FORCING ASPARAGUS UNDER GLASS. 



6ig 



While the first or germinating frames require glass, the 

 second frames to which they are transferred need only 

 a covering of varnished cloth. For the purpose of pro- 

 tecting the plants from frost, the latter is to be preferred 

 and is much cheaper too. In this latitude, oftentimes 

 for weeks at a time, during February and March, there 

 is no frost at all, and there are only a few days in Feb- 

 ruary when there will be need for keeping the frames 

 closed in the day-time, but even when frost is not threat- 

 ened it is best always to cover at night to keep the 

 plants from being chilled. Killing frosts may be 

 expected up to the close of March, but it is only rarely 

 that they occur after the first of April. Even in the 

 latitude of middle Georgia a fourth of the crop can be 

 risked as early as the 20th of March, and most garden- 

 ers take about this much risk, but the bulk of the set- 

 ting-out is deferred to the first of April. Occasionally 



slight frosts in early April may nip the young plants, 

 but rarely is it severe enough to damage them. As we 

 go further south, setting-out is from a week to ten days 

 earlier for every 50 or 60 miles. 



In setting out the plants, and especially where the soil 

 is dry, we have always practiced the plan of grouting or 

 puddling the roots. A mixture is made of equal parts 

 of manure fresh from the cow stall and fine clay dust ; 

 to this is added a little cotton meal — a handful to the 

 bucketful — enough water is added to make a mush, into 

 which the plants are dipped, when the roots and stem 

 will be well coated. A half-teacupful of kerosene oil 

 stirred in the grout will be an almost perfect prevent- 

 ive of the cut-worm. 



Bahkviii Co., Ga. Samuel A. Cook. 



[to be continued.] 



FORCING ASPARAGUS UNDER GLASS. 



ii^ HE FORCING of asparagus 

 f ^ is easy and profitable. It has 

 been as yet impossible to can it 

 successfully, and this heightens 

 the demand for it during the 

 winter months. The tempera- 

 ture for forcing is from 50° to 

 60° or 65°. Allow from four to 

 six weeks for forcingto maturity, 

 which depends somewhat on the length of the days. 

 Do not try to force rapidly, or you will get small 

 and inferior stalks. Various methods may be used. 

 It may be in a permanent forcing bed, which in 

 many cases is the most advisable, or in a merely 

 temporary bed for one season's forcing. 



In the case of forcing for one season only, the roots 

 must be thrown away. An ordinary hot-bed might be 

 used, though probably it would not be satisfactory. 

 Permanent beds, four or five feet wide, as long as de- 

 sired, covered with glass, surrounded by a trench bricked 

 up on the outside and filled with stable manure, are 



sometimes used. As often as is required by the 

 temperature, the manure is renewed. Box flues may be 

 constructed through the center of the bed to heat it the 

 more evenly. A method similar to this is to place the 

 trench in the center, having merely the walls on the out- 

 side. Forcing in a house provided with steam is more 

 satisfactory. Temporary beds, probably, are most profit- 

 able. These beds may be made 3 feet wide and the rows 

 I foot apart. Plant in rows about 18 inches apart, 

 and alternately as to the rows. Such close planting 

 will need heavy manuring and close attention. If 

 natural color is desired, they must be given light and 

 air. A cheap and permanent house for forcing in early 

 spring may be made either as a double or single span ; 

 if double span, 8 or 10 feet wide. Build a wall from 

 the frost line to a foot above ground. Frame and cover 

 with glass. If the drainage is not good, it must be made 

 so. Dig a trench two feet wide through the center for 

 a walk. Make an excavation several feet square at one 

 end, to serve for the furnace or stove, and also for the 

 entrance. To heat the beds, carry the smoke around the 

 outside of the bed in flues which are almost entirely below 



