THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
987 
1910. 
PLANTING ASPARAGUS IN THE FALL. 
What is your advice about planting as¬ 
paragus in the Fall? Will it pay? 
We never set asparagus in the Fall. 
I should not dare to run the risk of 
winter-killing. If plants were set in the 
Fall you must either fill the furrows in 
entirely or only partly. If the former 
the young plants would be handicapped 
next Spring and perhaps smothered. If 
the latter probably the roots would be 
killed from water and ice in the fur¬ 
rows. Then again in the Fall the young 
seedlings have not finished their growth 
and to disturb them before tilt plant 
food is stored in the roots would not do. 
Rather than plant in the Fall I would 
sow Hairy vetch for a cover crop in 
August and plow under the next Spring. 
Massachusetts. c. w. Prescott. 
About 25 years ago it was thought best 
to plant the crowns in the Fad in the 
usual way, but of late years the Spring 
is preferred. Personally I believe where 
one-year-old roots are used the Spring 
is best for planting them. In preparing 
the ground for Spring planting, if the 
ground is at the present time without 
a grass or cover crop, I think it will 
be time enough to seed to wluat 2 p 2 to 
3 bushels to the acre as soon as possible. 
I like wheat sown thickly much better 
than rye, especially where it L to be 
plowed down very early in the Spring, 
as you would do in preparing the ground 
for asparagus. But as you weli know, 
there is no way of preparing the ground 
like broadcasting it with manure during 
the Winter for plowing down in early 
Spring. Where the supply is limited I 
certainly would recommend a weli com¬ 
posted heap of well-rotted manure and 
top soil to spread in the trenches where 
the crowns are to be planted. The re¬ 
sults you will have from this treatment 
will be a great satisfaction to you. 
New Jersey. t. m. white. 
I cannot see any advantage in setting 
in the Fall, as if you set late it does not 
give the roots a good chance to catch, 
and even if they do start they do not get 
up so that you can level the trenches, 
and I do not like to leave the trenches 
so that water and ice will stand and 
freeze so near the young roots. At one 
time we set a part of a piece in the Fall, 
but it did not prove as good as the re¬ 
mainder of the field set the following 
Spring. If the land to be set has been 
cropped or kept soft during the Sum¬ 
mer, it could be plowed, marked and fur¬ 
rowed out in the Fall, so that once fur¬ 
rowing out in the Spring would do, but 
I would not want to set out land that 
had not been worked previous to the 
Fall plowing. P. M. S. 
Massachusetts. 
There is nothing saved by Fall setting 
of asparagus. Asparagus is a crop that 
is almost always set on fairly light soils. 
It is also one that is planted quite deep. 
That makes two reasons why Fall set¬ 
ting should be avoided. First, the lighter 
the soil in which the crop is planted, the 
more readily the furrows will blow full 
some time during the Winter, and if set 
on soils with a finer grain, that is, with 
some fine clay in it, then when heavy 
rains come, also freezing and thawing, 
will fill or partially fill the furrows. 
Then, too, this kind of soil is not ex¬ 
empt from blowing, particularly so when 
ground is frozen hard and bare and dry 
at same time. What harm does this fill¬ 
ing of the furrows do? Why, it smoth¬ 
ers the young plants and they die. I 
have noticed repeatedly when this plant 
was set in early Spring and very heavy 
storms came soon after setting, washing 
the soil over the plants, they failed to 
grow; examination shows the plants to 
be alive for weeks afterwards, but unless 
the soil is loosened over and around these 
young set plants many of them never ap¬ 
pear above ground. 
There is another reason, too, that mili¬ 
tates against Fall setting of this plant. 
If the reverse conditions prevail, that is, 
if plants are covered shallow, or soil is 
blown or washed off, the young plants 
will freeze. I have known them to freeze 
in the nursery row where they were cov¬ 
ered very shallow. I consider Fall set¬ 
ting of asparagus impracticable; it is not 
done in this section. The man contem¬ 
plating setting a young asparagus bed 
should decide on location a year or two 
ahead of planting to asparagus; plant to 
hoed crops, manure and fertilize heavily 
and make a determined effort to keep 
weeds from going to seed, and sow some 
cover, crop every Fall. Where Spring 
work is pressing and no cover crop is 
sown the field may be manured and 
plowed the previous Fall, but I do not 
recommend this. I would much rather 
have the ground covered all Winter with 
some cover crop to be plowed down in 
early Spring and soil fitted at once. In 
setting young asparagus in this Spring 
it should always be done before the 
shoots start, because the first buds that 
start are always the strongest, and if 
these are broken in setting weaker buds 
have to do the work. c. c. hulsart. 
PAINTING AND SPRAYING. 
White Lead on Trees. —When the 
white lead for painting trees is mixed 
with linseed oil the tree will suffer; 
when mixed with boiled linseed oil, there 
will be no damage, due to the chemical 
and physical pr erties of boiled linseed 
oil, which hardens on the bark quickly, 
so preventing being absorbed by the 
bark. For painting trees against ants, 
gummosis and for preventing or check¬ 
ing decay, there is nothing better than 
Carbolineum Avenarius. This prepara¬ 
tion is safe, even when applied in the 
hot sun; it can be used for all kinds of 
fruit trees, even Citrus fruit trees. The 
last year’s experience in Cuba is now 
adopted by most of the fruit growers 
here, who have nothing but praise for the 
use of Carbolineum. 
Improved Lime-Sulphur Spray. —The 
use of lime-sulphur as a fungicide is 
growing fast, and without doubt it will 
replace the Bordeaux Mixture to a very- 
large extent, especially with the fruit 
growers. Now the action of the self- 
boiled lime-sulphur can be increased by 
adding into the spray barrel of diluted 
lime-sulphur a small cup of vinegar. The 
vinegar will precipitate a large amount 
of sulphur, standing up in the dilution 
perfectly without stirring. After spray¬ 
ing, this precipitated sulphur will stick 
to the foliage surprisingly well, and will 
creep even into corners, which hardly 
could be reached otherwise. After the 
vinegar has been added the liquid will 
turn yellow; when too much vinegar has 
been added, the liquid will turn white-; 
this has to be avoided. A small cup of 
common vinegar for 50 gallons of diluted 
lime-sulphur spray is sufficient. The 
same method can be applied when the 
commercial concentrated lime-sulphur is 
used. Formula for an effective fungi¬ 
cide on foliage: One gallon of concen¬ 
trated lime-sulphur, 49 gallons of water, 
and a small cup of vinegar. 
Cuba. PAUL KARUTZ. 
■--- 
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