16 



tie less upon the Potassium sulfid rows. The two other series of exper- 

 iments tried gave no better results. The spraying was done with a 

 knap-sack sprayer, provided with a Vermorel nozzle, and after the first 

 application we became convinced that the practice was of little 

 importance on account of the dilHculty in making the solution stick 

 ■to the plant. For successful spraying of asparagus a finer nozzle is 

 required than any that is now iutlie maiket. In some other experi- 

 ments carried out on a small scale we succeeded in practically cov- 

 ering the asparagus plants with solutions, when they were put on 

 with an ordinary cylinder atomizi^r, and the lime solutions showed 

 excellent sticking qualities, but with the ordinary coarse nozzle the 

 solutions would run off of the glossy epidermal covering of the plant 

 very readily. 



Should the spraying of asparagus ever become a necessity as a 

 means of preventing the rust, which we greatly question, then some 

 apparatus which can be strapped to a horse's bnck should be used. 

 The narrow space between the rows forbids the use of the ordinary 

 mounted appliances, and if spraying is to be carried on upon a large 

 scale it would be better to have the spraying mixture carried 

 in some manner on the horse's back. In this way it would 

 be possible to carry some thirty or forty gallons of mix- 

 ture through the narrow rows. In conclusion it must be con- 

 fessed that experiments along the line of spraying are not encourag- 

 ing, for the reason that the asparagus plant is a ditticult one to reach 

 as well as to cover thoroughly with ordinary solutions applied with 

 the present style of nozzle. 



CULTIVATION AND IRRIGATION AS A MEANS OF CONTROLLING THE RUST. 



Fiom what has been said in regard to the practice of burning the 

 affected asparagus tops and the unsatisfactory results which have 

 been obtained from spraying, it would not be out of place here to 

 pay some attention to other methods of control. Even should the 

 practice of spraying give promise of better results, it would not be a 

 method which would satisfy the best growers. Spraying crops to 

 control diseases is not the sole end of gardening, and the 

 most tliat can be said of the practice, in many cases, is that it is 

 only tentative. Any one who has had an opportunity to examine 

 the crops of the most successful gardeners, such as have been 

 handled by specialists for years, knows that they do prevent diseases 



