766 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
May  20,  1023 
The  Fertilizing,  Value  of  Salt 
I  wish  you  would  publish  ail  article  on  salt,  what  it 
is.  what  it  will  benefit  or  injure.  To  begin  with,  I 
ordered  salt  put  on  an  asparagus  bed  about  three  years 
ago,  and  nearly  lost  a  young  Sutton  tree  that  gave  me 
14  bushels  of  the  most  beautiful  apples  the  Fall  before. 
The  tree,  blossomed  for  another  full  crop,  and  then 
blasted.  I  then  butchered  it  after  the  method  used  on 
a  peach  when  it  is  not  going  to  bear,  and  it  gradually 
came  to.  1  suppose  the  salt  was  leached  by  the  rain, 
but  it  has  not  returned  to  its  former  vigor  and  prob¬ 
ably  will  not.  Wild  morning-glory  has  been  spreading 
in  patches  in  one  asparagus  bed,  and  I  have  worked 
many  hours  digging  it  out,  but  only  to  find  it  more 
abundant  the  succeeding  year.  Two  years  ago  I  began 
giving  a  good  coat  of  salt,  and  soon  after  the  next  rain 
perceived  that  the  glory  was  going  yellow  and  dying, 
and  last  year  we  got  after  what  was  left,  and  if  any 
remains  this  Spring  think  we  will  finish  it.  In  an¬ 
other  part  of  the  farm  was  a  patch  about  oval  in  shape, 
about  .‘50x20.  I  had  a  man  put  on  about  200  lbs.,  and 
only  one  sprig  of  the  bindweed  (morning-glory)  came 
up  after  the  treatment,  and  nothing  else  would  grow 
there  the  balance  of  the  season.  Now  you.  see  why 
1  want  to  know  where  salt  can  and  cannot  be  used,  and 
thought  if  anybody  knew  it  would  be  better  than  ex¬ 
perimenting.  I  have  patches  in  m.v  pear  orchard,  and 
other  places.  I  have  found  that  salt  and  apples  are  a 
poor  combination,  but  how  about  pears,  plums,  etc.? 
I  know  that  quinces  are  benefited,  or  that  is  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  the  great  market  gardeners  in  Auburn,  It.  I., 
who  told  me  they  had  an  old  quince  sitting  by  itself 
and  they  considered  it  no  good  and  when  they  pumped 
the  brine  from  one  of  their  pickle  cisterns,  any  amount 
of  it  soaked  the  ground  around  that  quince,  and  as  a 
result  it  began  to  make  marvelous  returns.  F.  T.  ,T. 
Rhode  Island. 
HE  best  article  on  salt  will  come  in  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  readers,  and  we  invite  all  who  have 
used  it  on  crops  of  any  sort  to  report.  Common  salt 
is  chloride  of  sodium.  Its  agricultural  effect  upon 
plants  or  soils  has  been  studied  to  some  extent,  yet 
its  action  does  not  seem  to  be  fully  known.  Hants 
like  asparagus,  celery,  mangels  and  to  some  extent 
cabbage,  can  endure  quite  large  quantities  of  salt, 
while  crops  like  sugar  beets  and  potatoes  are  injured 
by  large  applications.  The  theory  is  that  plants  like 
asparagus  were  originally  salt  water  or  salt  marsh 
plants,  and  therefore  they  respond  to  salt.  We  have 
never  been  able  to  see  any  advantage  of  using  salt 
on  asparagus  so  far  as  growth  is  concerned.  Large 
quantities  of  salt  will  kill  or  keep  down  weeds  with¬ 
out  injuring  the  asparagus,  but  beyond  that  we  have 
seen  no  advantage  from  using  .it.  We  have  heard 
the  story  of  using  salt  on  quince  trees,  but  we  never 
saw  any  advantage  from  it.  Salt  is  often  used  to 
kill  weeds  on  driveways,  or  to  clean  out  weed  pests 
on  cultivated  fields.  Tt  is  also  claimed  that  it  will 
destroy  certain  soil  insects.  Whenever  enough  salt 
is  used  to  kill  weeds  or  insects  you  may  be  quite 
sure  that  it  will  sterilize  the  soil  so  that  no  ordinary 
crop  will  grow.  Tt  has  been  said  that  the  Romans 
destroyed  the  productive  power  of  some  of  their 
conquered  provinces  by  scattering  salt  over  the  fields, 
though  where  they  ever  obtained  the  required  quan¬ 
tities  is  a  mystery. 
The  chemical  action  of  salt  in  the  soil  is  quite 
well  understood.  There  are  some  forms  of  potash 
in  clay  soils  which  may  be  broken  up  by  a  chloride. 
A  solution  of  salt  will  bring  about  a  chemical  change 
during  which  small  quantities  of  potash  are  made 
available.  Thus,  to  a  very  limited  extent,  in  some 
soils,  the  use  of  salt  may  increase  the  amount  of 
available  potash,  and  this  may  also  be  true  to  some 
extent  with  phosphate.  Probably  most  of  the  success 
reputed  from  the  use  of  small  quantities  of  salt  was 
obtained  in  heavy  clay  soils  where  the  salt  sets  free 
a  little  potash  and  also  acted  somewhat  like  lime  fo 
open  up  the  soft  soil  by  combining  the  soil  particles  so 
as  to  make  it  more  porous.  Salt  will  also,  to  some 
extent,  increase  the  water-holding  capacity  of 
the  soil.  .  ,  f 
Thirty  years  or  more  ago  quite  large  quantities  of 
“agricultural  salt”  were  used  by  wheat  growers  in 
States  like  Michigan.  They  claimed  that  it  gave  a 
stiff er  stand  and  prevented  “lodging”  on  rich  land. 
This  form  of  salt  was  freely  advertised  at  that  time, 
but  is  now  rarely  heard  of.  It  was  thought  that 
the  salt  acted  in  two  ways  to  help  the  wheat.  On 
rich  land  the  trouble  was  that  the  grain  grew  too 
fast.  The  stems  were  weak  and  tender,  and  went 
down  under  their  weight.  One  action  of  the  salt 
was  to  check  this  rapid  growth  by  holding  back  the 
formation  of  nitrates.  This  gave  a  stronger  stem 
and  a  better  head  of  grain.  Another  reason  given 
was  that  the  salt  increased  the  amount  of  soluble 
silica  in  the  soil.  This  was  taken  up  by  the  wheat 
plant,  making  a  heaver  and  stronger  straw.  On  poor 
land  the  salt  proved  an  injury  rather  than  a  help. 
As  a  boy,  near  the  seashore,  the  writer  can  re¬ 
member  how  the  farmers  would  haul  seaweed  and 
kelp  from  the  beaches  and  spread  it  over  the  grass 
lands.  This  brought  large  quantities  of  salt  to  the 
'farms.  This  practice  was  kept  up  for  years,  and 
the  grass  seemed  to  adapt  itself  to  this  heavy  salt¬ 
ing.  Timothy  and  Red-top  seemed  to  take  on  some 
of  the  hardy  qualities  of  marsh  grass.  Several 
strains  of  Hint  corn  grown  near  the  salt  water  seem 
capable  of  utilizing  far  more  salt  than  corn  grown 
in  (be  bills  far  back  from  the  ocean.  This  leads  us 
to  think  that  some  plants  or  varieties  will  give  far 
better  results  with  salt  than  others,  and  we  would 
like  to  have  practical  experience. 
Asparagus  Past  and  Present 
STANDARD  CROP. — I  sometimes  wonder  when 
I  hear  or  read  albout  the  la  rge  acreage  of  aspara¬ 
gus  that  is  being  set  out  if  the  business  will  not  be 
overdone.  Rut  when  I  look  back  to  what  it  used  to 
be,  and  hear  my  father  tell  about  the  demand  for  it 
quite  a  while  ago.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it 
will  continue  to  sell  well,  even  though  the  prices 
Memorial  Elm 
This  magnificent  elm  which  measures  1(5  feet  in 
circumference  and  towers  considerably  over  100 
feet  stands  near  the  entrance  to  the  village  park,  in 
Falconer,  N.  Y.  The  plot  of  ground  on  which  it 
stands,  for  three  generations  in  the  family  of  the 
donor,  was  presented  to  the  village  last  Memorial 
1 
Memorial  Elm  at  Falconer,  N.  Y.  Fig.  284 
Day  by  S.  R.  Mosher  in  memory  of  his  son,  Captain 
Henry  Mosher,  killed  in  action  in  France.  The 
people  of  the  village  have  placed  beneath  it  a 
boulder  with  suitably  inscribed  bronze  tablet.  Tree 
and  tablet  are  silent  yet  eloquent  symbols  of  beauty 
and  patriotism  whose  message  may  reach  hearts 
and  minds  of  many,  many  passersby. 
GERTRUDE  E.  MOSHER. 
may  not  keep  up  to  those  of  the  past  two  or  three 
.\ears.  The  demand  for  it  in  the  last  few  years  has 
been  caused  in  good  part  by  the  fact  that  many  doc¬ 
tors  recommend  it  for  the  medicinal  properties  it 
contains.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  healthful, 
but  I  like  it  in  larger  quantities  than  served  in  res¬ 
taurants. 
OLD  PLANTINGS. — When  my  great  grandfather 
bought  our  place  in  1823  it  had  a  small  patch  of 
asparagus  in  the  garden  which  had  been  set  out 
some  time  between  1770  and  1780.  My  grandfather 
set  out  a  new  bed  for  home  use  a  few  years  after 
his  father  bought  the  place.  About  50  years  ago  my 
father  and  his  brothers  set  out  the  first  bed  for 
market,  and  we  have  been  marketing  it  ever  since. 
Rut  there  is  quite  a  hit  of  difference  in  the  handling 
of  it.  When  the  bed  was  old  enough  to  cut  for 
market  the  first  thing  in  the  Spring  we  had  to  go 
over  it  with  a  hoe  and  cut  off  all  the  old  stubble. 
This  was  done  because  we  used  to  cut  it  with  a 
butcher  knife,  and  it  was  no  fun  to  hit  your  knuckle 
on  an  obi  stubble.  Then  the  bed  was  cultivated. 
During  the  cutting  season  it  was  cultivated  and 
banked  up,  the  banking  up  being  all  done  by  hand. 
About  the  first  of  .Tune  salt  was  put  on  early  in 
(he  morning  before  the  dew  was  off.  or  else  on  a 
damp  day,  to  kill  the  weeds.  After  the  cutting  sea¬ 
son  it  was  cultivated  and  hand-hoed,  then  there  was 
nothing  more  done  until  Fall,  when  the  seed  was 
ripe.  Then  we  went  through  and  cut  all  the  stalks 
that  had  seed  on  them  with  a  corn  knife,  put  them 
in  heaps,  carted  them  off  with  a  horse  and  burned 
them.  This  was  done  because  it  would  not  do  to 
have  all  the  seed  on  the  ground,  or  at  least  we 
thought  so.  After  that  was  done  the  rest  of  the 
canes  were  cut  off  with  a  mowing  machine,  raked 
up  and  burned. 
PUNCHING  AND  MARKETING.— When  they 
first  carted  it  to  market,  it  was  bunched  in  a  home¬ 
made  buneher,  made  by  nailing  a  board  about  4x0 
inches  to  another  board  0x12  in  the  shape  of  an 
“L”.  In  the  larger  board  were  four  wooden  pegs. 
The  grass  was  placed  between  the  pegs  and  tied  as 
tightly  as  possible.  At  first  it  was  tied  with  nar¬ 
row  strips  of  white  cloth.  After  a  while  we  used 
raffia  and  jute.  The  butts  were  then  trimmed  off 
and  the  bunches  set  in  tubs  containing  about  two 
inches  of  water.  In  selling,  there  were  only  a  few 
people  who  would  handle  it.  for  a  great  many  did 
not  know  what  it  was.  The  sale  was  slow  and  the 
price  about  $1  to  $1.50  per  dozen.  One  good  thing 
about  it  in  those  days  was  that  there  was  no  rust 
and  no  beetles. 
THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM.— At  the  present  time 
we  are  cutting  about  four  acres  and  we  handle  it 
in  quite  a  different  way.  In  the  Spring  we  go  over 
the  bed  with  a  disk  harrow.  As  soon  as  we  can 
make  out  the  rows,  it  is  banked  up  with  a  two-horse 
marker  which  leaves  very  little  hand  work.  It  is 
cultivated  at  intervals  during  the  cutting  season, 
and  about  every  two  weeks,  we  go  over  it  with  a 
weeder  which  keeps  the  weeds  down  and  breaks  up 
the  crust  if  any  forms.  In  cutting,  each  cutter  has 
an  apron,  and  as  he  gets  a  few  stalks  in  his  hand 
he  puts  it  in  his  apron,  heads  all  one  way.  When 
the  apron  is  full,  he  puts  it  in  crates,  which  are 
placed  at  intervals  through  the  field.  Some  people 
may  think  this  would  cause  quite  a  lot  of  broken 
tips  but  the  number  is  very  small,  and  when  you 
consider  the  time  it  saves  in  gathering  small  heaps 
up  after  you  have  finished  cutting,  it  certainly  does 
pay.  After  it  is  cut  it  is  taken  down  to  the  market 
house,  sorted  into  three  grades,  bunched  and  tied 
with  red  tape.  The  butts  are  trimmed  off  and  the 
bunches  are  set  in  a  concrete  basin  with  two  or 
three  inches  of  water  in  it.  It  is  then  packed  in 
crates  and  taken  to  market. 
FURTHER  CULTIVATION.— We  always  stop  cut¬ 
ting  about  June  25.  Some  people  cut  later,  but  we 
have  found  out  iff  it  is  cut  any  later  than  June  25, 
the  crowns  do  not  get  as  long  a  growing  season, 
and  what  you  make  one  year  you  will  lose  the  fol¬ 
lowing  year,  as  there  will  not  be  nearly  as  many 
stalks.  After  the  cutting  season  we  go  over  the 
rows  with  a  two-way  sulky  plow  with  both  plows 
down,  set  shallow,  straddling  the  rows.  In  that 
way  we  level  off  the  bed  and  plow  out  the  weeds. 
Next  a  drag  harrow  is  used  to  harrow  it  both 
ways.  After  the  grass  has  come  up  again,  we  cul¬ 
tivate  it  and  go  through  with  a  hoe  and  cut  off  the 
weeds  that  are  left.  In  the  Fall  a  disk  harrow  is 
put  on  and  the  canes  cut  up  to  help  supply  the 
humus. 
GENERAL  TREATMENT.— Of  course  if  you  are 
going  to  have  good  asparagus,  you  have  to  feed  it 
and  feed  it  well.  Manure  if  you  have  it  and  fer¬ 
tilizer  or  else'  two  dressings  of  fertilizer,  one  in  the 
Spring  and  the  other  after  the  cutting  season.  The 
old  beds  were  set  out  with  the  rows  5  ft.  apart  and 
18  in.  in  the  rows,  but  now  we  plan  4  ft. 
rows  15  in.  in  the  row.  Asparagus  will  pay  best 
up  to  12  or  15  years;  after  that  it  cuts  quite  a  lot 
of  small,  so  we  set  it  closer,  and  when  the  small 
gets  too  numerous,  we  plow  it  up.  One  bed  when 
plowed  up  was  about  25  years  old.  The  rows  were 
about  3  or  4  ft.  wide,  plenty  of  stalks,  but 
the  majority  small.  T  have  heard  people  ask  how 
deep  asparagus  roots  go.  I  do  not  know,  hut  I  saw 
a  hole  dug  in  one  end  of  an  asparagus  field  about 
10  ft.  deep,  and  the  small  feed  roots  were  still  go¬ 
ing  down.  There  are  no  doubt  other  crops  which 
bring  in  more  money  some  seasons  to  the  acre  than 
asparagus,  but  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  surer 
crop.  Dry  or  wet  weather  affects  it  very  little,  and 
even  though  there  is  a  late  frost,  it  only  hurts  the 
