44 
CORN SHELLERS.-CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS. 
spreads from limb to limb, the whole tree becomes 
diseased, an I eventually perishes. A writer in 
the London •• Entomological Magazine ” describes 
the mode of propagation of this insect, and gives a 
method of destroying it as follows:—“These 
blights wander wherever it pleases the wind to 
carry them : and, if bad luck should drive one of 
them against the branch of an apple tree, there it 
will stick, creep into a crack in the bark, bring 
forth its young, and found a colony. The white 
cotton soon appears in large bunches ; branch after 
branch becomes infected; the tree grows cankery, 
pines, and dies. How this is effected, no one 
knows, though the cause and effect are too evident 
to escape the notice of the commonest clown. In 
large orchards, it is vain to hope for a cure 3 but 
not so in gardens. Directly you see the least mor¬ 
sel of cotton, make up your mind to a little trouble, 
and you will get rid of it. In the first place, get a 
plasterer’s -white-washing brush 3 then get a large 
pot of double size : make your man heat it, till it is 
quite liquid 3 then go with him into the garden, and 
see that he paints over e^ery patch of white, 
though not bigger than a sixpence 3 the next morn¬ 
ing have the size pot heated again, and have an¬ 
other hunt 3 and keep on doing so every morning 
for a fortnight. Tour man will tell you it’s no use 
— tell him that’s your business not his. Your 
neighbors will laugh at you for your pains—do it 
before they are up. I have tried it, and know it to 
be effectual. Spirit of tar has been used with par¬ 
tial effect 3 so also has resin. Whitewashing has 
been often tried, and, as it contains some size, is 
not entirely useless ; and some horticulturists think 
it ornamental—I do not.” 
CORN SHELLERS. 
Numerous have been the attempts to construct 
a machine which shall supersede the old fashioned 
mode of separating the kernel from the corn cob, 
by means of the long handle of a frying pan, or the 
blade of a shovel laid across a tub 3 but they have 
nearly all been objectionable either from total in¬ 
efficiency, or from the liability constantly to get 
out of repair. Among a great number, however, 
different capaci¬ 
ties and prices, 
both to turn by 
hand or stronger 
pow r er, which 
successfully 
perform their 
work. The kind 
inmost common 
use, is a hand 
shelter, some¬ 
times made only 
with cast iron 
frames, while at 
others, the shel¬ 
ling plate is en¬ 
cased in v T ood, 
as denoted by 
Fig. 9. 
Hand Corn Sheller. — Fig. 9. 
This machine is preferable to the former, as any 
one can repair it when broken, and the grain does 
not fly, or scatter, as it is shelled, as it does with¬ 
out the case. It will shell from 100 to 150 bushels 
of corn per day, when operated only by one man. 
Price from $6.50 to $7.50. 
Hand Sheller.—Fig. 10. 
There is another kind of sheller, denoted by Fig. 
10 , which has been somewhat in use, and considered 
as a very efficient hand machine 3 but it is much less 
perfect in its operations than the one described 
above. Price from $7 to $7.50 
CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS. 
The finest asparagus produced in this vicinity, or 
at least that which brings the highest price in our 
markets, is grown by Mr. Daniel Smith, at Matine- 
cock, Long Island. The asparagus bed contains 
about three acres, and lies on the bay, about ten 
feet above high-water mark. 
The method of culture is simply thus: Early in 
March, Mr. S. cuts off the tops of the asparagus, 
and then gives the land a thick coat of barn yard or 
city manure. As soon after the frost is out, and 
the ground is dry enough, he plows up the whole 
field about nine inches deep, j ust as he would any 
field for a crop of corn, and without regard to cut¬ 
ting the asparagus roots. He then harrows and 
rolls the field, leaving the asparagus to shoot up at 
will. 
The variety of asparagus wdiich Mr. S. culti¬ 
vates, he thinks highly of 3 but we are of opinion 
that the soil and situation happen to be exactly of 
the right kind to produce a first rate article. It is 
a free, deep, rich loam, unquestionably well im¬ 
pregnated with salt. It ought to be analyzed as 
well as the asparagus plant. We should then know 
what constitutes a good asparagus soil. Will no< 
some rich citizen, who is particularly fond of as¬ 
paragus, contribute a few dollars for such an analy¬ 
sis 'l How many thousands of dollars are annually 
thrown away in this city, on miserable tom-fool¬ 
eries, which might be expended in the advancement 
of the science of horticulture. 
Any of our readers desirous of tasting this as¬ 
paragus, will find it at Clark & Brown’s, Maiden 
Lane. A single bunch of thirty shoots unfreqmently 
weighs 4i lbs. 
