growers for trial only. This type has been 

 developed by the department in co-operation with the Massachusetts experi- 

 ment station. Growers who desire to avail themselves of the opportunity to 

 try it are asked to take the matter up with their county agent or state agri- 

 cultural college, with whom the department desires to co-operate to secure a 

 fair test between it and some standard variety, such as Reading Giant, 

 Argentile, or Palmetto. 



In the present distribution preference will be given to those sections in 

 which rust is a serious problem, but the new strains have been tested for 

 other qualities than rust resistance, and it is believed that in yield, type, and 

 quality they are superior to stocks now in common use in regions where 

 rust is of minor importance. The seed now available for distribution is from 

 carefully selected, pedigreed plants from the best rust-resistant parent 

 plants found in the course of the breeding experiments which have been car- 

 ried on since 1906. 



