Tur Farm Garpvren 1297 
speaking, is not a turnip. The seed can be sown in the hotbed, 
or, as soon as the ground is fit, in the open, in rows 14 inches apart 
and about 4 inches distant in the row. Transplant about the same 
time as early cabbage. They should be gathered before they are 
full size. 
The common strap-leaf purple turnip can be sown between the 
rows at the last cultivation of corn or potatoes, and in a wet season 
will make a good crop either in the garden or field. They can be 
sown the last of July after the early peas have been gathered. 
Rutabagas in New York State should be sown in late May or 
early June, in drills 18 inches apart in the garden and in the field 
far enough apart to work with a horse. After they are estab- 
lished they should be thinned to 8 or 10 inches in the row. 
Rutabagas grow best when the nights are cool. 
I have left asparagus until last, not because I consider it of less 
importance, but because I want to take it up a little more fully. 
There is nothing I can think of as being a greater acquisition to 
the average garden than a good asparagus bed, and it takes but a 
comparatively small one to furnish an ample supply for the 
average family. One hundred plants set 18 inches apart in the 
row — and if more than one row, 4 feet apart— should be ample. 
The Palmetto is an excellent variety. If the bed is to be plowed 
over plants should be set 12 inches deep. 
Again we must have plant food under the plants for best suc- 
cess. A trench eighteen or twenty inches wide with two or three 
inches of well-rotted manure well trodden down, and three inches 
of good soil on that, is ideal. Cover plants only two or three 
inches at time of setting and work earth in during the summer, 
having all level by fall. After that cut tops when killed by frost 
and burn, give light dressing of manure to work in in spring 
and keep free from weeds. The second year some may be cut 
and the third year a full crop. The bed will remain for many 
years. This is satisfactory garden treatment. 
VALUABLE TOOLS 
Where there are not too many stones, a plank drag is excel- 
lent, and, alternated with a spike-tooth harrow, will do away with 
much raking. When the ground is comparatively free from 
stone, the combined wheel hoe and seeder is a great labor saver. 
Where this is not practical the implement made by putting five 
small cultivator teeth on a handle like a hoe, and that are adjust- 
able, is almost indispensable. By drawing it either each side 
or between the rows, much work can be done. 
