VEGETABLES ASPARAGUS. 125 



ness of growth. Ifc has not yet been extensively tried 

 at the North, but we have every reason to think that it 

 will do equally well here. 



THE APPLICATION OF SALT to Asparagus as a top- 

 dressing is claimed to be of benefit in inland districts 

 out of the range of a saline atmosphere, but is of little 

 or no benefit in the vicinity of salt water. When used 

 it should be applied in spring only, at the rate of half a 

 pound per square yard, strewed on the surface ; the rains 

 will dissolve it and wash it down to the roots. Besides 

 its beneficial effects upon the plant, it is to some extent 

 destructive to the wire worm and other insects that are 

 often troublesome to the Asparagus. 



We have found Asparagus beds very profitably bene- 

 fited by the application of superphosphate of lime or pure 

 bone dust as a spring top-dressing, applied at the rate of 

 500 pounds per acre, sown on the beds and hoed in. 

 Experiments with this on alternate rows showed a dif- 

 ference of nearly one foot in height of the stalk in favor 

 of the rows to which the superphosphate had been ap- 

 plied over those which had none ; and a difference of 

 nearly double the product when the crop was cut in the 

 succeeding spring. 



The fall treatment of the Asparagus beds varies with 

 the locality ; in cold regions, where, if left unprotected, 

 the frost would penetrate below the .roots, a covering of 

 three or four inches of rough manure or leaves is neces- 

 sary. Although an entirely hardy plant, it will start 

 earlier and with greater vigor in spring if the root has 

 not been subjected to severe freezing. In milder sections 

 no such precaution is necessary ; all that need be done is 

 to clear off the stems as soon as they are withered in the 

 fall, and clean the beds preparatory to giving a dressing 

 of two or three inches of manure, which had better not 

 be applied until spring. We believe the common practice 

 oi top-dressing Asparagus beds in fall to be a very waste- 



