102 fitM FAltM. 



IVew Ideas in Asparagus Culture. — Gardeners generally are beginnlag 

 to adopt the practice of giving at least one yard distance between the planta 

 in making new plantations of asparagus. They have found that the roots 

 run horizontally, and not directly downward, and, therefore, that it is not 

 advisable to continue the old practice of digging down two or three feet for a 

 narrow bed, to be filled with manure mixed with soil, on which plants are to 

 be set only a foot apart. Large shoots of asparagus an inch in diameter 

 cannot be had by such treatment. 



Substitute for Bean Poles. — A New England farmer says: " In my own 

 gardening I have found a most satisfactory substitute for bean poles, which 

 latter are not only expensive, but a source of trouble and care. I plant a 

 sunflower seed by each hill of beans, the stock answering the same pui-pose 

 as the ordinary bean pole, besides providing an excellent feed for my poul- 

 try. I have been using for this purpose a mammoth variety of sunflower 

 seed, many of the flowera of which measured fifteen inches across the seed 

 bed." 



Potato Juice as an Insect Destroyer. — As an insect destroyer the 

 juioe of the potato plant is said to be of great value; the leaves and stems 

 are well boiled in water, and when the liquid is cold it is sprinkled over 

 plants attacked with insects, when it at once destroys caterpillars, black and 

 green flies, gnats, and other enemies to vegetables, and in no way impaira 

 the gi'owth of the plants. A pecuUar odor remains, and prevents insects 

 from coming again for a long time. 



To Force Radislies.—Eadishes may be grown in a few days by the fol- 

 lowing method: Let some good radish seed soak in water for twenty-four 

 hours, and then put them in a bag and expose to the sun. In the course of 

 the day germination will commence. The seed must then be sown in a well- 

 manured hot-bed, and watered from time to time in lukewanu water. By 

 this treatment the radishes will, in a veiy short time, acquire quite a large 

 bulk, and be very good to eat. 

 « 



Culture of Sugar-Beets. — The best sugar-beet, when properly grown, 



should be conical, and with a single tap-root. To grow such beets the soil 

 should be deep, mellow, free from stones, and abundantly ricli. A deep, 

 sandy loam, with plenty of vegetable matter, may be expected to produce, 

 with clean culture, a profitable crop of sugar-beets. A strong clay is not 

 suitable, neither is a soil that is low and naturally wet and cold. 



Weeds o\x Gravel AVaUcs. — Weeds on gravel walks may be destroyed 

 and prevented from growing again by a copious dressing of the cheapest 

 salt. This is a better method than hand-pulling, which disturbs the gravel 

 and renders constant raftag and rolling necessary. One application early in 

 the season, and others as may be needed, while the weeds are small, will 

 keep the walks clean and bright. 



Water Necessary to Cauliflower. — A gentleman in Colorado informs 

 us that by irrigation he grew cauliflower-heads four feet three inchoa in cir- 

 cumference. Cauliflower is fond of water, and we have seen large planta- 

 tions on the continent of Europe that wero rogularly watered every eTeuiug 

 except during rainy weather. 



