PERENNIAL 
207 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 will 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 autumn, cut, carefully 
gather together and burn, all affected stalks, 
