THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



inches broad, elongated acute pyriform, 

 covered with sh'ght indentations, color, 

 greenish yellow ground nearly covered 

 with cinnamon russet ; stalk, i ^ to 2 

 inches long, stout and usually curved, 

 inserted without a cavity ; calyx open in 

 a shallow basin. 



Flesh. — White ; texture, fine, break- 

 ing, juicy ; flavor, sweet, rich, delicious. 



Season. — October. 



Quality. — ist class for dessert. 



Value. — I St class for either home or 

 foreign markets. 



Adaptation. — Southern Ontario. 



THE ASPARAGUS BED. 



FOLLOWING is part of the sum- 

 mary of a recent Missouri bul- 

 letin on asparagus growing : For 

 the asparagus bed the soil should 

 be pulverized thoroughly to a good 

 depth, and plants set twelve to eighteen 

 inches apart in straight rows four feet 

 apart. Vary the depth of setting the 

 plants in the ground from four inches at 

 one end of the bed to eight inches at 

 the other ; the shallow set plants will 

 come up earlier in the spring, thus giv- 

 ing a longer producing season. Give 

 clean cultivation during the summer, 

 and in the early winter mulch heavily 

 with old fine manure. In early spring 

 ridge up the rows by turning the soil be- 

 tween the rows over the sprouting 

 plants. The sprouts coming through 

 this depth of soil will be long, well 

 bleached and tender. This ridging also 



facilitates subsequent cultivation, as 

 after the asparagus is cut these ridges 

 may be raked or lightly harrowed to kill 

 weeds without injuring the crowns 

 below. 



No asparagus should be cut until the 

 plants are two or three years old, but 

 after they have become thoroughly 

 established, cutting may continue daily 

 for six or eight weeks in the spring. 

 Allow no stem to make leaves until cut- 

 ting ceases about the first of June. 

 After that time the best cultivation 

 should be given until autumn. Under 

 no circumstances should the tops be 

 cut after harvesting ceases until they 

 have died in the fall. This summer 

 growth makes the plants strong and 

 ready for the next spring's crop. A bed 

 treated in this way every year should 

 produce well for forty years. 



FAULTS OF THE ELBERTA PEACH. 



THERE appears to be one drawback 

 to our growing the Elberta in the 

 north, and that is its tendency 

 to curl leaf. Everywhere in On- 

 tario this year we hear the same com- 

 plaint, that it is more subject to this 

 fungus than any other variety. We 

 hope further test may be more favorable 

 to a variety that has received such 

 high commendations. 



Even Mr. Glen, who has been cham- 

 pioning this peach as it appears in the New 



York market, coming from the Southern 

 States, writes under a recent date. 



" During the last few days I have pur- 

 chased some beautiful specimens which 

 have been tasteless. They may have 

 been grown upon young trees with re- 

 dundant foliage and therefore of poor 

 quality, and it may be that it will not 

 prove to be a peach of best quality in a 

 Northern climate. All those I have 

 eaten from the South were as good as 

 they were beautiful." 



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