St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-04-24


knows how difficult is it t. protect young
carrots from being smothcred bv the up
rising weeds. The weed seeds get the
start OF the carrot seeds. and keep it too.
unless there Is great diligence on the part
oi the cultlvator to subduc the rival OF
the carrots for possession OF the ground.
The weed seeds have possession of the
ground, and lie there dormant already
s"ttcnci and ut the very point OF vegcta-
ting, waiting only for warmth, light and
air. to enable them to peep out. The
tultivator very kindly stirs up the ground
Tor them. and they almost instantly come
forth IN all their glory. and destroy the
object OF the cultlvator. Nv plan OF
heading off the weeds, and giving the
carrots 50 much the start that. with lit
tie labor, good crop is almost certain
to be the result, is simply to prepare the
seed before sowing. in this way Pour
water on the seeds. 80 hot that one can
hardly hold the finger in it stand in
quite warm place for ten or twelve
hours drain Oft the water, and mix
well with very fine. clean, moist sand.
using large bowls, deep dishes or shallow
boxes. so treated. the seeds soon BERN
10 Sprout. Examine carefully. and
when the sprouts appear let them dry
off; sitt ont sand. and they are ready
for sowing or, il sowed by hand, the
seed and sand can be sown together.
Thus treated, they get the start of the
weeds, and keep it, too-appearing above
ground before the weeds have time to
''brcath the air of life" The carrots.
bein@ easily seen, can be protected from
being smothered by the weeds | adopt
the plan of sproutlng almost all kinds OF
seeds for my garden, especially when
planting is retarded by untavorable cold
or wet weather. Sprouting peas, lettuce,
potatoes, bcets, carrots, corn. cucumber>.
melons. &c, gains much in time and in
sures positive success hope some OF
our readers will try the experiment and
report results. - Correspondent Comt,y
GcdItHepH.
CULrIvArING AsrARAGUs. - ANY
good, dry, loame OF sandy soil, thorough
Ly enriched to Il depth OF two feet, fire,
from stone, is the best. plant in beds
tour rows III Il bed ; the rows one foot
apart plants ten inches apart in til,
rows, leaving out every fifth row for the
convenience OF cutting. plant any
time after April lst to the lst of June,
although it may have grown foot high.
| cut the tops Oft, and plant two inches
of good rotted manure. All that is re-
quired for the remainder of the season is,
to keep clear Of weeds. In the fall, in
stead OF cutting down the tops as recon-
mended, / leave them on as | find, by
cutting, it only leaves the hollow stem:
to act rs conductors TO convey the melt
ing SHOWS and cold rains down to to tn,
crowns of tie plants, which Injuries then
materially. In spring l cut all off will
sharp hoe, burn it up Oh the surface OF
the beds, and fork over the surface, break
ing 1t fine. After the season of cutting
Is over, | hoe and clean the whole sur
face off, and apply 4 good dressing OF
well rottcd manure. This serves the
purpose of keeping the ground moist and
keeping the weeds down. This, think,
is much better than applying it in the
fall as recommended, as manure in the
fall is not needed 10 protect from frost.
L consider the asparagus root as hardy
as the Canada thistle, when fully estab-
lished besides the manure would retain
the frost much longer, and consequently
make your asparagus later, while ii