iB9o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
i63 
AMONG THE ASPARAGUS GROWERS. 
“ Oyster Day Grass;” suitable soil; fer¬ 
tilization; cultivation; the use of salt; 
insect enemies; cutting; packing ; mar¬ 
keting; condition and prospects of the 
business; experiences of veteran grow¬ 
ers. 
I N the New York market, “Oyster Bay 
Grass ” is a synonym of the best the 
market affords of this toothsome esculent. 
Oyster Bay is situated on the north shore 
of Long Island, about 30 miles from New 
York. The surrounding country is very 
broken,much of it being covered with a dense 
second growth of timber, the soil varying 
from a light, drift sand through gravel to 
a good, strong loam. General farming is 
not very extensive, potatoes, corn, cab¬ 
bages, onions with perhaps some other 
vegetables being the chief products aside 
from “grass,” which is the main money 
crop of many farmers. A few days ago, a 
representative of the R. N.-Y. paid a visit 
to the growers of this region. The first 
growers for market were Messrs. Under¬ 
hill and Cox, one of whom, about 50 years 
ago, planted an acre, and was called crazy 
by his neighbors who predicted that he 
would never be able to sell such a large 
quantity; but he did, and to-day a man 
with only one or two acres is called a small 
grower, while those having 10 acres are 
numerous, and many have from 15 to 20 or 
more acres. 
One of the oldest growers now in the bus¬ 
iness is Mr. John Schenck, who now has 
about 17 acres, having plowed up several 
acres the past season. He has been in the 
business about 24 years. He considers a 
light soil the best for this crop, and it 
must be free of stones, sods, weeds, and all 
obstructions. New York horse manure he 
considers the best fertilizer. The field to 
be planted must have been thoroughly cul¬ 
tivated the previous season, but not plowed 
since the last spring. The object is to 
have the earth as solid as possible, so that 
when the trenches are made the soil will 
not fall into them. For making the 
trenches, Mr. S. uses a plow which he de¬ 
signed and had made especially for this 
work, at a cost of $30. It is very much 
higher than the ordinary plow, so that he 
can make a furrow 18 inches deep. The 
trenches are made iff feet apart, manure is 
strewn in the bottom of them, slightly cov¬ 
ered with soil, and on this the plants are 
placed about 18 inches apart, being covered 
with an inch or two of soil with the hands. 
The growers mostly raise their own plants, 
some planting one-year-olds, and some 
two-year-olds. Mr. Schenck prefers two- 
year-olds, as they are larger and stronger. 
He has a cultivator made with harrow 
teeth, which he runs along the sides of 
the rows about once a week after growth 
begins, in such a manner as to work 
the soil around the plants gradually and 
fill the trenches as the shoots increase in 
length. The varieties grown are Conover’s 
Colossal and Barr’s Mammoth almost en¬ 
tirely. Many of the grower's use an imple¬ 
ment called a hone, which is a sort of a V- 
shaped affair with the apex opened some 
distance. It is drawn, wide end first, and 
leaves a narrow bed of loose, fine soil over 
each row. In spring the old tops are re¬ 
moved and these ridges are plowed down 
very early, the soil is worked fine over the 
plants and again “honed” up. Mr. 
Schenck says that he has so much ground 
to go over that he cannot manure his old 
beds all at once, so he manures part when 
he finishes cutting and the rest in the fall. 
He uses a great deal of the drift from along 
the beach, which is of course impregnated 
with salt, but uses salt in no other way. It 
would probably be beneficial to apply it to 
beds in the interior. 
Some trouble is experienced from the as¬ 
paragus beetle. Nothing can be applied to 
the crop while cutting it for market; but 
after this is finished and on the beds of 
young plants, an occasional application of 
Paris-green and water proves effectual. 
The cutting usually begins about the third 
year from planting, although full crops are 
not secured before about the fifth year, and 
there is more outgo than income during the 
first four or five years. The cutting begins 
when the shoots are an inch or two above 
the surface, and is done with a knife made 
especially for this purpose. This is hard 
■work, as well as work requiring great care, 
as the cutting is done several inches below 
the surface, and a careless workman will 
destroy many of the buds which are just 
starting. The beds are gone over every day, 
one man, if a good one, cutting about two 
acres. The bunching is done by women 
and children, the Weeks bunching boxes 
being used. An improved system of pack¬ 
ing is used, which insures the product 
reaching the market in excellent condition. 
The bunches are packed lengthwise of the 
boxes, the latter being a little longer than 
two bunches of “ grass ” when placed butts 
together. Two bunches are placed butts 
against the opposite ends of the box, the 
tops being separated an inch or two ; the 
next two are reversed, butts together, tops 
out but not touching the box, and so on ; 
the boxes being of an exact size, and the 
bunches larger at the butts, the whole are 
held snugly in place, and come out of the 
boxes in good shape. About 32 bunches are 
usually put in a box. 
Ne w York is the principal market, though 
the canneries use large quantities, especial¬ 
ly when the market price falls below a sat¬ 
isfactory figure. When asked as to how 
low asparagus could be grown and still 
yield a profit, Mr. Schenck declined to say, 
remarking that “it would not look well in 
print.” He, however, said that one man 
might grow a crop ior one-third less than 
another, on account of having better imple¬ 
ments and handling his help in a more sys¬ 
tematic manner. He can grow it for six cents 
per bunch. He has secured $5,000 worth 
from 10 acres in a single year, and also as 
varieties grown and the plants are raised 
at home. Two-year-olds or strong one-year- 
olds are generally set. Nothing is used to 
repel the asparagus beetle which is the 
principal enemy. From 24 to 32 bunches 
are packed in each box, and New York fur¬ 
nishes the principal market. Mr. W. did 
not consider the outlook for profit very en¬ 
couraging, but proposes to take his chances 
with the rest. 
Mr. Wilson is an old and progressive 
grower. He was one of the first to advocate 
and practice manuring immediately after 
the cutting was finished. By this means, the 
plant, with the new stool of roots, is encour¬ 
aged to make a stronger growth, and is in 
good shape to produce a good crop of strong, 
large shoots the next season. He was also 
the first to practice cutting when the shoots 
were only an inch or two above the surface, 
and older growers ridiculed him, but now 
all practice this method. 
Some fields were noticed which were very 
weedy and we were told that they were 
owned by men who had planted more than 
they could care for, and that this always 
proved unprofitable; that the asparagus 
plant repaid all extra care and labor be¬ 
stowed upon it. We were also told that 
some farmers grew the crop on light soil, 
year after year, without fertilizers, the 
explanation being that the old crown of 
roots which decayed each year, fertilized 
the new, and that the leaves of the plant 
him so to do. He gives prominence to re¬ 
ports upon the Parker Earle, Racster, 
Lady Rusk, Mrs. Cleveland, Yale, Michel’s 
Early and Tippecanoe. 
Buckeye Sunbeam Cultivator.— Cat¬ 
alogue from P. P. Mast & Co., Springfield. 
Ohio. The Buckeye cultivators, hay-rakes 
and grain-drills are world-renowned, and 
justly so, for they have been well-tested in 
all sorts of soils and circumstances. It is 
useless for us to try to describe these im¬ 
plements, because the catalogue does it so 
well that there is nothing left for us to say. 
We advise our friends to send for the cata¬ 
logue. All may be sure of the responsibil¬ 
ity of this house. 
$U,$rcUattcousi 
A SPECIAL FEATURE. 
THE WINNER INVESTMENT CO. 
Handles exclusively Kansas City in¬ 
vestments, and does not handle 
Farm Mortgages. 
PAST INVESTMENTS 
through this company have yielded nearly 83,000,000.00 
profits, every dollar of principal and interest has been 
paid at maturity, and all enterprises undertaken have 
been uniformly successful. 
PRESENT INVESTMENTS. 
We can demonstrate how to invest money safely to 
realize an Income of six, seven, eight and ten per 
cent, and profits, in a comparatively short time, of 50 
per cent., 100per cent,, and even larger, entirely free 
from speculative features. 
For full particulars send for circulars, pamphlets 
and papers; or call. 
WILLIAM H. PARMENTER, 
Cen’l Ag’t, 50 State Street, Boston; 
IVo. 1 Custom House Street, Providence. R. I.; 
Desk M. Mercantile Safe Deposit Co., 120 
B’way, New York City, every Wednesday. 
THIS BRAND STANDS FOR 
PURI TY 
In Timothy and Clover Seeds, 
our high grades are unequalled, 
and are sought by the most crit¬ 
ical buyers turoughout the world. 
Samples free. 
The Whitney-Koyes Seed Co., 
Binghamton, N. Y. 
low as $2,000 from a great deal more land. 
He has canned a great deal in the past and 
is making arrangements to have a portion 
of his crop put in cans the coming season 
should prices not prove satisfactory. He 
is so well provided with implements that 
he plants a great deal for other people on 
contract. He plows up a bed after it is 12 or 
15 years old. From present prices he cannot 
advise any one to embark in the business ; 
although as he is well equipped with a com¬ 
plete set of implements and valuable ex¬ 
perience, he intends to continue in the bus¬ 
iness. There is little chance for a begin¬ 
ner to make much for some time to come. 
The reasons given for the stagnation in the 
business are the large quantities grown in 
Jersey and the South, which come to mar¬ 
ket in advance of the Oyster Bay “ Grass,” 
and depreciate prices before the latter is fit 
to market. 
Mr. Silas Wright has not been in the 
business so long, but has evidently studied 
the subject thoroughly, and embarked in 
the business in a careful and intelligent 
manner. He considers the best and sti-ong- 
est soil he has good enough for asparagus, 
a good loam being the best in this case. He 
is of the opinion that nowhere can such 
good grass be grown as near the sea-coast, 
no matter what the soil. The soil is kept 
as firm as possible and furrowed out 3>£ 
feet apart, which he considers an ample 
distance, though older growers say that it 
will prove too close when the plants attain 
their full size. He tises an ordinary plow 
in furrowing, with a board attached to the 
upper part of the mold-board as a sort of 
extension. The plants are placed 15 inches 
apart, and fertilized with Bowker’s fertili¬ 
zer in the trench, either after a little soil 
has been placed on them or directly upon 
the plants. A ton per acre is considered 
better than a smaller amount. In light 
soil the furrows are made 15 to 18 inches 
deep, and in heavy soil about 12. A disk 
cultivator is used in working the crop, 
which is kept thox-oughly clean. Barr’s 
Mammoth and Conover’s Colossal are the 
caught many floating particles from the 
air and held them until the rains washed 
them down to the roots. 
The business of asparagus-growing 
seems, like many others, to be suffering 
somewhat from depression, hut it appears 
to us that the old growers who are well-es¬ 
tablished in the business, and well sixp- 
plied with the necessary implements and 
experience, have about as good chances of 
success as those in other branches of agri¬ 
culture. The new grower must take his 
chances, which will be largely influenced 
by the market. The New York market 
gives poor encouragement for any new 
ventures in this direction, but the case may 
be different in other parts of the country. 
No one should engage in the business with¬ 
out plenty of capital, as the outlay is large, 
and the income from the soil absolutely 
nothing for at least three years, and there 
will be but a partial return for two or three 
years more. 
The WM. H. MOON CO., 
MOREISVILLE, BUCKS CO., PA., 
Nurserymen and Landscane Architects, 
Offer an Immense stock of all kinds of 
FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES, gV R i 8 II: 
A -IS-page descriptive Illustrated Catalogue FREE. 
nnUC MPAI FOR POULTRY. Crushed Oys 
DwHC InLML ter Shells, Flint and Beef Scraps 
Send for new price list. 
YORK CHEMICAL WORKS, York, Pa. 
CANADA 
UNLEACHED 
HARD-WOOD 
Shipped on short notice by rail in car-load lots, a 
close figures. We have Imported ashes for 23 year 
and guarantee ours to be of the best quality. Befor 
ordering secure our prlees and other Information. 
CHAS. ALLISON & CO. 
202 Fulton Street, New York City. 
AGENTS 
• nnvinir l) 
MAKE MONEY. Take 
orders for our superb Portraits 
made from small pictures. The 
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terms, is. C. TALLMAX & CO., Auburn. X. Y. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
A COMMON SENSE-CART.—Circulars 
from the Wilber H. Murray Manu¬ 
facturing Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. This 
seems to be an age of carts. There is hardly 
anything that has come into use so gener¬ 
ally within the past few years as the two¬ 
wheeled road cart. The latest candidate 
for favor is the “Murray” cart, a picture 
of which is given at Figure 4S. The picture 
shows what it is better than we cau de¬ 
scribe it. One excellent feature is the good- 
sized bundle rack which will be found very 
useful in carrying packages, etc., etc. This 
cart is made by the parties who have sold 
furniture and harness at such astonishing 
prices. This fact ought to be satisfactory 
to those who look for fair dealing. 
M. Crawford, Cuyahoga Falls, O.— 
A catalogue of strawberry plants. Mr. 
Crawford tells the truth about the new va¬ 
rieties as nearly as his own experience and 
the words of conservative growers enable 
platform wagon, S so. Elkhart Carriage 
Harness Mfg. Co. 
For 1(5 Years 
have sold to 
consumers at 
savins; them the 
lers' profit. Ship anywhere forex- 
nation before buying. Pay freight 
rges i f not satisfactory. TT arranted 
Z years, 64-page Catalogue FREE, 
dross W R. PRATT. Seo’v. 
OAAPERCHERONS 
FRENCH 
COACH HORSES. 
Send for 10G page illustrated 
catalogue. 
JOHN W. AKIN, Scipio. N.Y. 
IF ARMS and fcVLLS SOLD 
FARMERS 
K:iw and.Jrist Mill. 4 H P. 
and larger. Catalogue free. 
UeLOlCU MILli CO., Atlanta, H 
