A FERTILIZER EXPERIMENT WITH ASPARAGUS. 233 



a height of 6 feet before growth ceased for the season. Beetles were 

 numerous, but were held in check by spraying with arsenical insecticides, 

 lead arsenate proving most satisfactory. 



In September oats were sown as a cover crop, which made a good growth 

 before \\anter set in. Before the buds started in the spring of 1908, as 

 soon as the soil could be worked, the dead tops and cover of oats were 

 worked into the soil with the disc harrow, and the prescribed fertilizers 

 were applied to the different plots. The young shoots were of such size 

 and appearance that Mr. Prescott made three cuttings in early May, 

 and though the roots were but two years old from the seed, some stalks 

 were an inch in diameter. 



It was noted that the violent spring winds seriously affected some of 

 the plots by blowing the sharp sand against the young shoots. To pre- 

 vent this a windbreak of cotton cloth tacked to posts was maintained 

 during the early part of the season while the stalks were tender. The 

 field was kept free from weeds by summer tillage, and the beetles were 

 held in check by a lead arsenate spray. The growth of the plants was 

 excellent, and the tops at the end of the season nearly filled the spaces 

 between rows. 



In the succeeding years of the experiment the culture and fertilization 

 were conducted in general as in 1908. 



The cutting season in 1909 lasted about four weeks, but in subsequent 

 years the stalks were harvested each season for about two months. The 

 limits of the cutting season for each year were as follows : — 



1909, May 7 to Jud.> 6. 



1910, April 23 to June 29. 



1911, Mays to June 24. 

 1912,. May 5 to June 25. 



1913, April 27 to June 27. 



1914, May 8 to Junp 27. 



1915, April 26 to June 26. 



In the summer of 1910 portions of the field were attacked by rust. 

 The rust spores came from an adjoining field on the north, and the disease 

 was severest at the outer edge, diminishing in intensity toward the middle 

 of the lot. Plots 1 and 21 were most affected, and plots 11 and 31 were 

 apparently uninjured. A slight attack occurred from the southeast on 

 plots 33 to 40, but it did not seem to affect the yields noticeably. The 

 attacks were not serious in succeeding years, and the plots appeared to 

 recover fully before the close of the experiment. 



In April, 1907, before the field was divided into plots, samples of the 

 soil were taken by Mr. Prescott, in accordance with Dr. Brooks' instruc- 

 tions, from each quarter of the field. These samples were analyzed by 

 E. B. Holland and R. D. McLaurin of the department of chemistry. The 

 determinations of the soil constituents were made in solutions obtained 

 with hydrochloric acid, after the methods of the Association of Official 

 Agricultural Chemists. 



