1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



149 



low. They are then tender their entire 

 length, and better flavored. During very 

 warm weather cut twice a day, or the tops 

 will get a seedy appearance. If blanched 

 shoots are desirable, to have them perfectly 

 tender, the roots must be planted 13 inches 

 deep, and a ridge of litter put over the rows 

 in the spring, six or more inches high, and 

 compact enough to exclude light and air, 

 and as the shoots break through this cut at 

 the bottom of the litter. 



As the cutting proceeds, no thin or mis- 

 shaped shoots must be left stand, whether 

 for use or not. Any seedling plants that 

 spring up must persistently be pulled out 

 to prevent the ground from getting matted 

 with small roots. By not allowing any 

 foliage to grow, the lai-vae of the Asparagus 

 beetle have no chance even to exist. This 

 plan has kept my plantation entirely free 

 from larva?, since the first appearance of the 

 beetle at my place three years ago without 

 the use of any poisons; as by the time the 

 cutting season is over, (July 1st,) the beetles 

 have perished. These beetles are quite 

 small, but their presence can readily be 

 detected by their activity on the shoots, and 

 the many jet black nits attached. 



The same diligent cultivation that char- 

 acterized the preparatory season must con- 

 tinue from year to year. During the cutting 

 season it is difficult to keep the land clear of 

 weeds, on account of danger of young shoots 

 getting cut off with the hoe, but the worst 

 how ever, can be hand-pulled. When 

 we make the last cutting of shoots, 

 everything that is fit to use down to 

 but two inches above ground is gathered, 

 then immediately we go over the plantation 

 with sharp hoes, and cut every vestige of 

 weeds, regardless of how many hundreds 

 of young Asparagus shoots, just coming 

 through, share the same fate. This may 

 seem heroic treatment, but it has given me 

 most favorable results for the past five years 

 in lu.xuriant even growth, and cleanliness 

 of weeds, aside of the saving of time and 

 difficulty of clearing weeds when the shoots 

 are saved. If the day is clear, the weeds 

 may be left exposed to the hot sun a few 

 hours to dry up, otherwise clean off with a 

 rake, and at once cover the entire ground 

 completely with rather light manure. This 

 mulch will keep the weeds in check, till the 

 Asparagus growth shades the ground so com- 

 pletely, that weeds will have little chance. 



The summer manuring will promote an 

 enormous growth, and to have extra large 

 shoots for cutting the following season, the 

 thin stems should be cut out just before the 

 growth gets too heavy to pass through, as 

 this will throw all the strength into the 

 heavy stems to develope strong crowns. 

 When clearing off the growth in the faU, 

 every precaution should be used, that the 

 seed does not get knocked off and scattered 

 over the Asparagus bed, as this will save 

 much labor in pulling up seedlings. The 

 tops are best gathered and burnt on adjoin- 

 ing land. Give a liberal covering of rich 

 manure before winter sets in, and in the 

 spring work this into the soil with a fork or 

 harrow. A week or so before the shoots 

 appear, sow a good fertilizer at the rate of 

 KOO lbs. per acre, and clear out the weeds. 



Asparagus is a great feeder, and will 

 amply repay liberal manuring. This, with 

 care to prevent seedlings from getting a 

 foothold and encouraging only strong shoots 

 are the requisites to produce fine delicious 

 Asparagus. 



Some Things Not Advertised in the 

 Catalogues. 



WM. F. BAS3ETT, ATLANTIC CO.. N. J. 



With the present system of plant growing 

 in most, if not all, of the commercial green- 

 houses, no further attempt is made than to 

 keep down insects sufficiently to allow the 



plants a fair chance until sold and custom- 

 ers often receive extras in the form of insect 

 enemies before unknown to them, and they 

 perhaps spread over a whole collection 

 before the purchaser is fully aware of their 

 presence or knows how to resist them. 



Insects like green fly and red spider are so 

 common everywhere that it would be diffi- 

 cult and perhaps impossible to exterminate 

 them in any extensive greenhouses. But 

 others, which attack only a limited class of 

 plants and are not so universally distributed 

 it is possible to keep out entirely, and, I be- 

 lieve, with less cost than the present plan of 

 keeping them within prescribed limits. 



Chrysanthemum Fly. Some years ago I 

 bought a dozen choice Chrysanthemums and 

 received with them this insect and I did not 

 know how to manage them, but tried soap 

 suds. Tobacco, picking, burning, etc., but 

 enough escaped so that unless constantly 

 watched the plants would soon become filled 

 with them again, so in disgust I allowed 

 them to die. Later I concluded to try again 

 and received another stock of black fly, but 

 this time by persistent watching and hand 

 picking I got almost clear of them, but the 

 next year, having more plants and more 

 apljis, they got the better of me. After the 

 plants were brought into the greenhouse 

 ready to flower I found several plants badly 

 infested and not being able to destroy them 

 without injury to the flowers, I tried 

 a new plan. 



When my plants had done flowering I cut 

 down the flower stems, threw them out in 

 the cold and planted the roots in the open 

 ground. A few, however, remained in 

 bloom till vrinter prevented this course so I 

 carried them out carefully, to prevent drop- 

 ping any insects in the house, left the old 

 growth in the snow, carried back the plants 

 and covered them completely with Tobacco 

 dust for several days; the result was a com- 

 plete clearing out of the fly. Another pur- 

 chase, however, brought a new supply, but 

 profiting by experience I kept the new stock 

 by themselves and carefully watched them 

 every day and all which showed any fly were 

 turned on their sides in a box or pan and 

 covered with Tobacco dust for 24 hours or 

 more which proved effectual. I have not 

 seen a black aphis on my place for a year. 

 One of the points which must be attended 

 to with such insects as black fly is to use 

 great care not to shake or knock off any of 

 the insects in handling this flower as such 

 stragglers are sure to come up somewhere 

 and start a new colony. 



The Round Scale. This is an insect 

 which came with a plant of Ardisia crenu- 

 lata, but not until it was in flower and the 

 berries pretty well grown did I observe that 

 the stems and under side of the leaves were 

 badly infested with this scale. I tried To- 

 bacco, soap suds, picking off, etc., but it 

 was impossible to remove all of them with- 

 out knocking off the berries. The florist 

 who sold me the plant said they had no dif- 

 ficulty in keeping down the scale by throw- 

 ing water forcibly on the plants, but with 

 nothing more than a small force pump I 

 could effect nothing with this remedy, so 

 when the berries ripened I planted them and 

 secured a fine stock of healthy plants. The 

 original plant was left under a tree through 

 the summer without water except the rain, 

 and it seemed to have died, but with cool 

 weather and less sunshine it sprouted again 

 and is now in good condition except that it 

 produced no berries this season; I have 

 seen no scale on it. 



Another Queer Looking Insect. On a 

 plant of Lantana Californica (a fine dwarf 

 grower with pure yellow flowers), this insect 

 came, differing from anything I have seen 

 or heard of; the head is dark and the body, 

 white like a mealy bug, is extended to a 

 long point on each side>f the head, giving 



it the form of a Beggar Tick {Bidcng fron- 

 dosn) seed but only 3i to X the size. I tried 

 immersion in Tobacco dust unsuccessfully, 

 and finding that these insects were spread- 

 ing to some Coleus near by I destroyed them 

 and all of the insects I could see on the 

 Lantana, at the same time removing the 

 larger leaves; I set the plant in the furnace 

 room intending to watch it long enough to 

 get clear of them but it was allowed 

 to dry too much ami died, which I con- 

 sider preferable to introducing a new pest, 

 though I have no doubt I should have 

 saved my plant, minus the insects, with 

 closer attention. 



About Mealy Bug. These are insects 

 not so easily exterminated because they 

 work on the roots as well as on the tops of 

 plants, and may often be found secreted 

 along the edges of the pot beneath the soil, 

 but I believe that persistent hand-pick- 

 ing can be made successful, if accom- 

 panied by drenching the roots with 

 some insecticide, like strong Tobacco 

 water, and using carbolic acid or Fir-tree 

 oil freely in the greenhouse when cleared 

 out in the summer, also being careful to 

 throw the balls of earth from any pots 

 which may contain them well away from 

 the plant establishment, and then by a care- 

 ful quarantine of all plants received from 

 other sources, any place may be cleared of it. 

 Amateurs and those who are just com- 

 mencing business can often avoid some 

 trouble by growing plants from seeds or 

 cuttings as far as possible, of course, taking 

 care to examine the latter critically, and by 

 systematically following this course when 

 it is necessary to introduce plants from 

 other houses, all packing being burned or 

 removed to a safe distance, new houses may 

 be kept clear. It is an undeniable fact that 

 this course involves considerable trouble 

 but I think not more than at present results 

 from the opposite course, and it is very cer- 

 tain that a florist who could establish a rep- 

 utation for sending out plants absolutely 

 free from certain troublesome insect 

 enemies, would reap a reward in a largely 

 extended trade. 



1,061. Ferns Eaten by Snails. As these pests 

 are nocturnal in habit, feeding at night, they 

 should be hunted for by the aid of a lantern and 

 exterminated. Small pieces of boards placed on 

 the soil of the pots or benches will generally 

 serve them !is a hiding .place and may then be 

 readily caught. Cotton wool placed around the 

 steins of plants will prevent snails from ascend- 

 ing them.— (1. H. M. 



1,078. Baising Onion Seed. The soil in which 

 to grow Onion seed should be moderately rich, 

 but if o\'er-abimdantly manured the blossoms 

 are liable to blight and no seed will be produced. 

 Select the very best Onions and avoid those with 

 thick necks. As soon as the ground can be 

 worked in the spring, plow and harrow thor- 

 oughly. Onion roots run down deep and it is 

 therefore essential that the subsoil should be free 

 from stagnant water; low mucky land that will 

 product' giKtd crops of Onions will not always 

 produce ( >nion seed. In rows three feet apart 

 make furrows three or four inches deep in which 

 set the Onions about four inches apart and cover 

 with soil to the depth of two or three inches— if 

 heavy rains wash the soil away from the bulbs it 

 should be replaced, as this not only aids in sup- 

 porting the stalk but tends to prevent the Onion 

 rotting, as it would if exposed long to the air. 

 Onions for seed may also be planted in the fall 

 and do equally well provided they are set in time 

 to become established before freezing weather, 

 and are sufKcientl.v protected with earth, manure 

 or straw, and the seed will be produced some- 

 what earlier than by spring planting. As soon as 

 the seed pods ripen, which is shown by their be- 

 coming yellow, they should be cut and spread 

 thinly under shelter to dry, then threshed and 

 cleaned, being sure that it is thoroughly dry 

 before storing away in bulk. — G. H. Mahan. 



1,134. Orchid Information. You should pro- 

 cure a cop.v of William's Orchid Grower's Manual 

 a work invaluable to all who are interested in 

 Orchid culture.— C. E. P. 



1,111. Brown Fly on Chrysanthemam. I am 



not acquainted with the insect referred to but 

 think an application of Fir-Tree Oil will destroy 

 them. The oil can be procured in bottles con- 

 taining pints or quarts. Directions for use 

 accompany it.— C. E. P. 



