GROWING ASTERS FROM SEED 



by IT'. //. Dildine 



Pres.-Treas. James Vick's Sons, Eochester, N. Y. 



1st. Seed grown from highly developed parentage to produce 

 the longest stems and most perfectly shaped flowers and still re- 

 tain the vigor and robust health of primitive types. 



2nd. Perfect weather conditions : Frequent showers but no 

 long rainy season ; hot weather in the day and cool weather at 

 night, as cool as 50° will be all right ; plenty of sunshine, — cannot 

 have too much. 



3rd. A field where oats were grown the previous year and then 

 fall plowed and frequently harrowed to prevent a crop of weeds. 

 It should be in a high state of fertility with well balanced fertiliz- 

 ing constituents. It should be sandy or gravelly loam without clay 

 and well drained. It should not have had a crop of asters, toma- 

 toes, potatoes, cabbage, or any vine crop in three years previous. 

 A heavy coating of well rotted stable manure should be put on 

 early in the spring. Then the field should be plowed and harrowed 

 several times before planting. 



4th. The seed bed should be scientifically sterilized; if a cold 

 frame or hot bed all of the wood and sash should be sterilized. 

 The seed should b3 sowed in tiny furrows made by pressing a 

 sharp edge of a straight board into the soil. After the seed is 

 thinly sprinkled along the furrow, it should be carefully covered 

 with sterilized sand. Within a week after plants begin to appear 

 the surface soil should be gently stirred and thereafter kept 

 mellow and free from weeds. Water should be used freely but not 

 so frequently as to keep the top soil soaked. Remeir.ber, water is 

 needed under the surface, not on it. When plants are four to six 

 inches high, according to varieties, transplant from seed bed to 

 field. Set out the plants in the afternoon so that they will recover 

 from shock of planting during the night. The second day should 

 be cloudv but not rainy, — we would prefer sunshine to rain the 

 second day. 



5th. During the season beginning once in the plant bed and 

 then about a week after transplanting, plants should be sprayed 

 with bordeaux mixture of a weak solution at first and with the 

 same analysis used for potatoes after plants are a month in the 

 field. During the season the soil should be kept mellow and free 

 from weeds. 



6th. Don't allow tarnish plant bug, aster beetle or other in- 

 sects, aphis, bugs, flies or fungus growths within half a mile of 

 the field. 



Finally, don't allow lack of ideal conditions to discourage. 

 Many of the finest fields w T e have ever seen have been produced 

 under conditions very remote from the ideals we have mentioned 

 above. Asters can be grown almost anywhere bv a careful, intel- 

 ligent substitution of fair conditions where ideals are not attain- 

 able. 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BULLETINS 



No. 1311 — Chrysanthemums for the Home — Covering soil, 

 fertilizing, disbudding, shelter, insect enemies, etc. 



No. 750 — Roses for the Home — Covering similar information. 



No. 181 — Pruning — Fruit trees, shrubs, etc. 



Copies of these and many more may be procured from vour 

 congressman or, if out of print, Government Printing Office, 

 Washington, D. C. at five cents per copy. 



