404 NEW JEESEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



neglected in cultivation or badly infested with the beetle. To my 

 knowledge there are only the two varieties in this section, 'Palmetto' 

 and 'French Argentenil/ and, so far as I have been able to ascertain^ 

 there is no material difference in regard to the rust, both being affected 

 about the same. Seedlings that have been cared for well are practically 

 free from rust and are looking very well." 



For the southern section, providing asparagus for the Philadelphia 

 market, Mr. John G. Whitall, of Woodbury, writes: "The crop the 

 past season was a fair one, but the rust is now probably worse than 

 ever before, many of tlie fields being entirely dead. The rust did not 

 make its appearance as early in the season as usual, but since appear- 

 ing has been very destructive. The 'Palmetto' does not show the ef- 

 fects of the rust nearly as badly as other varieties. In one or two 

 eases, where beds of 'Palmetto' have been kept entirely free from grass 

 and weeds, the rust does not seem as bad as where these have been 

 allowed to grow." 



For A'ermont, Mr. W. J. Morse, Assistant Botanist of the Experi- 

 ment Station, reports : "We have been on the lookout for it for sev- 

 eral days and have found very little of it, Avhere in years past it has 

 been quite prevalent. Professor Jones is of the opinion, therefore, 

 that it is not pccurring as much in this locality this year as usual." 



For Massachusetts, Professor Stone writes: "I think I can say, in 

 general, that this year has been a very good one for asparagus. By 

 that I mean there has been very little rust. We have had plenty of 

 rain all through the season, and, according to my theory of rust in- 

 fection, we should not exjject much in such a season. I know that they 

 have it on Cape Cod to some extent, but one large grower told me that 

 it was far less than during other seasons. Our beds at the College at 

 the present time do not show a particle of the fall stage. I saw a 

 good illustration of spraying this summer with Bordeaux mixture 

 alone. One small bed was divided into two sections, one-half of which 

 was sprayed and the other half not. The gain on the sprayed portion 

 was enormous compared with the unsprayed. This was done by a 

 man who owns sixteen or seventeen acres of asparagus, and he cer- 

 tainly covered his plants thoroughly with Bordeaux, They were cov- 

 ered so thoroughly with Bordeaux, large and small branches, that they 

 had the appearance of a blue spruce. This experiment convinces me 

 that if plants are thoroughly covered, every portion of them, with the 

 Bordeaux mixture, that good results can be obtained. The difficulty 



