WINTER AND SPRING CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS. 



C. L. AIvLEN, NEW YORK. 



''T^ HE asparagus bed is quite apt to be ne- 

 X glected at this season, or the care re- 

 quired to keep it to a high state of produc- 

 tiveness overlooked. Before the first of De- 

 cember the tops should be cut and the bed 

 or field cleared of weeds. It is highly im- 

 portant that all the seed should be taken off, 

 as the greatest -enemy the asparagus has, in 

 the way of weeds, is asparagus, and it is al- 

 most impossible to get clear of superfluous 

 plants when once established. When this 

 work is finished, cover the bed to the depth 

 of three inches with coarse manure, which 

 will not only enrich the soil, but will keep 

 out the frost, which is highly essential. 

 Like all other siliceous plants, the asparagus 

 is making preparations in winter for its 

 spring work. This it cannot do if the soil 

 is frozen. In climates where freezing and 

 thawing alternate in rapid succession, the 

 buds will be greatly benefited if covered 

 suflficiently deep with leaves or seaweed, on 

 top of the manure, so that it will be impossi- 

 ble for the frost to reach the crown of the 

 plants. The first work in spring should be 

 to remove all the covering except the fine 

 manure, which should be carefully forked 

 in so that the crowns will not be injured by 



the tines of the fork. While the asparagus 

 is, apparently, a hardy plant, and one almost 

 impossible to exterminate, there is no plant 

 that resents injury so quickly, as will be seen 

 by the difference in the size and number of 

 edible shoots it will send up. Forking the 

 beds should not be neglected, as the early 

 admission of the sun and rain into the 

 ground induces the plants to throw up shoots 

 of superior size. Another step in the right 

 direction is to keep the ground entirely free 

 from weeds the entire season, as these take 

 from the plants the strength required for 

 their own growth, and the asparagus needs 

 it all. 



Although there is a difference of opinion 

 as to the benefit of salt on asparagus, most 

 of the best growers on Long Island cover 

 their beds with salt as soon as the ground 's 

 cleared and the manure forked in in the 

 spring, to a depth of half an inch in some 

 cases. Although that much may not be re- 

 quired, it certainly does no harm, but an ap- 

 plication of salt so that the ground appears 

 as if covered with snow is considered by 

 many an absolute necessity if best results are 

 to be expected. 



GARDEN PEAS. 



TWO years ago I recommended the 

 Gradus Pea as the best early garden 

 pea that I had ever grown. I am still of the 

 same mind, but some of my friends have 

 written that they have tried the Gradus and 

 been disappointed. They must have been 

 misled by the catalogues. Some of the lat- 



ter offer the Gradus or Prosperity. I have 

 tried that. It is not the genuine Gradus. I 

 got my genuine stock lately from John A. 

 Bruce & Co., Hamilton, but had it direct 

 from a friend in England before it was of- 

 fered for sale in Canada. 



Mitchell. T. H. Race. 



