A FERTILIZER EXPERIMENT WITH ASPARAGUS. 249 



The Amounts of Fertilizer used by Good Growers. 

 In connection ^vith the correspondence with Mr. Frank Wheeler, to 

 which reference has just been made, the question as to whether in the 

 practice of good growers plant food was not applied in quantity much in 

 excess of the amounts which the crop could use was taken up. Upon 

 this point Mr. Wheeler writes as follows: — 



It has also struck me vry forcibly that we were applying two or three times 

 as much fertilizer material as the crop was taking out, but I never doubted but 

 what it was . . . profitable to do so. I can hardly think that any asparagus bed 

 (commercial) was ever hurt by overmanuring. I have known of a munber of old 

 beds destroyed and used for other purposes, and they prove to be most productive 

 for other crops (crops too, that we suppose do not need as much manuring as 

 asparagus) under continued applications of fertility. As to the unsatisfactory 

 results from the asparagus crop for two or three years back, I think very strongly 

 that it was the fault of the rust, and cold seasons of 1900 and 1901. 



Although I agree with you most decidedly that the growth of the previous sum- 

 mer is a good indication of what the crop is to be, I do feel most strongly that a 

 liberal application (not excessive) of nitrate of soda in the early spring is profitable. 

 Of course you know that the first growth that any plant makes in the spring is 

 feeding root fibers. Now do you think that they are for only taking up moisture? 

 I feel they are for both moisture and food. I think that an asparagus plant (one 

 year old) when set out will start off much stronger if set out in good rich soil than 

 if set in sand or a poor one, or any other plant or seed will do the same. I have 

 no doubt but what some of the early application of nitrate of soda is lost, but think 

 it is still profitable. I know of no experiments to prove either for or against this 

 conclusion. 



Mr. Wheeler wrote that as the result of earlier experiments and obser- 

 vations it was his practice in asparagus growing to supply from 200 to 

 250 pounds of actual potash per acre annually. Table II shows the total 

 amounts of plant food applied annually in Mr. Wheeler's practice, and in 

 the second column (taken from Table I) the amounts annually carried off 

 in the asparagus as bunched. These elements were derived in part from 

 manure and wood ashes, but mainly from tankage, nitrate of soda and 

 muriate of potash. 



Table II. — Amount of Plant-food Elements supplied and removed {Pounds 

 per Acre). 



1 It seems to me proper, in considering plant food removed, to take into account only the aspar- 

 agus as bunched, because the butts cut off in the preparation of the shoots for market might be 

 returned to the bed at the close of the cutting season at a negligible cost, practically speaking. 



