The Canadiix7i Horticulturist. 



349 



i'I)c V electable Vxai*<I<-'n. 



Culture of Asparagus. 



Extract of I'aper read by Chas. IT. Garfield before 

 the Michigan State Horticultural Society.] 



A RICH sandy loam — a piece of 

 ground to grow 75 bushels of shelled 

 corn per acre — well drained, makes a 

 good beginning for an asparagus field. 

 I prefer to grow the plants, sowing 

 the seed early. Plants are set three 

 feet apart, in rows four feet apart, 

 but fiv-e feet is a better distance. 



Two men can plant an acre in 

 half a day, setting the crowns of the 

 plants five or six inches below the 

 level of the soil. It takes aioout 

 3,000 plants to the acre, in four feet 

 rows. When the planting is com- 

 pleted, the lines of plants will be in 

 the bottom of the furrows, which 

 need not be filled at once, but dur- 

 ing the season cultivation will gradu- 

 ally level the soil, and the process of 

 weed extermination is greatly aided 

 by leaving the furrows open at the 

 outset. Clean cultivation is given 

 during the growing year, and in 

 October the tops are mowed off and 

 burned. The expense of growing 

 asparagus is about ifJioo per acre, 

 up to the second spring after plant- 

 ing, and results in a net profit of 

 Si 00 an acre, which is not a large 

 profit when the time required to get 

 the plantation into bearing, the in- 

 vestment and the skill, are con- 

 sidered. 



The great advantage is that the 

 work and the money come in early, 

 at a time when the farmer does not 

 interfere with other duties. The 

 cut-worm is the worst insect foe, but 

 by stirring the soil in the spring and 

 autumn plowing, its ravages are con- 

 siderabl}- reduced. The shoots are 

 broken off when gathering, instead 

 of cutting. The ends are squared 

 with a knife after bunching ; and 



rubber bands are used for bunching. 

 The plantation should not be weak- 

 ened by too prolonged cutting. 



Two exigencies have materially 

 reduced profits with me. First, un- 

 timely frosts, wliich may in one night 

 destroy a full picking, which upon 

 an acre may mean from twelve to 

 twenty dollars. To avoid this I con- 

 template giving a surface dressing 

 with shavings manure in the spring, 

 w^hich can be hauled over the shoots, 

 which are just breaking the earth, 

 in an emergency, at slight cost, and 

 save the picking. 



Second, a dry, hard wind some- 

 times arises when a cutting of aspar- 

 agus is nearly ready. The sand 

 blown against the tender shoots 

 punctures the epidermis and checks 

 growth on that side. In a few hours 

 the shoots will turn over and be so 

 unshapely as to be unmarketable. 



Keeping- Celery. 



Some gardeners preserve their cel- 

 ery for winter by banking it up in 

 the rows where it grew, throwing a 

 covering on each side up to the tips. 

 This is the least trouble, but it may 

 be frozen in just at the time when it 

 is most needed for market. The 

 better way is to store it in trenches, 

 where it may be taken out at any 

 time. A trench is dug in a dry place, 

 a foot wide and as deep as the plants 

 are tall, the length being suited to 

 the quantity to be stored. The cel- 

 ery is set in this in rows across the 

 trench, and setting the plants close 

 to one another. As cold weather 

 increases the celery is covered with 

 leaves, or marsh hay, and finally 

 with earth. The use of short boards 

 over the litter will facilitate getting 

 out the celery if there is a heavy fall 

 of snow. — Anicncciti Agriculturist. 



