on? PERENNIAL 



^°^ CROPS 



fresh air-slaked lime as soon as the larvae appear. 

 It should be put on while the plants are still 

 damp with dew, and only the greatest thorough- 

 ness can accomplish anything. Destroy all 

 volunteer shoots. As the beds are cut, leave 

 some small trap-shoots upon which the beetles 

 will gather; cut these twice a week and destroy. 

 In hot weather brush the insects off and they 

 will bake on the soil in the sun. 



It is so risky to use poisons on asparagus that 

 is to be eaten, that Paris green may be used only 

 in very rare instances; then the mixture consists 

 of one pound of the poison to fifty pounds of 

 air-slaked lime. Two applications are made, 

 about a week apart. 



Some gardeners turn a hen with chickens, or 

 a number of young chickens, into the asparagus 

 field as soon as the crop is cut. This is one of 

 the best ways of keeping down the beetles, and 

 the scratching of the fowls cultivates the crop. 

 This wiU lessen your own work and increase the 

 value of your chickens to you. 



Rust is the chief disease, and for this there is 

 no sovereign remedy. Every effort should be 

 made to secure only vigorous plants, and in 

 very dry weather irrigation should be practiced, 

 if possible. Early in the autimm, cut, carefully 

 gather together and bum, all affected stalks, 



