COAL ASHES AS A FERTILIZER. 



Sir. — I have frequently noticed the 

 statement, that coal ashes are of no 

 value as a fertilizer. If so, can you ex- 

 plain my experience ? 



In the spring of '96 I put, at the east 

 end of the woodshed, the ashes from 

 five tons of coal, making a bank about 

 six feet by three feet, and about one 

 foot deep. I threw over this less than 

 an inch of clay soil. There grew up a 

 curious crop of weeds, among other 

 things a tomato plant. As it was late 

 in the season it did not give much fruit, 

 but the uncommon growth led me to 

 try an experiment. So last spring I put 

 on the same bank the ashes from eight 

 tons of coal. On this, with about a 

 gallon of soil in each hill, I set eight 

 tomato plants. They grew to an en- 

 ormous size, some branches trained 



against the wall reaching over seven 

 feet. The fruit was abundant, uniform 

 in size, smooth and firm. They seemed 

 more acid than usual. I think it was 

 the Acme variety. 



I shall try again without putting earth 

 in hill. There was certainly not earth 

 enough within reach of the plants to ac- 

 count for the growth, besides the soil 

 was very poor, as I put three plants 

 from the same lot in the soil at the edge 

 of the ash bed, and they were not worth 

 cultivating. 



From my experience I know tomatoes 

 and weeds grow well on coal ashes, and 

 I don't see why they might not be used 

 for something better than the roadway. 



C. H. LOWRY. 



Hagersville, March 28th. 



CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS. 



']N all applications of fertilizers, it 

 should be remembered that the roots 

 1 store up during the summer for the 

 following year's crop, and fertilizers 

 applied late in the fall will have little 

 effect on the crop the following spring. 

 Nitrate of soda or a similar quick-acting 

 agent applied at cutting-time will pro- 

 duce a noticeable improvement, but we 

 would recommend a heavy coat of stable- 

 manure applied each fall, winter or early 

 spring, in order to feed the roots during 

 summer growth for the following year's 

 crop. 



In the spring take a cutaway or disc 

 harrow and work in thoroughly the man- 

 ure and dead Asparagus tops. This will 

 leave the bed in fine condition for cut- 

 ting, as, to start with, the bed should be 

 about level. Some growers object to 

 turning under the dead Asparagus tops 



with the manure, claiming that the seed 

 will grow and make a mass of worthless, 

 small Asparagus, to ruin the bed. This 

 would, no doubt, be the case where beds 

 are allowed to run wild and take care of 

 themselves from cutting time to cutting 

 time again ; but where a bed receives 

 proper care and cultivation there will be 

 no trouble from this source. After the 

 bed has been cut a few times, and weeds 

 start, plow up to it lightly with a one- 

 horse plow, and go over it with a light 

 harrow or Universal weeder, to smooth 

 the surface a little. Repeat the opera- 

 tion of plowing up to and harrowing 

 down each week during the cutting sea- 

 son or as soon as the weeds start. These 

 plowings will gradually work good ridges 

 above the rows by the end of the cutting 

 season. — American Agriculturist. 



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