Part II.] MARKET GARDENING. 65 



for a few years previous. Asparagus is a crop that requires 

 heavy feeding. Before the war we applied a ton of 6-8-10 

 fertilizer per acre, part of the nitrogen in the form of nitrate of 

 soda, the balance in tankage. The fertilizer is applied early in 

 the spring, just before the first shoots appear. About every 

 third year we apply a heavy coating of manure, after the 

 cutting season. When asparagus becomes weedy — during the 

 cutting season — we ridge it up on a Saturday with an old- 

 fashioned moker. This smothers out all the weeds and saves 

 the expense of hand-pulling. After the cutting season the field 

 is thoroughly disk-harrowed; and at the last cultivation, when 

 the asparagus is laid by, it is again ridged up. In the spring 

 these ridges are cut down by the use of a ridging cultivator. 

 For this purpose the disks are put close together on the culti- 

 vator and arranged so as to throw the dirt between the rows; 

 the small plows are fastened behind the disks. This arrange- 

 ment levels the ridge and leaves the surface over the row free 

 from weeds and stubble. 



Onions. 



Both the early and late onions have proved profitable with 

 us. There is no crop that responds more readily to decent 

 treatment. It pays to put the ground in good shape for all 

 crops, but with onions it does not pay to plant them unless the 

 land is first put in the best of shape. Under most conditions I 

 think it would be preferable to manure the ground in the fall, 

 and plow just before the ground freezes; then in the spring 

 prepare the ground with cutaway, acme and meeker harrows. 

 As our land is liable to overflow from the river, we prefer to 

 plow in the spring. 



Before plowing, the ground is gone over two or three times 

 with a four-horse cutaway. We are able to stir up the soil 

 with the cutaway when it would be entirely too wet to plow. 

 The action of the cutaway loosens the surface of the soil and 

 allows the air and sun to penetrate, thus permitting us to plow 

 a week or ten days earlier than we otherwise could. A few 

 days after cutawaying, depending upon the condition of the 

 soil, the field is worked over with an acme harrow to break up 

 any lumps that may have formed. After plowing, 30 or 40 tons 

 of well-rotted manure is applied per acre, and worked in with 



