142 ASPARAGOS 
epidermal covering of the plant very readily. Should 
the spraying of asparagus ever become a necessity, 
then some apparatus which can be strapped to a 
horse’s back should be used. ‘The narrow space be- 
tween the rows forbids the use of the ordinary 
mounted appliances, and if spraying is to be carried 
on upon a large scale, it would be better to have the 
spraying mixture carried in some manner on the 
horse’s back. In this way it would be possible to 
carry some thirty or forty gallons of mixture through 
the narrow rows. 
Burning the affected tops.—There can be no doubt 
that by the burning of the infested brush, after the 
cutting season, innumerable rust spores are destroyed. 
But if this is done before the stalks are entirely dead 
new ones will spring up at once, and in a few days 
will be as badly affected as the first. The burning of 
the tops in the summer has, moreover, a decidedly 
injurious effect upon the roots, seriously weakening 
their vitality, and making the growth of the following 
year still more susceptible to the infection. 
In the autumn, however, after the stalks are dead 
and dry, this damage does not prevail, and the spores 
upon old brush can be destroyed by burning the aspar- 
agus stems either as they stand in the field or by cut- 
ting and throwing the brush into piles. By the latter 
method many of the smaller branches will be broken 
off and scattered upon the ground, giving a suitable 
place for the spores to remain over the winter. For 
the same reason it is an advantage to burn the brush 
in autumn instead of the spring, and thus prevent the 
large loss of spores that would obtain. In other 
