VOL. LXII
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE   15,   1907.
NO. 24
%xpzvUnc& geparttncnt
ASPARAQUS.
Make the  Soil   Rich.
1st Premium.—There is no garden complete without an asparagus bed. A bed
4x25 feet will supply an ordinary family
with this healthful and appetizing food.
I will give information for starting an asparagus bed large enough for home use.
If for market the bed ean be enlarged, the
culture being the same. Also if for market the roots should be set 1x3 feet apart,
while for home use, or in a small bed, the
roots  should  be  set  12x12  inches  apart.
Select a place on the south side of the
ft nee, if it is a board, rail or picket fence,
to keep off the north wind. The bed
should also have plenty of sunshine. The
ground should be rich, black, sandy loam,
free from gravel and stone and well drained if possible. Prepare your bed iu the
fall. First cover your ground with a good,
heavy coat of well rotted horse manure.
Work the manure into the ground at least
15 inches. The richer the soil the better
the shoots grow. If the shoots grow rapidly they will be sweet and tender.
Then the next spring work in the soil some
more well rotted manure and pulverize
well. Next secure two-year-old roots of
some seedsman, and set in rows 4 inches
deep. Do not try to raise your own plants,
as they take a great deal of work and
care. The roots can be purchased at $1.00.
per 100.
Do not cut any of the shoots that come
up the first year. Give thorough and frequent cultivation during the summer. In
autumn, when the tops are fully ripe and
yellow, they should be cut and burned. In
the fall cover the bed with a coarse horse
manure. Then in the spring rake off the
manure, spade in a heavy dressing of well
rotted manure, and 1 quart of salt to each
square rod.
The second spring a few cuttings can be
made. Cultivate till the plants meet in
news. Afterwards keep free from weeds.
The third season the bed can be cut over
5 or 6 times, which is the limit for an asparagus bed. After the cutting season is
over, give the bed a good, heavy coat of
horse manure, ashes and salt. The ground
can never be made too rich for asparagus
and it is always sure to produce a crop.
Sometimes young asparagus beds are
threatened by the asparagus beetle. In
such cases, scatter air-slacked lime freely
over the foliage, when heavy with dew.
An asparagus bed when .well established
and properly cared for, will last for years.
There are many ways of preparing this
plant for the table. O. D. B.
fore the latter method has generally been
found preferable.
Of course this plant, like most others,
thrives best in good soil, and the best results are obtained from the proper treatment of the ground before planting the
roots or sowing the seed.      The old  plan
Usually the' second season after planting the asparagus is ready for ust>, but
car* must bo taken not to prolong the
harvest more thnn six weeks from the
time    nl   fust    cutting. After this  the
plants shuiilil be allowed tee (.tow. so as to
acquire    sufficient    nitrogen and    carbon,
Very Easily Orown.
2d Premium.—The best dishes served at
the farmer's table are generally composed
of home grown products, and asparagus
should have a place among these. There
are very few farmers that raise this plant,
or are very well acquainted with it. It is
a wholesome and appetizing food, and not
only nourishes the body but also acts as
a tonic to the system. If you haven't
already done so, then start a patch of
asparagus. Even if you do not like it
now, I venture to say that you will by
the end of a season's experience with it.
It is very easily grown, ami takes very
little time and work after it is once established, for it is a hardy, perennial
and can be grown from both seed and root
stock. Asparagus grown from seed requires a longer time to mature than it
does when started from the roots, there-
Tlie si'ie! may be sown in drills, in a well
pulverized, rich soil, and in one year transplant tbem, tn rich, well drained soil. Manure or fertilize well, give them thorough
cultivation, and apply a dressing of salt
about every spring. The salt kills
weeds and grass, but makes the asparagus
thrive better than if it were not applied.
I know of two asparagus growers that
saiel their beds did ao good till they up-
plied salt to them. Wood ashes are good
also.
Iu transplanting asparagus, place it in
rowa, about eighteen Inches apart in the
row. It needs no protection iu the winter, as it is very hanly. but may be forced,
aud bleached also, by placing glass over
it  in  the  early  spring.
Asparagus is a good substitute for peas
as a vegetable for the table, and as it is so
much earlier than peas every garden
should have a bed. Begin cutting when
about live or six inches high.
Subscriber.
Home of John P. Wettschurack, Tippecanoe County.
was to place a large amount of manure
iu the planting furrow, but it is now
thought best to give the ground a top
dressing or mulching. The rootstock, or
crown, of the asparagus plant appears
each year and extends horizontally beneath the surface for a distance of several
inches. All the varieties of asparagus
belong to the same family, about the only difference being the name. The different sizes of the plant depend to a large
extent upon the soil and the kind of seeds
or roots used.        When starting a patch
which can only be obtained by the plant
above the ground. When the plant has
reached its full growth and the berries are
a deep, rich color, the tops may be cut
off close to the ground. In the fall the
ground should be covered with a coat of
well rotted manure, and later mulched
with straw, thus giving an ample supply
of fertilizer for the following season's
crop.
The enemies of .asparagus are two species of beetles and rust. These have not
given   very  much   trouble  in   the  central
Home  of  Geo.  J.  Wettschurack, Tippecanoe County.
select good healthy one-year-old roots,
aud plant in trenches from six to ten inches deep, placing the roots three or four
feet apart, and cover even with the surrounding surface.
I have found the best time for planting
asparagus to be just after the frost has
left the ground in the spring. When the
plants appear above the surface of the
ground kill all the weeds, or a better
way is to prevent the weeds from growing
by putting a layer of straw over the bed,
«Inch not only keeps down the weeds but
also in decaying mulches the soil.
states. Asparagus may be put up in cans,
as well as any other vegetable, and may
be kept in good condition for a long time.
Try a patch of asparagus and I am sure
you will never regret it.
A Reader.
Comes Into Use Early.
3d Premium.—Asparagus may be
started by sowing the seed, or from roots
(with shoots starting from them) from an
old, well matted asparagus bed. We set
some in this way, leaving one slip or
stalk at a place, and were very successful.
No. 589, June 22.—Give rules for selecting and preserving seed corn for next
year's use.
Nn. 590, June 29.—Show how a good
county or district fair benefits a community.
No. 591, July »;.- What are tha principles to be observed in building a silo. Give
brief instructions for building and filing.
Premiums of $1, 75 cents and 50 cents
are given for the best, second and third
best articles for the Experiment Department each week. Manuscript should be
sent direct to the Indiana Farmer Conv
pany and should be sent one week before
date of publication.
Cyclone   Insurance.
In reply to a query, from a subscriber,
regarding the law on Cyclone and Wind
Farm Insurance, Auditor of State Hon.
John Billheimer,  sends  us  the  following:
'.March 6, 1899 there was an Act
passed providing for the organization of
fanners' mutual cyclone, wind storm or
bail Insurance companies. The recent
Legislature passed a similar law which
was approved February 26, 1907, providing for the insurance of similar property against wind storms, cyclones, etc.,
and I find that Section 2 of this Act pro-
vi'les that it shall in no way affect the
law passed and approved March 0, 1899.
Su it would appear that the law of 1899
is not affected in the least by the passage
of the cyclone law approved February 2ti.
1907.
"As to what should be the ratio of
losses by lightning and fire from defective flues, I am unable to say as I have
no means of figuring out these ratios at
this office."
Thirteen Year Locusts.
Accordiug to reports from the U. S.
Department of Agriculture the thirteen
j ear locusts will appear over most of
southwestern Indiana and southern Illi-
nuis, during the approaching summer.
Whether or not this year's brood will be
destructive the department does not say.
The locust, it is announced, will begin to
appear toward the end of May, and will
be present] throughout June.
The Bureau of Entomology desires to
obtain a complete record of distribution
of the brood this year, and with that end
in view has sent out thousands of circulars into the territory to be infested, asking for reports on the pest. This particular brood first appeared in 1803 and has
reappeared regularly every thirteen years
since,  according to the department.