1913. 
THE) RURAL NEW-YORKER 
663 
PLANTING ASPARAGUS ROOTS. 
I am frequently asked which are best 
for planting, the one-year or the two- 
year old roots. If I was planting either 
I would never plant any older than 
one year, for they will always beat the 
two-year ones. But for years past I 
have not planted asparagus roots at all, 
but sow the seed right where the bed 
is to be, and I can get cuttings a year 
sooner than by setting roots. Three 
years ago for the first time for years, 
I planted one-year roots. In starting 
a new garden I was uncertain as to the 
proper location for the asparagus patch, 
and I sowed seed to grow roots and in 
the Fall transplanted them uftiere I 
wanted the bed. In digging these roots 
several plants were accidentally left, and 
doubtless the smallest of the lot. These 
random plants were allowed to grow 
and now are making shoots twice as 
large as the transplanted ones. 
To make the best asparagus bed run 
out and clean out furrows four feet 
apart and a foot deep. Fill these half 
full of old rotten manure and cover it 
two or three inches and sow the seed 
thinly in a row. As soon as the young 
plants are a few inches high, thin out to 
two feet apart and work the soil in to 
them till level. During the Summer 
scatter a little nitrate of soda along 
the rows twice during the season of 
growth and give the plants the cleanest 
of cultivation. In the Fall or early in 
September cover the whole ground be¬ 
tween the rows with manure thickly, 
and in the Spring chop this into the soil 
or dig it in with a digging fork and 
the second Spring you can cut a little 
asparagus, or fully a year sooner than 
any could be cut from transplanted 
roots. But do not cut much the first 
season. During the season give dress¬ 
ings of nitrate of soda again and in 
the Fall manure again and give a heavy 
dressing of kainit, and the next Spring 
vou can get a full cutting of shoots. The 
time to put on the manure is any time 
after cutting has ceased, for we want 
to make the late Summer and Fall 
growth strong for the production of 
shoots the next Spring. The roots will 
constantly be getting nearer the sur¬ 
face, and the soil should be ridged up 
over the rows if you want blanched 
shoots. I do not want these and 
therefore cultivate level and cut just at 
the top of the roots, taking care not 
to injure the other shoots that are com- 
ing. Abundant feeding and undis¬ 
turbed roots will give you big asparagus 
and give it sooner than you can get 
bv setting roots. w. f. massey. 
Maryland. 
HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 
Farmers should be ready to spray for 
fruit when the season opens. One day’s 
delay repairing spraying machinery or 
waiting on materials may mean that the 
work will not be done at all. Peaches 
and plums are ready first. They should 
be sprayed just as soon as possible after 
they strip their calyxes. Arsenate of 
lead seems to help considerable in pre¬ 
venting curculio injury if the trees are 
sprayed in time. The apple season lasts 
about 10 days—from the time the petals 
fall till the calyx closes. But unfavor¬ 
able weather conditions frequently nar¬ 
row down the number of days to three 
or four—and sometimes less. A bright, 
calm day is best. The Codling moth is 
easily controlled, as one good dose of 
arsenate of lead administered at the 
tight time usually fixes most of them. 
1 he petals should be well off. As long 
as there is nectar in the flowers the 
ees will work in them, and there is 
Iteved to be danger of poisoning the 
bees at this time. 
\ cry little spraying for scale was 
done in this vicinity this Spring. The 
buds were out early and there were few 
favorable days. Many farmers were ex- 
ceedingly anxious to have their orchards 
sprayed, but no one could be secured 
to do the work. The only commercial 
outfit in the neighborhood was out of 
commission because of sickness in the 
families of both operators. A few 
farmers who have spraying outfits of 
'aeir own managed to get their orchards 
sprayed, but the vast majority of orch- 
< 1 us will have to go without their lime- 
sulphur coat this Spring. Meanwhile 
the San Jose scale will no doubt be “on 
the job” just the same. 
Our women folks are exceedingly 
fond of lilac flowers. The Oyster-shell 
bark-louse is just as fond of the bushes. 
I seldom see a lilac bush unsprayed that 
is not infested with this scale. vVe have 
a nice clean bush on the front lawn,*but 
it gets a dose of lime-sulphur every yeat 
This scale is also said to be very de¬ 
structive to the apple, though I'have 
seen few apple trees infested with it. 
Prospects for peaches are good at 
this time. About all of the varieties 
here are full of buds just ready to open, 
except Late Crawford. This variety is 
earning a reputation here for being a 
shy bearer. I think I shall try cutting 
back the tips of the branches of these 
trees late in Summer to induce the set¬ 
ting of more fruit buds. I do not ex¬ 
pect to plant any more Late Crawford. 
Warm weather in January probal'y 
caused the peach buds to swell slightly. 
Anyway zero weather in February froze 
a few buds, which indicates that the 
buds were slightly driven. Subsequent 
warm weather pushed on the buds till 
they were almost ready to open. Then 
came a cold snap, with the temperature 
10 degrees below freezing one morning, 
but the buds seem all right. Just what 
the season may have in store for us I 
do not know. There is some danger 
of frost till May. The June drop is 
invariably more or less severe and not¬ 
withstanding my spraying the brown rot 
will probably take its annual toll. For¬ 
tunately the peach trees usually set 
many more fruit buds than are neces¬ 
sary for a crop, and considerable hand 
thinning is often required in addition 
to nature’s methods of thinning out the 
buds. I have ceased to worry over the 
p°ach situation. I have chosen hat I 
consider a favorable location for my 
orchards, then I try to take proper care 
of them, sleep nights, and let the ele¬ 
ments do the rest. So far I have real¬ 
ized a good crop nearly every year. But 
if I should skip a year I shall expect 
the trees to improve the time by anuking 
abundant wood growth and setting 
plenty of fruit buds. david plank. 
Pennsylvania. 
Cow-horn Turnips Alive. 
C. M. G ., Connecticut .—I have never seen 
any Cow-horn turnips growing, and I would 
like to know whether they winter-kill or 
not. That is, if sown with Crimson clover, 
do they die out and leave the latter to grow 
on to maturity, or must the whole thing 
he turned under to get the benefit of the 
humus in the turnips? Do you know of any 
implement manufacturer who makes a culti¬ 
vator with seeding attachment? It seems 
to me that something ought to be on the 
market to make possible the seeding of 
cover crops in connection with the final 
cultivation of corn, without additional 
labor. Mechanically the problem is simple 
enough. 
Ans.—T ake the common white turnip, 
paint the top a lighter color and squeeze 
the flat top out into a long root and you 
have the “Cow-horn.” In northern New 
Jersey this turnip dies during the ordi¬ 
nary Winter. In the Spring a few plants 
will be seen shooting up for seed, but 
the vast majority of them are dead when 
the clover starts growing. This Spring 
with us most of the turnips came 
through the mild Winter alive and are 
now developing large tops. We shall 
plow turnips and clover together into 
the ground early in May. We do not 
know of a cultivator with seeding at¬ 
tachment. 
Preparing Ground for Onions. 
TT. 8., Pougliquag, A’. Y.—I have two 
acres of rather light soil. I have taken 
four crops oft same, one of potatoes, two 
of corn, and one of oats, which is last 
crop grown. It only got barnyard manure 
once before the corn. Will you tell me how 
to nurse such ground this' season in pre¬ 
paring it for onions next Spring? I have 
very little stock manure, but am willing 
to plant ground in crops for green manure 
to plow under if this plan will prove satis¬ 
factory. I expect to have some poultry fer¬ 
tilizer by next Spring, but wish to put 
ground in best possible condition before ap¬ 
plying poultry droppings to insure a good 
yield. 
Ans. —This is the old problem of fill¬ 
ing the soil with organic matter and 
keeping it sweet and mellow. The plan 
is to plow under as much green manure 
as possible and use lime. We should 
start this Spring with oats and Canada 
peas. Plow them under in early July 
and sow a mixture of buckwheat, rye 
and clover. The buckwheat will die in 
the ground, but the rye and clover will 
live through the Winter and may be 
plowed under next Spring, at which 
time we will use a ton of lime per acre 
after plowing. In such cases as this 
where green crops are to be turned un¬ 
der it helps, whenever possible, to chop 
up the corn crop with a disk before 
plowing. Thjs cutting will give a better 
job of plowing and make the crop decay 
fasten. 
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Operated 
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Operated with 
gasoline 
engine. 
Drum holds 
240 ft ot rope. 
Ireland Hay Hoist 
A powerful machine that saves time and labor in 
storing hay and in other hoisting. Used in con¬ 
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Safe and easy to operate. Under instant control. 
Pulley to suit your engine. Guaranteed as rep¬ 
resented. Write for circular and prices. 
IBELAND MACHINE & FOUNDRY CO., Inc. 
Box 14, Norwich, New York. 
$ 
Free Box of Samples 
sent to your station charges prepaid. All 
sizes, 2 inches to 20 inches. Delivered 
prices quoted on request. 
THE E. BIGLOW CO., New London, 0. 
LOW-DOWN FARM TRUCKS 
We now make a full line of both Steel-Wheel 
and Wood-Wheel Farm Trucks, and shall be 
pleased to furnish you our free catalog of same. 
On account of the ease with which work can 
be done with these trucks, they are fast com¬ 
ing into general use. Let us have your In¬ 
quiry for prices. 
HAVANA JIKTAL WHEEL CO., Box 17, HAVANA, ILL. 
ELECTM® 
srWK* 
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Save draft —save repairs. 
Don't rut roads or Helds. Send today for free 
Illustrated catalog of wheels and wagons. 
Electric Wheel Co., 4 8 Elm St., Quincy, III. 
Hydraulic Cider Presses 
All sizes. We have had 
86 years' experience and 
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Also Steam and Gaso¬ 
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Sawmills, etc. 
CATALOGUE FREE 
Thomas-Albright Co. 
West New York, New 
lILt UnAINtU LAND Id MUKt 
creases the value 
rnuuuuiiVL 
Acres of 
i ames on surplus water: 
admits air to the soil. In- 
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Jackson s Round Drain Tile meets every requirement. We also make Sewer 
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