Vol. LXIX. No. 4054 
♦ 
NEW YORK, JULY 9, 1910. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
GROWING FINE ASPARAGUS. 
A Matter of Breed as Well as Feed 
Much has been said and written 
about the size of the asparagus spear. 
A well-known contributor to the 
Market Growers’ Journal persistent¬ 
ly insists that the size of the aspara¬ 
gus shoot is more a matter of “feed 
than of breed.” I differ with that 
writer in that particular; I am quite 
positive that breed has more to do 
in producing large shoots than does 
feed. I do not wish to be understood, 
however, as advocating light, or no 
feeding, but do repeat that breed 
comes first. 
Quite a good many years ago, I 
planted my first asparagus bed; plants 
grown from seeds purchased from a 
commercial Seed house. Plants 
were set, manured, cultivated, and 
cared for with the utmost care, but 
no amount of manuring, fertilizing or 
cultivating would make this bed pro¬ 
duce large shoots. It was eventually 
destroyed. Following this experi 
ence, another bed was planted in the 
same field with plants from well-bred 
seed with far better results. After 
studying the plants in this bed t )<• 
a number of years, I decided to plant 
another and improve, if possible, on 
the bed now already cutting. Hav¬ 
ing watched the behavior of my 
plants in my cutting bed for five or 
six years, I felt that I had learned 
some of the likes and dislikes of the 
asparagus plant; also some of the 
essential principles necessary to suc¬ 
cessful asparagus production. With 
these thoughts in mind we held a 
consultation. There were three pres¬ 
ent, but not an audible word was 
spoken. These three were myself, 
the asparagus plant and the soil. The 
piece of soil selected was high, well 
drained, had a porous subsoil and 
topsoil from eight to nine inches. 
The seed was selected from strong 
crowns producing few but large 
stalks. All light seeds were elim¬ 
inated. From this seed the plants were 
grown and were one year old, well 
grown and of good size at the time 
of the consultation. First, the plant 
said, “I am strong, I have been taken 
from the nursery with care, my roots 
have been mutilated but little, I am 
full of vigor, I have not more than 
two developed eyes that will grow 
at once. Plant me in a companion¬ 
able soil, feed me well, and I will 
surprise you.” 
That piece of soil said, “Give me 
those asparagus plants, and I will 
make you feel proud. I am nearly an 
ideal soil to grow this succulent vege¬ 
table; I have been well cared for by 
previous cropping; I have lain all 
Winter under a green cover crop, 
hence, I am fat and able to do the 
work; but these asparagus plants are 
a hungry set. You must continue to 
feed me.” 1 accepted the proposition. 
The plot of ground contained about 
three acres. On this green cover 
crop of rye I broadcast 40 spreader 
loads of 40 bushels each of com¬ 
posted New York stable manure. The 
field was then plowed, harrowed and 
marked off in rows 5J4 feet apart, 
and the plants set from 20 to 22 inch.es 
apart in the row about seven inches 
below the surface. As soon as the 
plants began . to grow about 300 
pounds of fertilizer per acre, analyz¬ 
ing 4-8-10, was applied along each 
row. Later in the season an appli¬ 
cation of 125 pounds of muriate of 
potash per acre was applied. Clean 
cultivation was kept up during the en¬ 
tire season, not allowing the trenciies 
to become filled until nearly Fall. 
By this time it was seen that the 
young bed meant business. Early 
in November of the first year a fur¬ 
row was plowed away from each side 
of the rows and each furrow filled 
part full of stable manure and cov¬ 
ered by plowing under. It took 40 
tons to make this application. No 
stable manure has been used on the 
bed since, but each season early in 
August it has been sown with Crim¬ 
son clover and that plowed under early 
the following Spring. Annual appli¬ 
cation of fertilizer has been made, 
using about a half ton to the acr<% 
and in addition to this 225 pounds 
of nitrate of soda per acre. 
This bed of asparagus was three 
years old last April. When it was a 
year old no shoots whatever were 
cut. Last season (1909) I cut the 
bed from the beginning of the sea¬ 
son until June 9. Tlve present sea¬ 
son we shall cut it through to the 
end, July 2. The bed now having 
reached the age when full cutting wili 
be continued, heavier fertilization will 
be practiced. The variety is a selected 
strain of Palmetto. I have five rows 
in the same bed of selected Argenteuil, 
but it is not superior, either in size 
or yield, to the Palmetto. The bunch 
shown at Fig. 296 contains nine 
shoots of the Palmetto variety. 
c. c. HULSART. 
RAINFALL UNDER CONTROL. 
While our Eastern farmers are be¬ 
ing soaked by constant rains they 
should realize that other Americans 
suffer through lack of water. Out 
on the desert where irrigation must 
be practiced little beside cactus 
would grow if water were not arti¬ 
ficially provided. The picture at Fig. 
29S shows an outfit run by one of 
our subscribers, Mr. T. Banks of 
Chaves Co., New Mexico. This 
pumping plant is on the Felix River, 
one mile from Hagerman. The 25 
horse-power gasoline engine runs an 
eight-inch centrifugal pump, raising 
the water 20 feet straight. With this 
outfit a flow of 2,300 gallons per min¬ 
ute is raised and used to irrigate an 
Alfalfa farm. Even as far away as 
NINE SHOOTS lO ’THE BLANCH. Fig. 296. New Mexico Alfalfa has a high 
