142 ASPARAGCS 



epidermal covering of the plant very readily. Should 

 the spraj-ing of asparagus ever become a necessity, 

 then some apparatus which can be strapped to a 

 horse's back should be used. The narrow space be- 

 tween the rows forbids the use of the ordinary 

 mounted appliances, and if spraying is to be carried 

 on upon a large scale, it would be better to have the 

 spraj'ing mixture carried in some manner on the 

 horse's back. In this way it would be possible to 

 carrj' some thirty or forty gallons of mixture through 

 the narrow rows. 



Burnijig the affeSled tops. — There can be no doubt 

 that by the burning of the infested brush, after the 

 cutting season, innumerable rust spores are destroyed. 

 But if this is done before the stalks are entirely dead 

 new ones will spring up at once, and in a few daj'S 

 will be as badly affe(fled as the first. The burning of 

 the tops in the summer has, moreover, a decidedl}- 

 injurious effect upon the roots, seriously weakening 

 their vitalit}^ and making the growth of the following 

 year still more susceptible to the infedtion. 



In the autumn, however, after the stalks are dead 

 and dry, this damage does not prevail, and the spores 

 upon old brush can be destroyed by burning the aspar- 

 agus stems either as they stand in the field or by cut- 

 ting and throwing the brush into piles. By the latter 

 method many of the smaller branches will be broken 

 off and scattered upon the ground, giving a suitable 

 place for the spores to remain over the winter. For 

 the same reason it is an advantage to burn the brush 

 in autumn instead of the spring, and thus prevent the 

 large loss of spores that would obtain. In other 



