VEGETABLE CULTURE. 65 



In setting an asparagus plant set roots exactly two inches under 

 surface and spread the roots out well. The first season cultivate well ; 

 keep clear of weeds and irrigate say every two weeks. The second season 

 little may be cut, but not much. The third season the bed comes into 

 full bearing. Each fall put on a good coating of well-rotted manure, and 

 the following spring dig this in and around the roots with a digging fork. 

 After this, a barrel of salt to the acre sowed over the bed is beneficial. 

 This, even if it has no special value as a fertilizer, is often an excellent 

 conserver of moisture. 



Keep well watered during the cutting season. After this, water once 

 a month. Cut every day. 



BEETS. 



Sow from March 15th to April 15th, with Matthews' or other good 

 drill, in rows from sixteen to eighteen inches apart, in rich garden soil, 

 and about one inch deep. 



For first early, the Egyptian is excellent; Eclipse nearly as early, 

 and of fine quality an abundant bearer. 



Blood turnip still later ; very desirable. 



Plant Mangel-Wurzels for stock beet. This is a wonderful yielder, 

 and valuable for stock. Will easily produce 25 tons to the acre. 



Never irrigate the beet, unless it is absolutely necessary to bring it 

 up, but cultivate often and well. 



TURNIP, PARSNIP AND CARROT. 



Sow turnip, parsnip and carrot seed one-half inch deep, same distance 

 as beet, and give same cultivation, with frequent irrigations until the root 

 is fully formed. After carrot or parsnip form roots, or the plants are 

 large enough to shade the ground, do not irrigate them, as it will be an 

 injury 2 and tend to rot them in the ground. The carrot, especially, is a 

 prodigious yielder, and with gocd soil and cultivation has been grown in 

 Greeley at the rate of a thousand bushels to the acre. The Danvers vari- 

 ety is an excellent general-purpose carrot. 



CABBAGE. 



One of the best vegetable crops, when grown on a large scale say 

 from five to twenty-five acres. 



The plant is hardy, and can be set quite early. Has stood twenty 

 degrees below freezing. Plant early varieties in rows two feet apart, by 



