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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 8, 
SETTING ASPARAGUS ROOTS IN THE FALL 
I should say emphatically not to set asparagus roots 
in the Fall. There is nothing to be gained by it and 
much to be lost. Where the nurserymen gain by it, is in 
getting their roots dug and out of the way of the Spring 
rush. I have 25 acres of asparagus now cutting, be¬ 
sides having plowed up six acres of old bed. All of 
this, excepting a few rows, has been set in the Spring. 
Asparagus roots when first set, should be covered with 
soil lightly, not over two or three inches, then the 
ground will warm up, and the young shoots come 
through quickly and easily. Then when grass and 
weeds begin to start, more dirt can be worked down 
on to the row by running a cultivator alongside, which 
covers the weeds. By midsummer the trench is filled by 
the repeated cultivations and you have a large growth 
and clean bed with very little hoeing. When asparagus 
roots are set in the Fall, the row or trench must not 
only be filled up level at once but must be ridged to 
protect in the Winter and keep water from standing on 
the row. In the Spring much of this dirt must be 
thrown off. The remainder is so solid, that the roots 
start and grow slowly and the Asparagus beetle will 
make much more headway on the slow growing aspar¬ 
agus than on that set in the Spring. Mullica Hill is 
a great shipping point for asparagus to the Boston, 
New York and Philadelphia markets. Some of the 
finest green asparagus in those markets is shipped from 
here. In all the asparagus set out in this section, I 
never heard of a grower setting any in the Fall, ex¬ 
cept myself. The ground for asparagus here is pre¬ 
pared by plowing either in the Fall or early Spring. 
Sandy loam gives the best results. Ground that bakes 
or is stony or that does not have good drainage should 
not be used for asparagus. If manure is used, broadcast 
before plowing. If fertilizer is used instead of ma¬ 
nure, plow down one free from nitrate of soda or sul¬ 
phate of ammonia. After ground is .prepared, the 
rows are marked out five feet apart, then a two-horse 
plow is used to make the trench, giving a bout to the 
row, as deep as it can be done. After this a double 
moldboard plow or a cultivator with a large hoe with 
wings on is used to clean out the row ready for the 
roots. The ground is marked crosswise by two men 
carrying a pole, with chains hanging to it, the distance 
apart you wish to set the roots—from %V 2 to 3 feet 
is the usual distance here. These distances will re¬ 
quire from 2,900 to 3,500 roots to the acre. After 
roots are set and from two to three inches of dirt 
pulled over them, a fertilizer containing considerable 
nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia—analyzing 
4 % per cent of ammonia and eight per cent of available 
phosphoric acid and eight per cent of potash is scat¬ 
tered over the rows. This will give the shoots a 
good start soon as they appear. The beetles are killed 
off by using at first early in the morning, when dew 
is on, Paris-green in air-slaked lime. Later as tops get 
larger a sprayer is used. warren Atkinson. 
Gloucester Co. 
SHREDDED FODDER IN THE SILO. 
Can dry shredded fodder be put into the silo? It is 
sometimes done, though we have never tried it. The 
difficult part is to get it wet enough and uniform enough 
in wetness. It requires about 50 gallons of water to 
wet one ton of dry fodder so as to take the place of the 
natural moisture in the sappy stalk. This is done by 
having hose to spray a constant stream of water into 
the silo as the cut fodder is falling in. Even then the 
dampening will be irregular and mold will occur in many 
small patches throughout the pile. Again, the prime 
object of having succulent feed is not satisfied. It is true 
that after fiber is once dried it cannot be again soaked 
so as to be as tender and digestible as when it has never 
been allowed to dry. If one insists on putting dry fod¬ 
der in the silo to be succulent he should not only add 
50 gallons steadily to each ton, but should tramp it hard. 
We prefer to tramp our green silage so as to get more in, 
and to make it heat and settle uniformly. The dry would 
be so fluffy if not tramped that it is likely to mold badly. 
I should very much prefer to put it in green, but if I 
wanted the silo as storage room instead of a mow I 
would let the fodder become free from sap until it is 
air dry, and then cut it in dry and leave it dry. If it is 
very dry one can tramp it, but if not quite dry one should 
not “allow a hoof on it.” If it smokes a little in the 
mow or silo do not try to air it by stirring it, but get 
on the cars and go a visiting, because if you tramp on 
it or stir it it will rot as far as affected. If let alone it 
will often cure out and make fairly good food. I have 
had the mow smoke as though the barn was afire and 
cure out almost good. If dry fodder is cut into the 
silo to wet down and cure like green fodder does it is 
likely to have more waste than green, and still there are 
records where it kept well. T would much prefer stack¬ 
ing it out dry than trying to wet it into the silo. It is 
quite often done here; when one has a full mow or no 
mow he blows the dry shredded fodder from which the 
corn has been shucked out into a stack and cleans up 
around the bottom so as to make it shapely. It turns 
water better than clover hay and about as well as 
Timothy. . e. h. collins. 
Central Indiana._ 
MR. STRINGFELLOWANSWERS QUESTIONS 
In answer to several letters of inquiry as to whether it 
is necessary to pile the cut grass around peach trees, and 
whether any other grass will do as well as,Bermuda, I 
will say that as the feeding roots of all trees are out in 
the middles and not at the trunks, it is a waste of labor 
and humus to pile grass there. Leave everything where 
it falls. Any kind of grass will do as well as Bermuda, 
either sowed or volunteer, but keep it short. The objects 
are to leave the surface roots alone and furnish humus 
from the decaying clippings and leaves to render soluble 
the plant food in the soil. Nature plants our old aban¬ 
doned, wornout fields with forest-trees and makes them 
rich again. Why cannot we do the same thing with 
fruit trees? Lest the superiority of my Elbertas should 
be ascribed to chance or luck, I will give the comments 
of Mr. Dixon, superintendent of Texas exhibit, on my 
Stump the World shipped later, August 10. He wrote: 
“Your Stumps arrived in first-class condition, were 
entered, scored and photographed. The superintendent 
of judges says they are the finest Stumps that have 
been received. They are by far the finest Texas has 
sent, and 1 have seen none half so fine from other 
States.’’ I send you a photograph (Fig. 325) of my sod 
trees taken a few days ago. A cow got in and broke it 
off near the ground the second year, and I budded it 
later with a Lampasas seedling. Hence its small size. 
1 omitted to say that my recommendation of sod cul¬ 
ture for peach trees applies only to those set with short 
roots. H. M. STRINGFELLOW. 
R. N.-Y.—In our soil we have found it an advantage 
to pile a mulch of some sort close around the trees for 
the first year or two. After that the mulch is left scat¬ 
tered over the field or in a circle a little larger than the 
spread of the branches. Our young trees, especially 
when root-pruned, give us better growth when the soil 
close to them is kept moist and cool by heavy mulching. 
A WORTHY FARM COUPLE. 
On page 087 under Hope Farm Notes is a letter from a 
Vermont farmer which has attracted some attention. 
A SUBSTANTIAL VERMONT COUPLE. Eiu. 324. 
We are pleased to give at Fig. 324 a picture of Mr. 
and Mrs. E. C. Brown who are good samples of the 
hearty people who live on Vermont farms. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brown are the parents of 13 children—four boys 
and nine girls—the oldest 26 years and the youngest 
three years. Mr. Brown modestly says they “started 
with nothing but our hands and we have managed to 
keep off the town.” Last year Mr. Brown wrote an 
essay on “Why I’ Take The R. N.-Y.” It will do to 
print now: 
“1 take The Rural New-Yorker because I believe 
it is the best paper printed for the money and be¬ 
cause its contributors are practical men, and furnish me 
with the information that I need in my business. If 
I desire information on any branch of farming, gar¬ 
dening or fruiting, it is always supplied by the Rural. 
If I want to know where I can buy and be fairly treated 
the information is supplied through its advertising 
columns, and if its readers in general would read those 
advertisements carefully and buy direct they would save 
many times the price of the paper, especially on fruit 
trees. I once knew a man who paid $45 for 100 Wealthy 
apples trees that he could have bought for $9. 1 asked 
him if he was out of his head. His reply was that we 
know these trees are Canada grown, consequently are 
worth more, but he has learned better since. Brother 
farmer, read your paper more thoroughly, buy direct 
from advertisers and profit thereby.” 
A TALK ABOUT LIMING LAND. 
How can we eradicate sorrel? We have a Held where the 
seeding has been an almost total failure the last three times 
tried. The land is a gravelly loam, good for Winter crops 
and good for clover and Timothy. We sow the seed early 
the last of March or first of April: it comes up, but when 
harvest time comes hardly any can he seen, hut plenty of 
sorrel. We have come to the conclusion to apply lime, hut 
how much to the acre or how best to apply it is the ques¬ 
tion. We have thought, to plow the ground, put it in good 
condition for a crop and drill in the lime if it can be made 
lit to drill. f. m'c. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. 
My land seemed to be in the same condition. Seed 
ing land two or three times and a failure every time 
or nearly so with the sorrel coming out ahead is very 
discouraging. Thanks to The R. N.-Y. and the Rhode 
Island Experiment station I was educated to handle my 
soil so as to put the sorrel out of sight and give the 
clover and Timothy a chance to retain its vitality. This 
was done by the use of lime. We have come to under¬ 
stand that an acid has developed in the soil that is det¬ 
rimental to plant growth, especially to clover and Tim 
othv. Lime unites with acid substances, and its acidity 
or sourness is overcome, thus correcting the chemical and 
physical condition of the soil. That is to say lime 
“sweetens the soil.” How much and how best to apply 
the lime is a problem for all to solve for themselves. 
My advice is not to buy air-slaked lime unless it can be 
had very cheap, especially if it has to be carried far by 
the railroad, for each 100 pounds contains from 30 to 
40 pounds of water. We do not care to buy 60 pounds 
of lime and 40 pounds of water, pay freight on it and call 
it 100 pounds. The air-slaked or refuse lime is all 
right so far as the lime goes. But the handling and 
the water make it very expensive. 1 have purchased 
and used unslaked lime in bulk by the carload. Have 
the ground plowed or fitted ready with a measure 25 
feet long. Mark 25 feet in each direction through the 
field and put one-half bushel of lime at each mark, which 
will take about two tons per acre. One can vary from 
this rule and lime more or less. If possible draw direct 
from the car to the field. If not in a hurry to spread, 
let it lie, the air and the moisture of the ground will 
in four or five days, make it in shape to spread. If to 
be immediately spread water the piles sufficient to slake 
it, and the next day it is in shape to spread. There is 
no necessity of covering it with earth, the wind will 
not affect it as long as it is not disturbed. When 
spreading the lime, harrow and mix it into the soil as 
fast as spread, do not let a rain come on it after being 
spread, as it adheres in little lumps. Do not let horses 
travel in it if the land is damp enough to dampen the 
hair on the horses’ legs. I lost the use of one horse two 
weeks by cultivating through a damp place in the 
field. Air slaked or water-slaked lime cannot be run 
through a drill, if it could it would have to be sifted to 
take the stones out of it as it is liable to spoil the 
drill. Sifting is a job that should be avoided. There 
is on the market ground lime. The limestone after be¬ 
ing burned is taken direct from the limekiln, ground 
nearly as fine as flour, and put into air-tight jute sacks, 
which protect it from the air. It is shipped in this 
shape. It may be placed in the field the same as above 
noted, or spread broadcast with shovel out of the 
wagon. The manufacturers claim it can be run into 
the" ground with a grain drill. I apprehend the drill 
will not let enough through. This we think, taking 
everything into consideration, is far preferable to any 
other way of buying and handling. Be thorough in the 
cultivation, add the lime to your land as you see fit. 
either in the Fall or Spring, do your seeding when you 
wish to and I think the sorrel will be scarce for a 
time, say from five to eight years. 
To test the soil get blue litmus paper (drug stores 
have it.) Take a bowl, fill it one-half full from different 
places in the field, or more bowls with more samples 
of the earth. Add enough water to make a stiff 
paste, let it stand 15 minutes. Do not handle the 
paper when wet with fingers. With a table fork push a 
strip of litmus paper, one by three inches into the 
soil and let stand four minutes, then with the fork take 
it out. rinse off the mud from the paper and dry it- 
If after drying, the paper stays red there is evidence 
that the land needs lime. The redder the paper, the 
more lime the land needs. If the paper, on becoming 
dry, turns back quite blue, then the soil does not need 
lime. We do not claim for lime that it is better, than 
manure or fertilizer for growing crops. The claim is 
to come from its ability to render inert matter m the 
soil active and thus make it available for plant food. 
o. H. SMITH. 
