602 
T1IE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 13, 
ASPARAGUS CULTURE IN NEW JERSEY. 
I planted a new asparagus bed two years ago, using a 
large quantity of stable manure, and giving careful cultiva¬ 
tion since. Soil quite deep and a good loam ; southern ex¬ 
posure. But the shoots this year, when I had expected to be 
able to begin cutting, are too small and thin to market. I 
am told the plants should have been set deeper. Can this 
be the trouble? s. s. 
Norfolk, Conn. 
The growing of asparagus in this section of New 
Jersey has been revolutionized within a few years. 
Trior to the rust that appeared eight or 10 years ago, 
when the old Conover’s Colossal was the only variety 
grown, the chief object of the average farmer was to 
get a bed established, and then he was fixed for life as 
far as setting asparagus was concerned. In those days 
1 have known beds to be cut for nearly 20 years, or as 
long as stalks would appear as large as a lead pencil, and 
I do not know but what some were marketed even 
smaller than that. When the rust became so bad it 
drove the old variety out of cultivation, and growers 
were compelled to look around them for a rust-resisting 
sort, Palmetto, Barr’s Mammoth and some varieties of 
French asparagus were tried. When these varieties 
came to maturity they were found to cut much larger 
stalks, which were found to sell much better. That was 
the beginning of what is not yet the end. From that 
time on there has been a constant effort to grow large 
“grass” among the most progressive cultivators. From 
the old bunch, containing 100 stalks or more, to-day it 
is not considered fancy “grass” unless it contains 20 
stalks or less per bunch. I have seen bunches with only 
nine stalks per bunch, and heard of them containing 
only seven. All through this section but one variety is 
grown, and that is an improved strain of Palmetto. I o 
grow large asparagus, and that is the 
only kind that will pay any farmer to¬ 
day, several things must be remembered: 
Good seed from choice stalks in a good 
bed; proper soil; thorough cultivation, and 
heavy manuring. I visited a man only 
two days ago who has seven acres that 
cut 10,000 bunches this season. This man 
has more demand for his seed than he can 
supply at $5 per pound, and such seed is 
nearer worth it than commercial seed is 
as a gift. 
STARTING THE SEED.—After se¬ 
curing the proper seed of'thc variety de¬ 
sired, sow thinly in rows ‘I'/z to three feet 
apart, fertilize heavily. Should plants 
stand too thickly in rows thin them some, 
so they will have room to develop. 
Should they stop growing any time during 
the season help them along by additional 
fertilization; a little nitrate of soda is val¬ 
uable at this stage. What is wanted is a 
large healthy one-year-old plant. Never 
set a two-vear-old plant if you are looking 
for best results. Years ago it was consid¬ 
ered that asparagus would thrive only on 
sand, but I have found a good deep sandy 
loam much the better place to plant the 
crop. The grower is sure to cut heavier 
“grass” on such soil than he would on sand. 
PREPARING AND SETTING.—In this section we 
set in drills, yet in some sections it is set in checks so 
as to cultivate both ways. After preparing the ground 
as for any ordinary truck crop mark off in rows five feet 
apart; then take a one-horse turning plow, strike a back 
furrow around these rows first made, and plow out to a 
dead furrow. In this dead furrow make the furrow for 
your plants. By this method you will not have a ditch 
bank at the very edge of each row, making you think 
you are setting plants 10 inches deep when in reality you 
are setting only three or four. Ne'ver use stable or yard 
manure in the rows that you arc going to set asparagus 
plants in unless you are positive you have no field mice, 
because they will do a lot of damage to the roots. We 
set our plants 18 inches apart in the row. If plants are 
No. 1 they will meet or overlap each other along the 
trench. Cover plants about two inches deep, and these 
should be set about six inches below the natural level. 
CUETIVATION.—This should begin as soon as 
plants start and be kept up at frequent intervals through¬ 
out the season, never allowing bed to get very weedy. 
The future value of any asparagus bed depends largely 
on how it is used the first two or three years. Beetles 
should be kept from doing damage from the very begin¬ 
ning. It may be done either by spraying with Paris- 
green and water or with a powder gun. I believe that 
letting the Asparagus beetle have more or less its own 
way has more to do with beds getting the rust than any 
one thing. It set weakens the plant that it is unable to 
resist disease. Manuring should be liberal, either with 
stable manure or commercial fertilizer. I like both; 
where soil is not well supplied with vegetable matter, 
10 to 13 tons of manure and 500 pounds fertilizer per 
acre for a cutting bed is none too much. I have known 
instances where a ton of commercial fertilizer was used 
on every acre, and the owner thought it a paying invest 
ment. 
CUTTING.—Asparagus should be cut for 10 days oi 
two weeks when one year old. There are two reasons 
for this. First, it helps develop the crown; second, it 
keeps the Summer growth or tops back out of the way 
of the first crop of bugs. When an asparagus bed is 
two years old it should begin to cut some prime “grass,’ 
but should not be cut for a longer period than one 
month. A bed properly handled from the beginning 
should cut at this age $100 worth of grass at a modest 
estimate. With good care as to feeding and cultivation 
an asparagus bed will improve till five or six years ol 
age and be correspondingly more valuable up to that 
period. A mature bed of asparagus, if not too far from 
a good market, should net the owner from $200 to $300, 
and I have known that to be exceeded in exceptional 
cases. _ c. c. h. 
A STEAMBOAT AS A BUTTER FACTORY. 
A 00-foot steamer on a Minnesota inland lake has been 
lifted up as a creamery, says the Toronto Sun. The vessel 
will call at different points on the shore, take on the milk, 
waiting there for her, and then proceed to the next station, 
separating the milk just received while on the way. Making 
will take place after the work of separation is complete. The 
steamer will return the skim-milk to the different stopping 
places. 
The lake referred to in the newspaper clipping is 
Lake Mille Lacs, a body of water cast of the central 
part of Minnesota, which covers about 200 square miles 
of surface and has something more than 90 miles of 
shore. A creamery is being started in a little village 
on the shore of this lake, and the owner of the little 
steamboat referred to is part owner of the creamery. 
The plan which is to be tried is not to run a separator 
on the boat, but to gather cream from the farmers 
living near the 15 landings where the boat makes daily 
stops, and carry it to the creamery where the butter 
is to be made. I doubt very much if a separator could 
be run successfully on so unstable a foundation as a 
boat would be, especially in windy weather. We are 
having a cool, moist season here, good for pastures, 
meadows and wheat, but rather slow for corn. 
Minnesota Exp. Station. j. m. drew. 
INOCULATION FOR FIELD PEAS. 
Fig. 267 shows its own story of the effect of inoc¬ 
ulation of field peas with bacteria from the laboratory 
of the United States Department of Agriculture. A 
bushel of common field peas was secured from a Mich¬ 
igan grower. The bacteria were prepared according to 
the instructions sent with the same. One-half of the 
seed was treated, the otlier half was sown untreated. 
The bacteria solution which remained over was used 
upon a bushel of dry sifted soil. This soil was sown 
upon a plot of ground in a corner of the field. The 
large plants shown are from this plot. The bacterial 
nodules are plainly shown in the picture. The peas un¬ 
treated and also those where seed only was treated are 
shown by the smaller plants. There is no perceptible 
difference between the seed-treated and untreated plots, 
but where the inoculated soil was used the effect is 
marvelous. The simple inoculation of the seed was en¬ 
tirely ineffective in this instance. The soil-inoculated 
plot is dark green, full of pods and blossoms. The re¬ 
mainder are small anti sickly, and will evidently produce 
no seed. The seeding was on good soil, peas one bushel 
and oats two bushels per acre. The pictures were taken 
60 days from planting. Field peas have been repeatedly 
tried by farmers around here, but generally without suc¬ 
cess. The experiment here shown indicates the reason. 
Soil from this inoculated plot will be used to inoculate 
more soil next season. So we hope henceforth to be 
able to grow peas and oats with success. The picture 
is a good average of the plants in both classes. The 
oats are also shown on outside. We were much sur¬ 
prised to note that the rank growth of the peas due to 
inoculation also stimulated the oats growing with them. 
I am also conducting similar experiments with Sand 
vetch, using the bacteria especially prepared for that 
Plant. _ j. x. c. 
HOW TO MAKE DRY BORDEAUX MIXTURE 
On page 207, in “Chemistry of Dry Bordeaux,” is this 
sentence: “Dry Bordeaux is prepared by pouring a con¬ 
centrated solution of bluestone into a thick cream of lime.” 
this must he dried and powdered. Why not use a solu¬ 
tion of the bluestone to slake the lime and thoroughly mix 
powdered lime thus obtained? a. d. p. y. 
Ashtaula, O. 
A powder containing copper in the same form that 
appears in liquid Bordeaux Mixture (the compound of 
copper that is injurious to fungi, and harmless to foliage 
when it is mixed with a sufficient quantity of slaked 
lime) cannot be prepared by slaking quicklime with a 
solution of copper sulphate (bluestone), the heat of the 
reaction being too great. The toxic compound is blue, 
while that formed under the influence of much heat is 
brown and comparatively inert. If the water is evap¬ 
orated from the blue compound over a fire it is also 
changed into the brown substance, and if the blue mate¬ 
rial is allowed to dry in the open air it crystallizes and 
does not adhere to the trees so readily as do the finer 
particles first formed. The larger quantity of lime 
mentioned below abstracts the water before 
crystallization begins, and takes the place 
of the water, which is used as a carrier in 
the liquid Bordeaux Mixture. Although 
the workman -to whom the directions in 
our Bulletin No. 60 were given, previous 
to publication, said they were practical, we 
found them to be tedious and disagreeable 
on a large scale, and have therefore adopt¬ 
ed the modification given below, which is 
simple and takes much less time: 
Materials: Six pounds copper sulphate 
(bluestone), four pounds good quicklime, 
two four-gallon quantities of water, about 
190 pounds of dry, slaked lime. Make 
this by slaking a barrel of quicklime (less 
the above four pounds) to a fine dry pow¬ 
der with water, or by exposing it to the 
air. A sieve, about 15 to 18 inches across, 
made of wire cloth having 25 to 30 meshes 
to the linear inch. Brace its bottom with 
cross wires. A wooden block of conven¬ 
ient size to rub the material through the 
sieve, say 3x6x1 inches. Directions: 
1. Dissolve six pounds of copper sulphate 
in four gallons of water. 2. Use part of 
four gallons of water to slake four pounds 
of good quicklime to a fine state, and 
then add the rest of the water, thus 
making a milk of lime. 3. Pour the 
copper sulphate and the milk of lime at the 
same time into a third vessel and stir until there 
are no streaks of green material in the blue mass. 
4. Spread upon a floor about 190 pounds of dry slaked 
lime and empty the ^ute mass, water and all (3) into it. 
Mix well with a rake, and while it is still somewhat 
damp pass it through the sieve, rubbing it through with 
the block held in the hand. 5. Mix thoroughly with a 
rake and spread out to dry. When dry it is ready for 
use. Its copper strength is approximately equivalent to 
that of the “4-6-50” liquid Bordeaux Mixture. It is 
handier to make it in lots of the above quantity, although 
larger quantities of copper sulphate may be dissolved at 
one time and four gallons of the solution taken. This 
powder is good for fungi only, but if canker-worms are 
to be fought one to two pounds of Paris-green (very 
fine) may be mixed with the above quantity of finished 
powder. r. m. bird. 
Missouri Exp. Station. 
Warm Air in Cellars.— -It is so seldom anything appears 
in The It. N.-Y. which I cannot endorse that I feel as though 
I must write you in regard to the answer on page 533, re¬ 
garding a milk cellar. There are two statements in that 
reply which my experience tells me are incorrect. In the 
first place, milk or any other article which is warmer than 
fhe surrounding air will not take up any odor whatever, so 
that I have found it safe to put fresh milk into cellar, where 
I would not put cold milk. In other words, it has been fre¬ 
quently demonstrated that any article will absorb when 
cooler than the surrounding atmosphere, and will not absorb 
when warmer. For example, the drippings from under a 
refrigerator in the cellar will always be foul, as it constantly 
absorbs any bad odor from the surrounding air. For many 
years I had trouble with my cellar being damp in the hottest 
Summer weather, and somewhat disagreeable in other re¬ 
spects, although thoroughly cleansed and whitewashed .every 
year, until I discovered that, by keeping the windows closed 
whenever the air on the outside was warmer than that in 
the cellar, and opening the windows in the early morning, 
when the air was cooler outside, the result was that my 
cellar is always dry and sweet in the hottest weather, and 
yesterday, when the temperature outside was 91, it was 65 
in my cellar. This requires some little trouble and care, but 
we are fully repaid, in that the cellar is always cool and 
dry, and we are not under the necessity of using ice at all, 
except to keep fresh meat. The secret is in keeping the 
warm air from the cellar. a. c. worth. 
New York. 
CONTRAST BETWEEN PEAS WITH AND WITHOUT BACTERIA 
INOCULATION. Fig. 267. 
I 
