92 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 1910 



Asparagus for the Home Garden 



A. V. Main, Almonte, Ontario 



A GARDEN is incomplete without 

 an asparagus bed. Asparagus is 

 one of our first outdoor vegetable 

 dishes. A little labor and $1.50 for 

 plants to make a bed will be a good in- 

 vestment, with asparagus for years to 

 come. The culture is simple. 



Purchasing two-year-old plants from 

 the nurserymen proves the speediest way 

 of establishing an asparagus bed. Pal- 





"I --i"!!, 





Cross-Section of an Aspara(ns Bed 



1. Four to six miles of friable eoil to cover 

 the plants. 2. Asparagus plant (note spread of 

 roots). 3. Manure and soil well mixed. 4. Good 

 drainage (not always as well laid as in the dia- 

 gram, nor is it necessary). 



metto and Conover's Colossal are the 

 standard sorts. A bed thirty feet long 

 and four feet wide is sufficient for fam- 

 ily use and some for charitable use or 

 the market too. Mark off the bed ; use 

 a line on either side and trace it along 

 with the spade. 



At each side of the bed make an alley 

 or path two feet wide. Throw the soil 

 from the alley on to the bed, making 

 this pathway six inches deep. The idea 

 of elevating the bed about a foot higher 

 than the surrounding soil is to ensure 

 good drainage, drier in winter and 

 spring, and this elevation gives addi- 

 tional warmth and compactness for an 

 early crop. Four feet is a handy width 

 for the work of cleaning, cutting and 

 general routine. 



Have three rows in the bed, the out- 

 side ones nine inches from the edges. 

 The centre row will have fifteen inches 

 on each side, which makes up our four 

 feet. Being thirty feet in length, loo 

 plants will do, placing them a foot 

 apart. 



k& good crops are taken from beds 

 ten years old and even twenty years old, 

 the work of planting is not an annual oc- 

 currence. It must be done, therefore, 

 in a practical, thorough manner at the 

 beginning. The soil should be of a fair- 

 ly light nature, preferably a sandy loam. 

 This must be dug and loosened two and 

 a half to three feet deep, with an addi- 

 tion of manure as a basis. Be sure and 

 locate in a dry position with a slope to 

 the south. If the subsoil is heavy, throw 

 it aside and lay a thick stratum of rough 

 ashes or stones two and a half feet 

 from the level of the bed, also a drain 

 tile if water inclines not to move away. 

 Some friable soil and well decayed ma- 



nure for the surface should bring it to 

 the desired height. 



The roots of asparagus must not be 

 exposed to the air. Keep them in a bag, 

 moistened until ready. Make a good 

 large hole for the roots and spread them 

 out in all directions. Keep the growing 

 crown straight and four inches of soil 

 over it, packing it firmly. Have this 

 done in May. If exceptionally dry 

 weather prevails, help the growth with 

 the watering can. Encourage the 

 growth the first season. Support it if 

 necessary by running a cord around the 

 bed. Cutting the asparagus can com- 

 mence the second year, each season giv- 

 ing it fresh vigor. How and when to cut 

 and other factors in the care of an aspar- 

 agus bed will be mentioned in next is- 

 sue. 



The Use of Flats in Gardening 



Prof. W. S. Blair, Macdonald Collrge, Que. 



The use of "flats" or shallow boxes 

 for starting seedlings in and for again 

 transplanting into is becoming general 

 with many market gardeners. There is 

 no doubt as to the wisdom of their use 

 in the case of the small grower or pri- 

 vate gardener. They are easily moved 

 from place to place, can be shifted to 

 cold frames and finally to the open to 

 harden off the plants before being per- 

 manently planted. It is disagreeable, to 

 say the least, pricking off seedlings in 

 the early spring with a northeastern 

 wind chilling the whole outfit. If flats 

 are used this can be done inside a build- 

 ing with comfort, and the time saved in 

 doing the work under favorable condi- 

 tions will go a long way toward paying 

 for the flats. The flat can be taken right 

 to the field at transplanting time. With 

 very little labor the plants can be cut 

 out with a ball of soil attached and 

 thereby suffer little check. 



There is an advantage too in the use 

 of flats, in that less soil is required and 

 usually more stocky plants are secured, 

 for the roots do not have a chance to dip 

 deeply into the manure of the hotbed, 

 which may produce too rapid growth, 

 developing plants rangy and weak, 

 which suffer a severe shock when 

 handled. 



The most convenient size of flat is 

 thirteen by twenty-two inches and three 

 inches deep. Of course these flats can 

 be made out of any old boxes, such as a 

 soap box, by ripping them through and 

 putting in bottoms where necessary. 

 Half-inch ends and three-eighth-inch 

 sides and bottoms make a good flat. 

 These can tx? got cheaply, ready to be 

 put together, sawn to the size required, 

 from any box or wood working estab- 

 lishment. The use of planed wood. 



giving one co.it of raw oil with some 

 lead in it, will pay ; however, as a usual 

 thing this is not done. There is an ad- 

 vantage in having the flats of a uni- 

 form size, as they can be placed to bet- 

 ter advantage in the hotbed. One and 

 one-half-inch resined nails should be 

 used. In putting on the bottom boards, 

 one-sixteenth to one-eighth-inch space 

 between the boards should be allowed 

 for drainage and swell of the lumber. 

 .Vfter through with the flats allow them 

 to thoroughly dry and place in a dry 

 shed carefully piled up. 



How to Grow Celery Plants* 



F. W. Hack, Ncrwood, Man. 



In order to produce a good crop it is 

 necessary to secure good plants. Many 

 failures in celery growing are due to the 

 use of improperly grown and carelessly 

 handled plants. The first necessity is 

 good seed, and the strictest attention is 

 necessary to secure a reliable strain. 

 Only fresh seed should be used. While 

 celery seed will germinate freely when 

 several years old, its vitality will be im- 

 paired, and as everything depends on 

 vigorous growth, it is well to avoid even 

 a suspicion of lack of vitality. Sow for 

 early crop from middle to end of Feb- 

 ruary and for main crop middle of March 

 to beginning of April. The varieties 

 generally grown are White Plume and 

 Paris Golden Yellow. 



The best place to raise celery plants 

 is in a cool, well ventilated greenhouse. 

 When only a few plants are required 

 they may be started in shallow boxes in 

 a sunny window. Very good plants may 

 be grown in this way provided they are 

 given plenty of sun. Where it is neces- 

 sary to use a hotbed, seeding should be 

 delayed until the heat is somewhat ex- 

 hausted. A good depth of soil should 

 be used and plenty of air admitted. Sow 

 thinly in rows one and one-half inches 

 apart. Cover one-eighth inch in depth 

 with fine soil and slightly press down. 

 Care must be taken to keep the soil 

 moist, but not wet. The seedlings will 

 appear in about fourteen days. In about 

 three weeks they will be ready for their 

 first transplanting. 



Moving the tiny seedlings is very 

 slow and tedious work, but it is impor- 

 tant. The young plants will begin to 

 be crowded in the seed beds, and if left 

 to themselves will develop a long main 

 root with very few side roots. The 

 transplanting process disturbs this main 

 root and causes the formation of numer- 

 ous fibrous rootlets which, working near 

 the surface, are better adapted to feed- 

 ing the plants. The plants should be 

 three to four inches apart or, if space is 

 limited, they may be planted as closely 

 as can conveniently be done, in which 



*A part of an address before the Western Hor- 

 ticultural Society in Winnipeg last February. It 

 will be continued in next issue. 



