FERTILIZERS AND FERTILIZING 79 
ingly rich and equal to the demands which the plants 
make upon it. 
The plan of top-dressing beds during the fall or 
early winter is gradually giving way to the more 
rational mode of top-dressing in the spring or summer. 
It was believed that autumn dressing strengthened the 
roots and enabled them to throw up stronger shoots 
during the following spring. This is a mistake, how- 
ever. In the Oyster Bay region formerly all manuring 
was done in the spring, but the practice of applying 
all fertilizers immediately after the cutting is finished 
is rapidly increasing. The reason for this is found in 
the fact that, during the growth of the stalks, after the 
cutting season is over, the crowns form the buds from 
which the spears of next season spring, and it is prob- 
able that it is principally during this period that the 
roots assimilate and store up the materials which pro- 
duce these spears. This being true, the plant food 
added to the soil and becoming available after the 
cessation of vegetation in the autumn can have little, 
if any, effect upon the spears which are cut for market 
the following spring; it first becomes of use to the 
plant after the crop has been cut and the stalks allowed 
to grow. Thus the manuring of the autumn of Igor 
will not benefit the grower materially until the spring 
of 1903. 
Nevertheless, some highly successful asparagus 
raisers continue to apply fertilizers in the spring, as 
evidenced by the following directions given by one of 
the most prominent growers in the Oyster Bay dis- 
trict: ‘‘ After the roots have been set in the drill, put 
enough soil on them to cover about two inches. 
