1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
©07 
THE MASSACHUSETTS ASPARAGUS 
GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
Part II. 
The next speaker was Prof. J. B. 
Norton, of the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, Washington, who has charge of 
the breeding experiments in asparagus, 
which are being conducted at this sta¬ 
tion. Prof. Norton said: “The work is 
now in its infant stage. We have only 
begun to breed asparagus for a rust- 
resistant variety. Up to last year, we 
had only those varieties which of them¬ 
selves showed rust-resistant qualities, 
but the seedlings of these might have 
been fertilized from at least half a 
dozen different sources, good, bad and 
indifferent, so we had nothing definite 
to work on. As a result of what has 
been done since we hope soon to have 
1,000 seedlings showing marked im¬ 
provement over the old type. In the 
breeding experiment we have over one 
hundred varieties of asparagus from all 
parts of the world, and are adding to 
these all the time. From this and other 
stock we have made our start, selecting 
from them the most promising plants; 
not only those which show rust-resist¬ 
ant properties, but those also which are 
especially vigorous and grow large 
stalks. Our first selections from the 
breeding bed were 300 plants; these 
were soon reduced to 200, and are now 
being thinned down more and more. A 
map of this 'breeding bed was made and 
the plants selected for experiment care¬ 
fully located, so that we could place 
them in the Spring while the plants 
around them were being cut. We had 
already determined that rusty plants 
produce rusty seedlings and vice versa, 
not that the germs of rust arc carried 
by or in the seed. The constitutional 
weakness was transmitted by the plant, 
but we were not able to tell the power 
of transmitting, either good or bad qual¬ 
ities to progeny. In order fully to estab¬ 
lish this point the plants we had select¬ 
ed from the breeding bed were allowed 
to come up early in the season and 
make their natural growth, while all 
other plants about them were cut. In 
this way the seed on these plants would 
ripen long before the others. 
“Most forms of asparagus have male 
and female flowers on separate plants, 
but very often there will be both on 
the same plant. In order to be sure of 
our crosses the branches to be worked 
were enclosed in parchment bags, with 
the openings tightly secured against the 
entrance of bees or other insects. The 
pollcnization was all done by hand, and 
generally from 50 to 100 flowers were 
worked under one bag. Seed will set 
very well under the bags. If we get a 
couple of good plants another year we 
shall use a tent to carry on the experi¬ 
ment further. As yet we have not found 
a plant that is absolutely free from 
rust, and the selection of resistant va¬ 
rieties is necessary. The Spring stage 
of the rust attacks all asparagus, but 
the rust-resistant varieties show less 
after effect from it, than other kinds 
do. We are now making some hybrids; 
these are crosses between our own stock 
and others of foreign importation, but 
our faith is greater in the old varieties 
than in these hybrids. Asparagus bee¬ 
tles have nothing to do with the rust. 
As for the merits of breeding versus 
spraying for the control or elimination 
of the rust, the spraying is only a make¬ 
shift, and is out of the question on a 
large scale, while the breeding work 
can be carried on in an extensive way. 
In breeding we always select young 
plants, for the reason that they have 
more vigor and health and are in every 
way superior to old plants.” 
A very interesting discussion, in 
which many joined, followed Prof. 
Norton’s talk. The next speaker was 
Frank Wheeler of Concord, a most suc¬ 
cessful asparagus grower who told of 
some of his practical methods in grow¬ 
ing asparagus. Mr. Wheeler’s first idea 
is to select suitable land, a fine loamy 
sand, with at least two feet of top soil 
free from gravel and stones. In pre¬ 
paring this land hoed crops are used 
for at least two years previous to Set¬ 
ting the asparagus. These crops arc 
heavily fertilized, much more than they 
would ordinarily need, so that the first 
nine inches of soil shall be well filled 
with plant food. The land is plowed 
the Fall previous to setting the plants, 
and a cover crop or manure used to 
protect it during the Winter. In the 
Spring the furrows arc made four feet 
apart and from seven to eight inches 
deep. One-year seedlings are set in the 
furrows two feet apart. The market 
wants large asparagus these days, and 
Mr. Wheeler believes that, other things 
being equal, in setting the plants far 
apart larger asparagus will result. AH 
the fertilizer is applied after the bed i; 
set, but manure is put on during the 
Winter before. The equivalent of 125 
pounds of nitrogen, 350 pounds of pot¬ 
ash and 125 pounds of phosphoric acid 
are used per acre to the cutting beds 
applied at one time in the Spring. A 
plow is never used on Mr. Wheeler’s 
beds in getting them ready for the 
Spring cutting, but the disk harrow is 
run over them twice, goum both ways. 
Then the fertilizer is applied and the 
wheel harrow used to work this in, and 
all is finished up with a smoothing har¬ 
row. The dead top of the plants is 
never removed or burned, but cut up by 
the harrows and left on the ground. 
Weeds are killed during the cutting 
season by the use of a potato hiller and 
the fine-toothed weeder. Mr. Wheeler’s 
remarks were very interesting, and he 
touched on many points which were of 
much value to his hearers. Everyone 
present voted the meeting a success, 
and the sentiment was general that the 
Government should establish more of 
these sub-stations to carry on special 
work in sections where it is required. 
_ w. w. 
Wireworms in Potatoes. 
O'. W. L., Horn ulus, 'N. Y.—I plowed 
early an old clover sod for potatoes; did 
not see any wireworms when I plowed or 
worked the land. Now potatoes are full of 
them, and scabby too. Mow can l get' rid 
of them, as I want to plant to potatoes 
again? Mow would salt, pul on now and 
worked in do? Mow much per acre? Could 
I drill It In? Would wood ashes help any, 
and would they make potatoes scabby? 
A ns. —In order to kill the worms 
about eight tons of salt per acre has to 
be used and this destroys all vegetation. 
Hence salt cannot be used for this pur¬ 
pose. '{'he best remedy is Fall plowing 
to destroy the hibernating pupae. This, 
coupled with a rotation of crops, will 
eventually kill them. If sod land is 
followed with corn wireworms are sure 
to attack the crop. These worms live 
upon grass roots, and when sod is 
plowed up they turn their attention to 
the roots of the succeeding crop. Wood 
ashes will not destroy the worms on a 
large scale, and would make the potato 
scab worse. We should not plant pota¬ 
toes there next year. 
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