‘Jhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
939 
Asparagus from the Seed 
About two years ago Prof. Massey 
spoke of having secured fine* stalks of 
asparagus from roots that he had left in 
the seedbed, through having more plants 
than ho needed for transplanting. Hav¬ 
ing a little space about 16x30 ft. in my 
garden. I carefully prepared a bed. dig¬ 
ging deep and fertilizing heavily with 
stable manure, and sowed three rows 
4 ft. apart with seed of Palmetto aspara¬ 
gus. The seeding was done late in May. 
1017. and the germination was line. After 
the plants reached 4 in. in height I 
thinned them to approximately 10 in. in 
the rows, gave them some top-dressing 
and cultivated them regularly throughout 
that Summer, and all through last year, 
giving them two or three dressings of 
well-rotted manure each season. Last 
Fall I covered the rows with 3 or 4 in. 
of coarse manure, and this Spring I 
worked this into the ground during the 
mild weather in March. About the mid¬ 
dle of April good-sized edible stalks be¬ 
gan to come up. and we could not resist 
the temptation to cut a little of it. We 
have eaten three messes of what would 
amount altogether to six or seven store¬ 
sized bunches. Is it safe to cut any more 
this season, and what is the best treat¬ 
ment for the bed- this year? I have a 
little 10xl2-ft. greenhouse and have all 
of my neighbors enthusiastic over Bonny 
Best tomatoes which I first learned about 
in one of Prof. Massey's articles. I give 
away 300 to 400 plants each year. 
East Orange. N. J. u. ». s. 
I have for many years been trying to 
convince gardeners that it is a waste of a 
year to transplant asparagus roots. Any¬ 
one who bestows a thought, on the subject 
can realize that the tearing of the roots 
from the soil at the end of a year’s 
growth is a serious setback to the plant. 
The finer filaments are all destroyed, and 
the still finer root hairs through which 
the plant gets its food from the soil. 
Hence the greater part of the second 
season’s growth is spent in restoring the 
conditions that were destroyed, and the 
first season’s growth of the top is very 
slender. Anyone comparing the second 
year’s growth on a transplanted root and 
that on a root left undisturbed will won¬ 
der why anyone should transplant these 
roots. 
Mure than 10 years ago tin 1 greater part 
of my present garden was a vacant lot 
grown up in woods alongside the plot 
on which my dwelling stood, and it was 
bought for the purpose of extending the 
garden on one side, while another lot on 
the other side was bought to extend the 
lawn. As this last lot extended 150 ft. deep 
I did not want all of it in the lawn, and 
so added it in the rear as an elbow to 
the main garden. I had sown some as¬ 
paragus seed in the rear of the main 
garden, merely a row, when I determined 
to make the asparagus bed proper in the 
last-named part. Knowing from past ex¬ 
perience that transplanting would delay 
getting tin 1 asparagus. I did not dig all 
the roots, but left some in the row. Those 
plants made heavy shoots for cutting 
when the transplanted ones bad none 
worth cutting, and today these plants are 
making heavier stalks than the trans¬ 
planted bed, though the transplanted bed 
has had more manure. Your bed is now 
beginning its third year, and I would not 
hestitate to cut it till at least the middle 
of May. then give it the best attention, 
fertilization and cultivation to make a 
strong growth for the full season’s cutting 
next Spring. Transplanting asparagus 
roots came about because they had become 
profitable nursery products, and everyone 
was taught that the only way to get as¬ 
paragus was to buy the roots and plant 
them. Anyone who has properly devel¬ 
oped a bed from seed will wonder why one 
should ever go to tin* expense of buying 
and transplanting the roots when be can¬ 
not only get a bed far cheaper from the 
seed, and not only cheaper, but can save 
a year in getting the crop, and get a bet¬ 
ter product. The only criticism I would 
make of your bed is that you thinned it 
too little. You will have a crowded bed 
in a few years. I thin to two feet, and 
asparagus needs room and heavy feeding 
to make fat shoots. w. f. massey. 
The fruit pulled through this- cold spell 
all right. 1 thought surely it would fieeze 
all tree fruit, as it was a few degrees be¬ 
low the freezing point. Very few peach 
trees were set out the last few years on 
account of the scarcity of labor, and the 
old peach orchards are about done for. I 
have started an apple orchard, but am 
disgusted on account of the stem borers. 
They have destroyed most of my young 
trees. C. R. B. 
Berks Co., Pa. 
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