1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTUEIST. 
6‘3 
« 
tacked on it at right angles. The asparagus is 
laid on the bunchcr between the pins, the tops 
touching the back or wall, to keep them even. 
When the bunch is large enough, the strings are 
tied tightly, and the but-end of the bunch cut 
square ; one string is near the bottom, and strong, 
the other near the top, may be smaller. There are 
several mechanical bunchers, the best we have seen 
being that invented several years ago, by Mr. S. B. 
Conover, who has since then considerably improved 
it. The engraving, (fig. 2), shows the construction; 
the asparagus is placed in between two brass strips, 
Fig. 2 .— CONOVER’S ASPARAGUS BENCHER. 
the hinged part of the buncher is brought down by 
means of the lever, and held in place until the 
strings are tied. The bunch is usually 4 or 5 inches 
in diameter, and 8 inches long, the size being 
usually smaller early in the season, than later. Not 
only does care in bunching pay, but so does care at 
every step. In cutting do not long expose the 
asparagus to the sun, or it will curl up. Before 
bunching wash carefully in clean water. Do not 
bruise the tops. Assort carefully, making two sorts 
as to size, and pack the bunches of the firsts and 
seconds separately. If the tops of any shoots have 
“ broken,” or grown too much, do not bunch them ; 
they injure the sale, but eat them at home, and 
thus have the best. Keep the bunches always up¬ 
right, and if to be kept for some hours before pack¬ 
ing, stand them on wet hay in a cool, dark cellar. 
Pack upright in crates as high as the bunches. If 
to be sent to a distant market, set the bunches on 
wet grass and see to the ventilation. 
—- -O i - - - 
An Iowa Gardener’s Success. 
if we say that two men fail in gardening where 
one succeeds, the estimate will no doubt be within 
the truth. By gardening, w r e here refer to that 
which is carried on with a view to profit whether 
in raising vegetables or small fruits. The reasons 
for these failures are to be found in the fact that so 
many undertake gardening without any previous ex¬ 
perience, and with too great expectations. They 
read Mr. Peter Henderson’s account of having an 
average net return of $300 per acre for celery, and 
Mr. William Parry’s statement of a similar profit 
from strawberries or other small fruit, and take up 
pencil and paper—5 acres of celery at $300=11,500 
profit—4 acres of spinach at $300=$1,200—5 acres 
in miscellaneous vegetables at a profit of at least 
$200, or $1,000—in all $3,700 profit. It is equally 
easy to make the same number of acres pay —on 
paper—a, similar profit on strawberries, raspberries, 
and other small fruits. Calculations of this sort are 
made over and over again by clerks, bookkeepers, 
mechanics, and others, who have heard of the suc¬ 
cess of others in gardening, and who can see no 
reason why they may not reap these profits, and 
they are most frequently made by persons who 
never grew a celery plant,.and hardly know a black¬ 
berry from a raspberry bush. Such persons of 
course fail, and then blame those who have written 
about such matters for misleading them. They for¬ 
get that the success of such men as Henderson, 
Quinn, Parry, and others, have been by beginning 
small, and only enlarging as they acquired experi¬ 
ence—and while their experience, as recorded in 
their writings, is of the greatest value to others, an¬ 
other can not, no matter how faithfully he studies 
it, appropriate it and substitute it for his own. 
While we would not discourage those who would 
undertake any form of gardening, for we believe 
that there are abundant opportunities all over the 
country for those who will undertake it in the right 
way, we would repeat a warning already given more 
than once, and which needs to be frequently given 
—go slow until you know the road. Gardening on 
paper is easy—gardening in the garden is not easy, 
but it can be made successful and profitable, where 
there are brains to properly direct the hands. 
Failures from over sanguine estimates by inex¬ 
perienced persons, are so common that one need 
not go far to find them—but as an illustration of 
wb~t may be done by beginning properly, workiug 
patiently—profiting by mistakes, and, what is quite 
as important as anything, adaptiug the culture to 
the locality, we give 
Mr. B. Kemper’s Experience, 
condensed from the notes he sends us. Mr. K. 
lives in Muscatine Co., Iowa, but his business, 
coopering, being dull, he bought a few acres of 
land, to raise vegetables for a neighboring market. 
He says : “ The first two years 1 did not make much 
progress, as my land had been poorly cultivated, 
and with an abundance of weeds. I have learned 
by experience, that to raise nice vegetables and 
make gardening profitable, you must as much as 
possible raise your own seeds. I buy a great many 
seeds, but they often fail, until they become accli¬ 
mated and adapted to our climate and soil. [An 
important point with many plants, but one which 
few think of. En.] I use my own seeds, when possi¬ 
ble, for such sorts as there is the greatest demand 
for in our market, such as cabbages, tomatoes, 
sweet corn, and sweet potatoes. My early cabbages 
are mostly “Fottler’s Drumhead”; this heads 
with me as early as the “ Early Wakefield,” and by 
letting it stand a week or ten days longer, each 
plant will become a good solid head, weighing 
from 5 to 25 lbs. When I commenced gardening, I 
bought several different kinds of tomato seeds, of 
which I found the “General Grant” the earliest 
and most productive. I always take my seed from 
the first and nicest tomatoes. I also have the 
“Boston Market,” the “Trophy,” and “Canada 
Victor,” which did not prove very successful last 
year, but I shall give them another trial. I put out 
seven hundred of the “Genl. Grant” plants, which 
brought $250, though I sold the most of my toma¬ 
toes for 25 cents a bushel. 
I planted several varieties of sweet corn side by 
side, and gave them the same culture, some kinds 
brought very small ears, others mostly ran to suck¬ 
ers. I saved seed of this, and the next year tried 
more kinds, among which was the “Adams’ Early,” 
which had good sized ears, but was not sweet. I 
raised it along side of the others, and the kinds 
mixed and turned out to be early, with nice large 
ears, having from eight to twelve rows. For the 
last two years I have planted none except seed 
from ten and twelve rowed ears, and have so 
improved the corn and land, that it brings 14,000 
salable ears to the acre. My corn sells well on 
account of its earliness and size, but I have no 
name for it. It is excellent for shipping, because 
of its small husk, and is more profitable than my 
pure sweet^corn, which I made on the same princi¬ 
ple, and sold of it until the “ Evergreen ” came in. 
Four years ago I tried the “ Early Concord,” it had 
a little larger ear, but it was not so early and pro¬ 
ductive as my own. I also tried the “Early Suc¬ 
cess,” which I saw advertised in your paper; it 
was planted at the same time with my early corn, 
and when I picked mine, the “Success” was just 
silked, and only had one ear where mine had three. 
It had a fine flavor, but I brought my late corn to 
market sooner, with from twelve to sixteen rows, 
while that had only eight. Last season I tried the 
“Early Minnesota,” this proved a week later, it 
was excellent in flavor, but had a small ear, with 
red husk, silk, and cob, which did not suit my 
customers. [There is something wrong about this ; 
the “Minnesota,” which we have grown three 
years, originally from Vick, has a white cob, and 
is the earliest really sweet corn, with a good sized 
ear, that we know of. Ed.] I drill in my corn in 
rows four feet apart ; this gives room to go through 
the rows with a horse and cultivator, after a hard 
shower of rain ; when it is three inches high, I take 
a double shovel plow, with small shovels, and 
throw earth close to the corn, so that all the weeds 
are covered. (I do not mean the coarse weeds, as I 
have no other than Purslane). In about a week 
1 throw up more earth. I put in enough seeds to 
allow for what stalks may be damaged by cultivating. 
When the corn is 7 or 8 inches high, a boy thins it 
out, so as to leave a stalk every 4 to 8 inches, at the 
same time pulling out any weed stalks. Covering 
the lower joint of the corn when it is small, gives 
it more root and less suckers, and promotes its ear¬ 
liness, so that it is generally ready for market the 
first week of July. I raise nearly all varieties of 
vegetables, and always sow in drills, even such as 
melons, cucumbers, and beans, so I can go through 
them with a horse and cultivator. The prices of 
vegetables here are so low, that it does nor pay to 
hand-hoe them. I am often asked how I keep the 
weeds down; my soil is light and sandy, and 1 make 
a shallow furrow and drill the seed in it, and cover 
with a hand-cultivator ; when the plants are up, I 
take a small one-horse harrow, with handles like a 
plow, so that I can harrow very close up to the 
row, and throw earth into the furrow. 1 am careful 
to buy my seed from first-class dealers. My garden 
consists of 15 acres, and on most of it I raise two 
crops, and do the work with my boys, the oldest of 
which is 16 years.-This is an account which 
inexperienced gardeners may read with profit, not 
so much that they may follow precisely in the ways 
of the writer, for these are not suited to all locali¬ 
ties ; but it shows that the writer has his heart in 
his business, and if one thing does not suit him, he 
tries again, and is bound to get a variety that will 
be best for him. We have not space to add his 
commendatory words in relation to the American 
Agriculturist, to the teachings of which he attri¬ 
butes a large share of his success. He thinks if all 
engaged in cultivation of any kind, should take it, 
“ it would in many cases save them trouble and 
expense,”—a point on which we agree with him. 
THE H©IIJ§EH(D)Llo 
(l?br oilier Household Items, see “Basket ” pages). 
Home Topics. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
“Tliat Boy!” 
Of course there is a difference in boys, but isn’t 
your healthy, wide-awake boy a rather noisy ani¬ 
mal ? If he has to spend a day in the house, 
doesn’t he worry and tire you half to death ? His 
voice is seldom “low and sweet,” and his foot¬ 
steps are all emphatic. These growing boys are 
hardly suitable for house-pets, certaiuly. They 
can’t help it, and we ought not to expect them to 
change their nature. But oh ! for patience to bear 
with them. And oh ! for wisdom to do for them 
just what is needed for the proper cultivation of 
their natures. Their mischief and their scrapes are 
often simply the result of unemployed steam which 
they have no power to repress, and for which there 
is no proper work supplied. The boy who hectors 
and pushes and pulls the sister whom he dearly 
loves, is really suffering for somebody or something 
to wrestle with. He needs again and again to test 
his power. He wants something that he can,kick 
with all his might, something to jerk about, some¬ 
thing to command. These things are not especial¬ 
ly manly, but they are among the instinctive work¬ 
ings of the boyish nature when it is full of animal 
vigor. There is, no doubt, scope for all this youth¬ 
ful activity and love of enterprise in the general 
economy of nature, if we can only find out and fall 
in with her plans. If we can only furnish attrac¬ 
tive work which will meet a boy’s necessities in the 
