MAY: FIRST WEEK 121 



largest size and best flavor. Break off any seed stalks that 

 appear. Good culture during the latter part of the season, 

 after you have stopped using the stalks, will tell in next 

 year's crop. Fertilizer and manure may be applied during 

 late June and the benefits will be very apparent the follow- 

 ing spring. 



Sea kale is also grown in much the same way as asparagus. 

 To be of good quality the shoots must be blanched by mak- 

 ing a mound of sand or soil over each plant in the spring. 

 This must be leveled when the plants are allowed to begin 

 to grow. Fertilizer and cultivation should be given for the 

 following spring. 



The Cane- and Bush-Fruits 



The beds of cane fruits should be gone over in the spring 

 and all old canes removed if this was not done in the fall. 

 Of the new canes only three or four should be left to each 

 plant. These should be headed or cut back to induce the 

 growth of the laterals, which bear the fruit, and to make the 

 plants more self-supporting in case trellises are not used. 

 Supports are preferable. A good stout stake should be 

 used as a support for each plant, and the canes should be 

 tied loosely to this with some soft material. For long rows, 

 a convenient method is to stretch two parallel wires a foot 

 or so apart, and keep the growing canes between these. 



Cultivation should be frequent but very shallow, as these 

 plants all root rather near the surface. They all require 

 plenty of moisture, and manure is therefore especially 

 valuable as a fertilizer. Bone meal is also excellent. The 

 enemies of the cane fruits do not do serious injury. The 

 most serious is rust or blight. All diseased plants should 

 be carefully cut out and burned, and the rest of the plants 

 sprayed with Bordeaux mixture. The borer, which gets 

 into the canes and burrows up the center, is controlled by 

 cutting out and burning the canes as soon as attacked. 

 The borer is the larva of a small beetle, and is active in mid- 

 summer. 



