THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



Tn diversified farming by irrigation lies the salvation of agriculture 



THE AGE wants to brighten the pages of its Diversified Farm department and with 

 this object in view it nequests its readers everywhere to send in photographs and pic- 

 tures of fields, orchards and farm homes; prize-taking horses, cattle, sheep or hogs, 

 Also sketches or plans of convenient and commodious barns, hen houses, corn cribs, 

 etc. Sketches of labor-saving devices, such as ditch cleaners and watering troughs. 

 A good illustration of a windmill irrigation plant is always interesting. Will you help 

 us improve the appearance of THE AGE? 



CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS. 



Asparagus is so easily grown and pos- 

 sesses so many valuable medicinal and 

 money making qualities that no farmer 

 should have even the smallest area under 

 cultivation that does not contain a bed of 

 roots. It appears the first thing in the 

 spring when the family demand its medi- 

 cal virtues, and a few well cooked shoots 

 often do more to revive a sick person than 

 a half dozen five dollar visits of a doctor. 

 The market demand is always greater than 

 the supply and some of my gardener friends 

 claim it will produce not less than 5,000 

 pounds per acre, which sells at from 5 

 cents to three times that amount per 

 pound according to the season. One man, 

 for whom I shipped produce a few years 

 ago, had a small lot in the front yard, 

 planted to asparagus and he cut and sold 

 from this ornamental lawn over $80 worth 

 in one year and let much of it go to waste. 



The best way to start an asparagus bed 

 or patch is from roots which can be pur- 

 chased from any seedsman at about 75 

 cents a hundred. They should be two 

 years old in order that a good crop may be 

 cut the following spring after planting in 

 the fall. If roots are planted the soil should 

 be stirred about a foot deep and plenty of 

 well rotted manure be mixed in by spad- 

 ing or plowing under. The roots may be 

 set in rows three feet apart and one foot 

 in the row and will soon spread to cover 



the intervening space. A good plan is to 

 dig the hole for each root with a shovel, 

 fill in the bottom with manure and plant 

 the root deep, covering about three or four 

 inches above the crown. This work should 

 be done in the fall and the bed covered in 

 the spring with wood ashes and spaded in 

 before the plants show above ground. If 

 one year old roots are thus treated a fair 

 crop may be cut the first year after plant- 

 ing, but two year roots are much better. 

 Planting the seed is the cheapest and 

 best way if time is no object in getting 

 asparagus for home use or market. The 

 seed planted in the spring require three 

 years to come to a perfect producing state. 

 Seed can be procured from any seed grower 

 at about fifty cents per pound in large 

 quantities with a slight addition to price 

 for smaller lots. One ounce will plant 

 about fifty feet of drill, the plants requir- 

 ing thinniag to about six inches apart af- 

 ter they get up. The seed should be 

 soaked twenty-four hours in tepid water 

 or have boiling water poured over them 

 two or three times befbre planting. If 

 planted in rows and irrigated and cultiva- 

 ted two or three times the roots will be 

 good for transplanting to permanent beds 

 the first fall or may be left until late as 

 desired. Salt put on the beds and spaded 

 in is an excellent fertilizer and the addi- 

 tional yield pays well for the expenditure. 



