Xihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
697 
A Maine Woman’s Asparagus Patch 
A Profitable Venture on a Moderate Scale 
J T’ST 10 years -ajro. a Maine woman. Mrs. yiary 
Koniiey of Sajiadiilioc County, set out her first 
as])arafrus xdaut.s, taking one-eiglitli of an acre for 
that purpose; ami every year since the plants liave 
been ready for cutting, slie lias made a ])rofit at 
the rate of $120 per aci-e. 'riiis sounds easy, but 
tlie work lias been liard at times, and in the cutting 
season, continuous. 
IIKTTKII P.T^Y IT-AXTS.—“I knew notliing about 
gardens of any kind until we purcliased our Blaine 
farm.'’ said IVIr.s. lionney. •'and then I tliought how 
good asjmragus wouhl taste right from my own 
garden. So I sent to .-i reliaVde seed company for 
seeds and plants and dirc'ctions. It was three years 
before plants from tbe seed were ready to cut. and 
I never would start from the seed again. I would 
alwa.vs buy tiie two-year-old plants, altliough T did 
find that from the seed itself I got larger stalks 
than from the plants. I dug a trench two feet be¬ 
low the .surface and set out my plant.s, about a foot 
apart and .spread the roots well ajiart. In the Fall 
I mulched tliem witli 10 indies of horse dressing. 
M'e used two loads of manure, and as we keep 
horses and oxen this was not so expensive as it 
Avould have been Inid I been ol>liged to buy tlie 
dressing, lint I had to pay two men 
to hiiiil it and spread it on. 'Phey 
lieljied me lioe in tlu' dressing, and 
tlien I fertilized the plant.s well be¬ 
sides. In llie Spring I alw.-i.i s sjirinkle 
salt on the a.si»aragus iu'd. as this 
keeps tlie weeds down. Freipieut 
cultivation is neces.s:iry to keej) down 
the weeds right through the cutting 
sea.son. When peas begin to riiieii tlie 
cutting .season end.s. of course this 
sea.son varies according t(.> tlie lati¬ 
tude of tlie place where om* lives, 
and then the weather has everything 
to do with it. But the rule is to 
stop cutting when the green pea.s 
come on. Ilei-e in IMaiiu' the cutting 
season begins about the middle of 
^[ay. 
MAIlKirriNG.—“When tlie sun 
warms tbe ground in Sju-ing the ten¬ 
der asjiaragus shoots aiijiear. In the 
Fall the stalks are cut and burned. 
This is to prevent the sjireading of 
any di.sea.se that may lie lurking 
round the bed. It is after this that 
I mulch witli dressing. t)n a good 
\ear I usually make at the rate of 
.$120 per acre, but on an off year my 
jirofit is les.s. Berhaiis from .$.s0 to 
.$!)() then. This jiroflt includes what 
I have to pay the men who haul the 
dres.sing. I .sell some aspara.gus in 
my home village, taking orders at the 
house and sending a man 'round once 
a week. As this man works in othm- 
ways about the farm I ]»ay him noth¬ 
ing for .selling. But the greater part 
of the a.sparagus is .sold in Bath, 
where the market is called the best 
on the Kennebec River. I jia.v a f.ir- 
mer a small sum each week for taking it down for 
me when be makes his weekly triiis. He never lias 
any trouble in selling, as after the first trial 1 am 
sure of regular customers. The farmer conies along 
at five o’clock and I get up at four and have the 
bunches all ready for him. 
BREBARING FOR MAltKET.—"I always get the 
a.sjiaragus as near ready as possibh'’ the night be¬ 
fore. I cut it and tie in pound bunches with stout 
twine. Some iirefer ratlia to tie aspai-agus, and of 
(‘ourse that is good, but it costs mon* and twine 
answers every purpose. I buy my twine at a big 
wludesale place and getting it by the ipiantity I 
find much the cheaper way. I always set my a.sjiar- 
ague in water over night and that keeps it fre.sh- 
er. Of course I Avash it before I tie it ui». Then 
in the morning all I have to do is to Avijie it and 
plac(' in the boxes. At my own home I sell at 2~> 
cents for two bunches, but in Bath I have an aver¬ 
age i)ric*e of IS cents a bunch. .Some years Avhen 
1 luiA-e it ready especially eai'ly in the season, I 
ask more. People never comidain about the price. 
I could get more by sending away by parcel post, 
but then the expense Avould he more. 
GENERAL CARE.— “It takes considerable time 
at first to keep the Aveeds down, but after the tops 
grow up they shade tlie ground so tliere are not 
many Aveeds. In hot Aveather I u.suall.v have to 
cut tAvice a day, morning and night. When it is a 
good hot day Avith plenty of sunshine I often get 
Id iiounds at a cutting, but the average is 14 pounds. 
The hardest work is cutting, and then it takes time 
to Avash it and tie it up. I find it much better to 
cut it myself, as men .get impatient and never cut 
thorou.gbly. They often leave the small tops. The 
cost of the ]il<‘ints is considerable, and I could make 
more by saving the seeds; but that means more 
Avork. and I have never Ux-irned Iioav to take care 
of the seeds. Considi'rin.g the amount of land 1 
cultivate, my itrofits are fair. To make more out 
of it, one Avould Avjint to cultivate more .ground and 
hire two .irood men throu.gh the cutting season ; but 
countin.g tlie time and Avork I juit into it. 1 am Avell 
content Avirli tbe profit 1 make on the asparagus 1 
raise on my eighth of an acre.'’ ci..ah.\ roco. . 
place in a cornfield. If he Avishes to groAV turnii»s 
in a corntield he should use Purph>-top Strap-leaf 
turnips, not rutaba.gas. .i. s. avoodavahh. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
a: 
A Crop of Yellow Turnips 
'INF cn*!) to .groAA", one that Avill give a large 
:imouiit of stock food per acre and can be 
grown Avith a miiumum amount of hand labor, is 
tbe rutaba.ga turnip. The best kind for the main 
crop is the Purple-to]). It is the largest yielder, 
hard.v, .good (piality, keeps Avell and if Avanti'd for 
market, sells Avell. A fairly .good strong loam, not 
too lieaA'.A'. and the richer the better, is desirable. 
PloAV deep, as eaidy as practicable, roll doAvii and 
harroAV Avell and often until aliout .luue 1st. Ap¬ 
The Last ot the Season’s Crop Fig. 273 
ply all the tine manure you can atford, the more 
the belter, np to 100 or more loads iier acre, and 
200 pounds of fertilizer, rich in pho.sidiate, per acre. 
Cultivate Avtdl into tlie surface and Aviih a potato 
iiiller, or small ploAV. tliroAV into shalloAV rid.ges 
:!0 inches .apart. With a seed drill soav on top of 
these rid.gt's about tAVo jtounds of .seed per acre. 
As soon as the roAVs shoAV go ovei’ Avith a Avlieel 
lioe, as dost* to the roAV as jiossible, being careful 
not to coA’er the jilant.s. Wbeu tlu* third leaf shoAvs 
go oA'er Avith a hoe and_ chop out. leaving hills 
ei.ght or 10 inches apart. A f(>w days later go over 
Avith hor.se and cultiA'ator and Aviaal, leaving only 
one ]dant in a hill, and if an.A' hill is missing trans- 
]dant into the vacancy. FoIIoav Avith cultivation 
often and to keep .ground melloAV and free of Aveeds 
until the plants cover the ground. No further cul¬ 
tivation Avill be absidutely necessary as no Aveeds 
will shoAv again. But an occasional cultivation as 
long as it can be done and not break the to])s the 
bettei’ for the yield. 
In tlu‘ Fall Avhen ready to harvest go throu.gh 
Avirh .sliai']) hoes and cut off tops. When tliis is 
done take an ordinary harroAA', turn bottom up on 
a dry day. and .go over field cro.ssAvise. FoIIoaa’ in 
an hour and pick up and throw into the Ava.gons. 
This mode of harvesting Avill occasionally break a 
turnip, but it Avill not in.iure their keeping. 
One of youi’ friends in reunsylvania asks me 
about groAving rutabagas in corn. ’I’liis croi» h.as no 
A Dream of Potato Growing 
I haA'o a cham-e to hire Hi aercs of ground, and was 
thinking of planting Id acn-s to jiotatoos, some to 
sAvi'ct corn and .some late cabbage. Il.-ive I figured it 
out nearly right'/ I have not Avorked on .-i farm for 
six years. The Ava.v I used to plant potatoes av.is fir.st 
])loAV the ground deei). then harrow fhrt'e times, pl.ant 
seed det'p, and coA'er Avith a furrow, then harrow once 
,i week until xnitatoes Aver<‘ liigli enough to cultivate. 
Expenses Avould be Id acres of ground, live barrels 
of potatoes to the acre, at .^S.ud per barre.l .$42.1. Two 
tons of fertilizer, jau’ acre at .$4.1 p<>r ton. .$dd pm- acre. 
.$dd0. rioAving $.Sd; digging ,$.'!()(); rent .$ldd. total 
.$lSd.1. Fifty barrels of seed potatoiss ought to yield 
20 to 1, making Iddd barrels. I’otatoes ought to he at 
least .$() per barrel next Fall. Dialucting expenses. 
.$1801. from ,$n(K)0. leaA-es .$4101 jirolit. I have h«di> 
enough to plant, cultivate and pick up iiot.itoes. T 
ought to get them dug for oO cents per barrel, if I 
could make .$.'’000 I think I AA’ould be doing well. 1 
have not figured anything for hauling. What do you 
think of this'? .1. M. n. 
Uockland Go., N. Y. 
U .siT’ALLY aa’C do not discuss such a iiropositioii. 
for most practical farmers Avould see at oiiee 
that this AA'ould lead oiiI.a to loss. I’liis year some 
peoph* aiij'car to havi* gone more or less ins.-im' on 
i1h‘ subject of producing crojis. and this is a fair 
sample of the figuring Avhich is iire- 
sented to us. M'e knoAA’ nothing of 
the (imility <d; this l.-ind, Avhether it 
is in .sod or Avi'eds, or Avlu'ther it is 
light or lu'avy. IVi' assume tlmt it is 
idle land Avhich has not bemi Avorked 
for ;i tinny and is now full of Aveeds 
and poor grass. .No one .should try to 
Avork Id acres of such land by Imnd 
in these days of high labor cost. I'his 
nmn will need a planter, .-i digger, 
.good cultivjitors. .-ind a spr.-iyer ti> 
take care of Id aert's of jiotatoes. 
The estiimite of live barrels of jiota- 
toes to the acre is too high. This 
yetir by close cutting Ave can .-iveragi- 
about nine buslnds to tin- ;icre. 
Where can you bu.v good .s(‘ed at 
.$s..1d per btirreF? IVe Avere obliged 
to pay .$ld.1d, and sinci* then the i>ric(' 
has incri'asml. The ]dan of using two 
tons or $l)d Avorth of f(«rtiliz»‘r on an 
acre of hired land is nomsemse. Fnder 
such circumstances l.ddd or 1,2<M) 
pounds of soluble fertllizm- Avould be 
the limit. Why u.se .$dd worth of fer- 
tilizm- on an acre Avhich you Avil! u.se 
only one year'? Your estimated cost 
of jiloAving and harrowing is f;iir foi- 
that s(“cti(»n. but you api>a reutl.A' 
make no alloAvanct' for culri\'.trion. 
On that Aveedy land you will be 
obliged to cultivati* three or fi>ur 
times, and thoroughly hoi* at least 
once to keep the potaotes clean. You 
make no alloAvaiice for that. Then 
you Avill be obliged to sju-ay in or¬ 
der to kill bugs and keep down the 
blight. This Avili maki* it necess.-iry 
to buy a spra.A'ei-, and the matm-ial 
Avill cost considm-able money. If 
you do not spray it is doubtful if you 
could gi‘f over Od bushels to the acre. The jiropor- 
tiou of 2d barrels to one iilanted is too high for that 
section. ^lost b(>ginners tiiink it is easy to groAV at 
that rate, but if they .get Id to 1 under such condi¬ 
tions they Avould do Aveli. With a (iigger the cost 
of harvesting Avill not vary far from your figures, 
hut hand-di.gging on soil of that character Avill CAist 
more. As for the price of iiotatoes. Avliat tliey oHfjht 
to do and Avhat they Avill do make two very different 
propositions. An immense crop is h«‘in.g itlanted, 
and many farmers are giad at this timi' to contract 
their crop at .$1.1t> pm- bushel next Fall. <)f cour.se 
AA'e Avould all like to make .$;!.ddd on such a A'en- 
ture, and it is easy, as aa'c se(* from tlu* ahoA’e state¬ 
ment. to figure out more than that before tbe pota¬ 
toes are planted. This scheme is largely a dream, 
and Ave Avould not advise this man, or any other, to 
.go into it. Tile risk is too great, and the ligures 
here presented are too misleaiiin.g. yet this is a fair 
sample of humlreds of propositions AA'hicli are being 
made by people Avho in calmer times AA'ould knoAV 
better. 
Neav potatoe.s have reached the Mobile markets at 
$.2 per bushel retail. Turnips and some other greens 
can hardly be given away. What about distribution? 
Noav conies an observer to say that doughnut pastry 
i.s a bored dough mixture Avhich has kept the blight of 
discontent out of many a household. 
