THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
5 
in each case. There is no magic about it. Simply 
rich soils, intelligently cultivated and judiciously 
watered. frank l. watrous. 
Ohio Agricultural College. 
Potatoes and Asparagus in Texas. 
O. S. E., Ennis , Tex. —1. What is the earliest and 
most profitable potato for market for this country ? 2. 
How shall I prepare and plant an asparagus bed from 
the seed ? How long will it take the latter to grow a 
crop of asparagus ? 
Ans.— 1. The potato known here as the Triumph, or 
Tennessee Red, is known among the market gardeners 
as the most profitable, very early potato. It is pro¬ 
lific, smooth, handsome, a good keeper and shipper, 
but is only second rate in quality, about the same as 
the Peerless. In this vicinity, it has superseded Early 
Rose, Early Ohio, etc., which are much better in 
quality, but are not good producers or keepers. If 
there is a surplus of early crop of this variety, it may 
be kept until August, when it nearly always brings 
from gl to $1.25 per bushel. 2. To prepare and plant 
an asparagus bed, select a smooth, level piece of 
ground free from stones, cover with fine, well-rotted 
stable manure or cotton seed at the rate of 50 tons of 
the former or four or five of the latter ; plow in very 
deeply, and follow in the bottom of the furrow with 
a second plow loosening the ground altogether not 
less than 15 inches in depth. Lay ofii the ground into 
rows each way feet apart, and at each intersection 
plant a strong one or two-year-old asparagus root— 
Conover’s Colossal or other improved variety—leaving 
the crown of the plant at least six inches below the 
surface. After this, the ground is cultivated each way 
at small expense the same as corn. In two years, the 
plants are strong enough to allow cuttings to be made, 
and from this time on the bed should receive a good 
dressing of cotton seed, cotton-seed meal or stable ma¬ 
nure annually during the winter. To produce the 
young plants, gather the seed in the fall and plant at 
once in shallow drills, say, 1 inch deep, in clean, rich 
land, and they will come up promptly in the spring. 
Cultivate one season in these drills, when they are ready 
to transplant into the permanent bed. I have given 
the method that will give a long-lived bed and most to 
be recommeded where land is cheap and labor high, 
and for general field culture for market. For family 
supply only, the instruction would be quite different. 
Then the bed would be pulverized with the spade, and 
the plants set about two feet apart each way and culti¬ 
vated with the hoe. A bed 4 by 20 or 30 feet will produce 
an abundance for an ordinary family. The old notion 
of salting the asparagus bed as being essential to suc¬ 
cess, is a fallacy. Cutting the shoots for use should 
not be prolonged over four or five weeks each spring. 
The growth made during the summer is cleared away 
at the first cultivation, and preparation of the bed, 
early in February, before the cutting season. 
T. V. MUNSON. 
Coriander and Other Herbs. 
0. S., Port Byron, N. Y. —Is the climate of central 
New York suitable for growing coriander seed? If 
so, how is it cultivated ? What would be the yield 
per acre ? I have 30,000 sage plants growing, the prod¬ 
uct of which finds fair sale. Several other herbs might 
be added to this, of which coriander is one, if it can 
be raised and the yield is sufficient. 
Ans.— Prof. Hailey tells us that coriander grows in 
his garden at Ithaca, N. Y. We cannot give the yield. 
We think the Shakers at Mt. Lebanon, N. Y., grow it 
in connection with their herb business. 
Danger of Spreading the San Jose Scale. 
T.E. B., Middlebury, Vt. —Is there danger that the 
nurserymen will send out the California scale insect 
with their plum trees next spring ? 
Ans.— The question indicates that the correspondent 
has confounded the new plum pest, which has this 
year devastated orchards in western New York, with 
the San Jos6 scale insect recently introduced into the 
Eastern States from California. The plum scale, 
which I recently discussed in The R. N.-Y., is an 
entirely different insect, and as it has thus far been 
found only on bearing trees over five years old, there 
is but little danger of its being introduced into new 
localities on nursery stock. With the San Jos6 scale, 
however, it is very different. This attacks trees of all 
ages, and the principal centers of infection here in 
the East have been two nurseries in New Jersey. At 
present, the pest is known to occur east of the Missis¬ 
sippi at only one point in each of the States of Florida, 
Virginia and Indiana, at two points in Pennsylvania, 
at three points in Maryland, at many points in New 
Jersey, at several points on Long Island, and at least 
at one other point (in Columbia County) in New York 
State. The only nurseries in which the pest is now 
present in the East, are two in New Jersey and 
some nurseries on Long Island. As soon as the grav¬ 
ity of the situation was made known to the New 
Jersey nurserymen, they at once destroyed $1,000 
worth of suspected stock, and they have since carried 
on this work of extermination under the dix’ection of 
Prof. Smith and the State Entomologist, until now, as 
Prof. Smith says. “ I feel safe in saying that no 
further infested stock will be sent out from these nur¬ 
series.” 
A vigorous warfare has been and is still being waged 
against the pest in nearly every locality where it has 
been found in the East. In Indiana and Virginia, the 
pest was soon exterminated. In Maryland and Penn¬ 
sylvania, the work was pushed so vigorously, that the 
insect is doubtless now practically extinct in these 
localities. The work in New Jersey is being thor¬ 
oughly done this winter. And I was glad to know 
that under Dr. Lintner’s direction this pest has been 
exterminated in the Columbia County oi’chard in our 
State. I had hoped that the agents of the Geneva Ex¬ 
periment Station would soon have the pest under con¬ 
trol on Long Island. But it seems from Dr. Lintner’s 
communication in The R. N.-Y. of December 8, that 
some of the nui’serymen on the Island refuse to take 
any measures for its destruction. This is very xmfor- 
tunate, and fully deserves the strong language with 
which Dr. Lintner closes his communication. The 
pest must be extei’minated in our State at whatever 
cost. 
As Mr. Howard, the United States Entomologist, 
has said : “From the present outlook, the damage 
done has not been unredeemable. In fact, it is an open 
question whether the ultimate result will not be a good, 
rather than a bad one. It cannot fail to make all nur¬ 
serymen extremely careful in the futui*e ; and care in 
regard to injurious insects is a quality in which some 
of them have been greatly lacking in the past.” 
Now to answer the correspondent’s question directly, 
I do not believe that any nursei-y firm will scarcely 
dare to send out stock bearing this San Jos6 scale, or 
any other scale insect, in the spi-ing. Nearly all of the 
firms are making strenuous efforts to exterminate the 
scale. Nevertheless, it would be a wise precaution 
carefully to examine all stock pxxi’chased from any 
nxirseryman, and especially from some of the Long 
Island nursei’ies, unless these soon take up the warfax’e 
of extermination. Some nurserymen will doubtless 
fumigate all stock before shipping in the spring, and 
their stock can thus be guaranteed. No, fruit grower’s 
need not be unduly alarmed, or refrain from buying 
nursery stock from x’eputable dealers, for we believe 
such dealers will not be likely to send out infested 
stock next spi-ing. m. v. slingerland. 
Can Berries "Mix” in the Field? 
W. E. M., Pine drove, Pa. —Will berries mix where 
different varieties, like sti-awbei-i-ies, etc., are planted 
close together ; that is, will the runners and suckers 
from individual plants prove untrue to name ? I have 
a bush of an everbearing raspberi’y ; about three feet 
away is a Gregg. The past summer, the Gregg threw 
out a fine, sti’ong young cane which bore and ripened 
a fine cluster of large fruit. 
Ans.—N o, the plants cannot mix. A strawberry 
runner will always bear the same berries as the plant 
producing the runner. It occasionally happens that 
through bud variation, the same plant may produce 
different varieties. This may be owing to crosses that 
occurred in previous seedlings, not until now becom¬ 
ing potent. It is quite probable that the stx’ong cane, 
apparently from the Gregg, is really a separate seed¬ 
ling plant, though it is not unusual for the Gregg and 
some other blackcaps, to bear clusters of fruit on the 
strong young canes. 
Cauliflower and Celery the Same Year. 
C. 0. U., Highland Lake, Col. —Can I raise a crop of 
celery after cauliflowers ? If so, what kinds of each ? 
What fertilizer can be used most profitably ? The 
land is what is known as seepage land, and is covered 
with a heavy sod. 
Ans. —It is possible to raise two crops in one year 
on the same land, but not under ordinary conditions. 
It would be necessary to get the cauliflower off the 
ground by July 15, certainly. It might be accom¬ 
plished by making the rows of cauliflower six feet 
apart and setting the celery between. Early Snowball 
and White Plume sell the best. Fifteen tons of sheep 
manure to the acre, or common, coarse manure, would 
answer if spread and plowed under in the fall, and 
irrigated. If the seepage ground has much alkali, or 
is cold and stiff, as much of such land is in Colorado, 
it would be unprofitable to garden the first year. Oats 
sometimes do well on such land. 
Pruning Peach Roots ; Blasting, 
W. J. W., Washington, Pa. —Is it advisable to cut off 
the tap roots of peach trees when setting them ? 
What does The R. N.-Y. think of blasting the ground 
with powder or dynamite three to five feet below the 
surface, just enough to loosen the ground and make 
it mellow before setting peach trees ? 
Ans.—I n relation to cutting off the tap roots from 
peach trees at the time of planting, I have had no 
vex’y extensive expei’ience in simply cixttiug the tap 
roots ; but in planting extensive orchards with light 
size trees, I have cut away all the roots to a short 
stem, less than an inch in length and then severely 
cut away the top and planted the trees with remark¬ 
able results, such as had never been obtained in any 
other way. Mox*e than 99 per cent of trees so pruned 
have grown, and with a root system far more abund¬ 
ant and vigorous than any similar ti'ees without root 
pruning. I am therefore strongly in favor of it. As 
to blasting the ground with dynamite, if the subsoil 
is hardpan, stiff clay, or any formation that would 
not readily admit of root peneti’ation, blasting is very 
beneficial and has been used with gi'eat success in 
some orchard sections of the counti-y, notably in Cali¬ 
fornia. J. H. HALE. 
Awnless Broom Grass. 
F. S., Osceola Mills, Pa. —Has The R. N.-Y. any ex¬ 
pei’ience about Awnless Broom grass, Broraus inermis? 
A little seed was sent me from the Agricultui’al De¬ 
partment at Washington. I am no farmer, but I would 
like to know whether it is worth gi’owing or not. 
Ans. —Hungarian or Awnless Bx-oom gi-ass, Bromus 
inermis, it is said, will thrive on a soil too poor to 
gx’ow any other gi’ass, and is, therefore, valuable for 
light, dry soils. It grows about two feet high, is very 
productive, but is not altogether hardy. In parts of 
California, it is preferred to other grasses, and is 
thought well of in Iowa. 
Horse Manure for an Old Meadow. 
O. B. W., Colton, N. Y. —I have an old meadow that 
has not been plowed for sevei’al yeai’s ; it now cuts a 
light crop of fine hay. I can hardly get to it with the 
plow next spring, but can give a part of it a dressing 
of horse manure that will be made this winter. The 
land is stony, heavy soil, but not wet; it is good 
dairy land when under px’oper cultivation. I wish to 
get all the hay I can from it next year. Would I bet¬ 
ter put on the horse manure, harrow and sow gi’ass 
seed ? If so, what kind of seed ? How would Crimson 
clover do, and then plow in the fall ? 
Ans. —Our experience with sowing Crimson clover 
in the spring has not been satisfactoi’y. There are 
few other seeds that would answer to sow as you pro¬ 
pose. We would broadcast the manure as early in the 
spring as possible. This will help the grass already 
seeded, and in the fall you can plow as proposed. 
Without plowing next spring, we do not see how you 
can get a heavier growth in any other way. 
Something About Wood Ashes. 
W. M. B., Newport, Ark. —1. How much ashes, either 
dry or wet, could be spread upon land and not injure 
the crop. 2. When is it best to plow under manure, 
winter or spring ? 3. Which is the best time to apply 
wood ashes to land, winter or spring ? 4. Are ashes 
that have been thoroughly wet before being taken 
from the ash pit, worth hauling one mile ? Would it 
not be best to spread the wet ashes on the ground as 
they are hauled ? 5. What crops would be benefited 
most by using ashes ? I i-aise a genei’al assortment of 
vegetables and sti’awberries. My land is of a sandy 
nature. The ashes are from hard wood. 
Ans. —We expect to give detailed answers to these 
and similar questions soon. These answers, therefoi-e, 
are brief. 1. We doubt if you can use ashes too 
heavily on ordinary soils. 2. No definite answer can 
be given, as much depends on soil, crop and other con¬ 
ditions. In most cases we would prefer spring. 3. 
We would use the ashes as well as similar fertilizers, 
after plowing, and hari-ow them in. That is, we be¬ 
lieve we obtain better x-esults by applying fertilizers 
near the surface. 4. Yes they are. Such leached ashes 
contain a little potash and a good deal of lime, and 
are always worth hauling one mile. It will save con¬ 
siderable labor to spread the ashes from the wagon, 
and this saving may compensate for the benefit to be 
derived from harrowing them in. 5. Ashes are ex¬ 
cellent for all fruits and general gai’den vegetables. 
They will give as good returns on sti’awberries as on 
anything. 
Lime-Kiln Ashes or Lime, 
A. J., Franksville, Wis. —I can get lime-kiln ashes for 
five cents per bushel, principally from hard wood. Are 
they worth that as a fertilizer ? Would it pay to use 
fine lime at $1 a load, to be hauled four miles, to put 
on a clay loam soil, with a heavy, gravelly, clay sub¬ 
soil ? Our bed rock is limestone. At what time should 
they be applied for the best results ? 
Ans. —Of course, the ashes fx-om a lime kiln will vary 
considerably in composition. A fair average will con¬ 
tain about 25 pounds of potash, 20 pounds of phos¬ 
phoric and 850 pounds of lime to the ton. They are 
well worth the price asked, and are cheaper than the 
“ fine lime,” since they contain all the lime your soil 
needs. With plenty of such ashes and clover, you can 
keep up the fertility of almost any soil. The R. N.-Y. 
always prefers to harrow in lime, ashes, etc., rather 
than to plow them under. We believe they are more 
effective when put in near the surface. 
