VOL 
2286. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 18, 1893. 
PRICK, THRKK CENTS 
& 1.00 PER YEAR. 
AN OFFERING TO OUR DISAPPOINTED FRIENDS 
any position or in any soil, will one day appreciate 
the Agnes Emily. We say, “one day;” that means 
three years. Its wealth of foliage and flower, its 
sturdiness, its prolificacy of bloom will scarcely be 
known before. 
The illustrations of leaves and flowers are engraved 
from a photograph taken by the propagators, Storrs 
& Harrison, of Painesville, Ohio. The glass illustra¬ 
tion below is engraved from a photograph taken sev¬ 
eral years ago, and first presented in Thu E. N.-Y. of 
October 12, 1889. 
The hybrids making up the set offered to applicants 
by the late manager, are a queer and interesting lot. 
They are as unlike one another as roses well can be. 
Half a dozen or more seem especially well adapted for 
hedges. The leaves are very small, the habit round, 
THE CULTIVATION OF ASPARAGUS 
THE AGNES EMILY CARMAN K08E TO HE SENT 
TO ALL SUBSCRIHERS WHO APPLIED 
FOR THE RUG OS A HYBRIDS 
And to Them Only Just Now. No Further Ap¬ 
plication Necessary. 
The failure of The R. N.-Y. to send the ltugosa 
hybrid roses to those who applied for them is the first 
failure it has ever made to do as it promised to do ; 
the first promise it has made and broken. It has 
caused us more mortification and sorrow than our 
friends can ever know. The promise was made in 
good faith, no doubt, by the late business manage¬ 
ment, but in spite of the protest of the editors that 
they could not possibly be propagated in time, or any¬ 
where near the time, 
to fulfill the promise. •' , 
To this protest it was tv% ... < ' ■ 
urged that a new 
method of propaga- 1 
tion would enable f 
the Rural Publishing - 
Company to fill every 
application strictly 
according to the 
terms of the offer. 
We knew little of 
this new method, and ^ 
yielded to the enthu- 1 
s i a 8 m of the pub- I 
lisher simply because 
his authority at that 
time was supreme. 
The new method was tried and failed. It 
was found that nearly every one of the 17 
hybrids would have to be budded on Manetti 
or other stock, and that the fulfillment of 
the promise made was an absolute impossi¬ 
bility. 
We are now enabled, as a partial amend, to 
send to each and every one who applied for 
one or more of the 17 hybrids of the original ’• 
set, a plant of the first hybrid with Rosa 
rugosa ever produced, which has been named 
by the propagators the Agnes Emily Carman 
Rose, a not unmerited honor to the woman 
who, during a portion of every summer for 
the past eight years, has given her time to 
the tedious work of hybridization. 
These roses are all strong field-grown 
plants, and may be set in the open ground 
at any time, though it would be well to 
mulch about them with litter or manure, so 
as to prevent the soil from heaving. 
This rose is thoroughly hardy in so far as 
it may be judged by its behavior at the 
Rural Grounds and in Painesville, Ohio. 
Last spring, nearly every one of The Rural’s 
collection of Hybrid Perpetuals was more or less cut 
back by the severity of the winter’s cold. Some were 
killed outright; but not a bud of the Rugosa hybrid 
was harmed. 
Its history is well known to our older readers, 
llarison’s (not Harrison) Yellow was the male par¬ 
ent; the old pink Japan Rugosa the mother. 
Its leaves are much like those of the mother, though 
larger. The leaves of Harison’s Yellow are small, 
and we would look for intermediate leaves in the 
progeny. The color of the flower is precisely that of 
Jacqueminot. They are not quite so large; the buds 
are not so pretty. But it will give three roses to 
Jacque’s one. 
It will never be valued by the florist. The stems are 
alive with thorns. But we fancy that all who love 
hardy, healthy, long-lived roses that will thrive in 
AN EXPERT REVIEWS IIIS METHODS. 
Growing and Marketing this Crop. 
Old readers of The R. N.-Y. will remember the 
account of the asparagus field of Mr. A. Donald, of 
Horsebeads, N. Y. Mr. D. has been very successful 
with this crop, and because of the fact that his suc¬ 
cess has been due to the care and skill with which he 
grows it, an account of his field operations is all the 
more valuable. The increase of asparagus culture in 
the past few years is something remarkable, and thus 
far the consumption has increased along with it, so 
that the crop is getting to be a very important one 
with gardeners. Thousands of new acres have been 
set, and there is a general demand for reliable infor¬ 
mation respecting the growing and sale of 
this product. We think, therefore, that the 
following interview with Mr. Donald will be 
helpful to many of our readers: 
The Soil and the Setting. 
“What soil would you select for asparagus, 
Mr D. ?” 
“ For my own choice I would select land 
free from stone ; soil, a clay loam, with good 
underdrainage; the latter is of much im¬ 
portance. The soil should be quite rich. 1 
prefer a clover sod.” 
“ How about plowing and manuring ? ” 
“ I would plow deep in the fall, harrow 
well and apply a heavy coating of stable 
manure—if it can be had ; if not 1 would use 
half a ton of fine ground bone and half a ton 
of sylvinit to the acre, after plowing. Har¬ 
row or cultivate well as early the next spring 
as the ground will work up mellow and not 
bake.” [Sylvinit is a salt of potash some¬ 
what like kainit, only containing a higher 
percentage of potash. — Eds.) 
“ What are your rules for setting out the plants?” 
“ I would mark out the rows 3>£ feet apart, by run¬ 
ning the plow both ways, and open a good deep fur¬ 
row. For field culture of one or more acres I would 
take something light, and make cross-marks, so as to 
set the plants 3% feet apart each way. I clean out 
the furrow with a hoe or shovel, so as to set the 
plants at least six inches below the surface. 
“ What sort of plants would you select ? ” 
“ The most important thing is to have good one- 
year-old roots. They are the best at all times, as they 
will develop a much better crown than two-year olds. 
In selecting plants I would have none but those that 
show a good thick bud. I set no plants that have 
crowns with fine set buds and all in a bunch; such 
will always throw up small shoots, which never sell 
well or pack so nicely in a bunch or basket. It doesn't 
The First of the Rosa Rugosa Hybrids. Fig. 245. 
compact and bushy. One of them bears flowers of 
medium size, very double, the outer petals being 
yellowish, the inner ones a light copper color. It 
blooms but once, but during the blooming period it is, 
indeed, a mass of bloom. Others of the hedge roses 
are purplish tinted, others of a pink color, others 
white, all more or less double. The plants are ap¬ 
parently hardy. 
One plant of the set, the male parent of which was 
a Hybrid Perpetual probably, bears large, single 
flowers of a deep crimson—almost maroon—color. The 
foliage shows the texture of Rugosa. Several may be 
truly called, to use a much abused word, perpetual. 
They bloom during the entire summer and fall, rest¬ 
ing somewhat as Rugosa rests during a part of late 
summer. One plant is a procumbent Rugosa, differing 
only from the mother plant in that it in procumbent. 
