The Canadian Horticulturist. i i 7 



forseen it, before making the plantation, a more protected location might have 

 been chosen. 



INSECT ENEMIES. 



The only insect enemy of asparagus which has appeared yet in our State is 

 the cutworm. Clean and continuous culture in early spring, following autumn 

 plowing of the surface, has reduced this pest to a minimum with me. 



That persistent enemy to the culture of this esculent, the asparagus beetle, 

 which appeared in eastern plantations as early as i860, has not reached us 

 yet. 



ORNAMENTAL USE OF ASPARAGUS. 



If it were not a common kind of vegetable, asparagus would take a promi- 

 nent place as a lawn decorative plant. Its airiness and delicacy, combined with 

 its pleasing tint of green and its perfection as a screen, render it one of the most 

 useful ornamental plants. 



It is inexpensive, grows rapidly, and requires little care. Many an unsjightly 

 corner may be made attractive by its employment, and its usefulness in the 

 kitchen garden ought not to reduce its popularity for ornamental purposes. 

 Altogether, asparagus is one of our most valuable importations from across the 

 sea, and while we may not rival our P>ench brethren in the quality of the pro- 

 duct we secure from the plant, perhaps our tastes are not so highly cultivated 

 but that our own product is as satisfactory for our own people. 



Chas. W. Garfield, before the Michigan State Hort. Society. 



TRANSPLANTING ONIONS. 



N a bulletin of the Ohio Experiment Station for October last, we find 

 some further points on the practice of transplanting onions. It seems 

 that Mr. Green, the horticulturist, has also been making experiments 

 in the same line as Mr. Greiner, and with the same results. He finds 

 that by transplanting, the yield of the onion bed can be increased in 

 some cases about 100 per cent, especially with such late ripening 

 foreign varieties as the Pompeii, Prize-taker and the White Victoria. In expla- 

 nation Mr. Green mentioned three causes which appear to produce the increase 

 in yield : first, longer period of growth of transplanted onions than those sown in 

 the field ; second, the advantage of making the greater share of their growth 

 earlier in the season during the cool weather ; and, third, the greater uniformity 

 in size. .With regard to the expense incurred by the extra labor in transplant- 

 ingj he says that that is offset by the saving of labor in weeding. Indeed, Mr. 

 Green assures us that the cost of growing a crop is actually lessened, instead of 

 being increased, by transplanting, and further that the finer appearance of the 

 transplanted onions and their increased market value over those grown by the 

 common method gives this plan a very decided advantage. 



