The Portland daily press., 1874-06-29
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
ASPARAGUS AND RHuBARR.

Z We have in our kitchen-garden bed of as
paragus, of which we think we have right
to be a little proud. We had raised it in lin
tied quantities tor many years, from two old
beds, which finally proved to be in a spot
where they were not wanted. So they were
destroyed and new one started. Two years
ago, this past spring, we procured an ounce
OF seed OF Mr.. Fogg, scotsman at the Ames
Plow Co.'s Agricultural Warehouse, and
planted it during the latter part of March, in
a hot-bed. 1t was a long time coming up, as
is its habit, but it came at last, and was treat
ed like other hot-bed plants,-weeded and
watered, and little fresh sand sifted oyer it
to hill it up, and keep the surface from bak-
ing after being watered. 1t grew quite thick
ly in the beds several weeks after the sashes
were removed, or until the second and third
stalks had begun to make their appearance.
Asparagus has growth peculiar to ITSELF
The first sprout from the seed seldom gets
more than two or three inches high, and re-
semD,es white pine tree in miniature. By
the time this first stalk arrives at maturity,
second bud makes its appearance above
ground by the side of the first stalk. This
soon stretches up to double or treble the size
OF the first, and soon bends over with its own
weight and makes room for third stalk,
which is still larger than the second. and the
growth goes on in this way as long as the
growing season lasts. After ours had made
its third stalk, which was sometime in mid
summer, we took it up, separated the plants
which had roots more than twice as large as
the tops, threw away the small ones and
saved the strongest and best for setting in
the bed where they were to remain.
The bed was prepared by pIoughing good
piece OF old ground as deeply as a pair OF
horses could stir it with large, four cattle
plough II had been manured well for q gar
den, the year previous. The spring before
the plants were set, the ground was mannred
again, and cultivated over every ten days till
the plants were ready. This frequent culai-
vation destroyed nearly all the weeds in the
land and in the manure which had been aE-
piled to it. When the plants were ready for
transplanting, the ground was marked off
into double rows eighteen inches apart, and
about three and half ieet to the next double
row. This gives chance to cultivate with
the horse and cultivator between the double
rows, and there is ample room in the mar
row spaces for running garden rake between
the plants, which are set about eighteen inch
es apart in the rows. -afla
The burrows for planting were made with
plough, and the plants were set with no
more care or expense than would be needed
for cabbages or tomatoes. Wet roots, and a
fine, dry, mellow soil, are the requisites for
success in transplantng all kinds of garden
vegetables, which will bear moving at all.
They were set SO that when the ground was
all leveled off smooth, the crowns of the
plants were only about two inches below the
surface. A friend of the old school, who hap
pened along just as we had finished it, said
we had not set them-deep enough, they
should be from four 10 six inches deep at
least, and they were often set even deeper
than that. We explained that two inches
was deep enough for such young plants, but
that as we intended to cover the bed with
heavy coat of manure every fall it would
gradually raise the ground, so that they
would be deep enough as they became larger.
After transplanting. new shoots kept coming
up, each larger than its predecessor, till the
cold weather of autumn checked its growth.
just before the ground froze up for winter,
the rows were covered over with manure
from an old hot-bed, whee-barrow load in
a place, about as thickly as it could be
tippei. This was leyeled over the rows, and
remained both as protection and as fer-
tilizer, till spring, when it was leveled evenly
over the whole bed, making a coat from two
to three inches deep. This was raked over
every few days, with a garden rake, till the
plants started. After the rows could be
seen, the horse hoe was used between them
as deeply as it would runs Over the plants
nothing was done except to rake and kill
what few weeds started. The first stalks
which came up that second year were as
large or larger than pipe stems, and each
crop grew larger than its predecessor. Be-
fore fall, number of the stalks blossomed
and bore seed. The second winter the bed
was covered again with old manure, as be-
fore, which was leveled off this spring and
raked in and cultivated, as in the second
year. But instead of waiting till the fourth
ha iii tn ia
mended in the books, we found to our sur
prise we had it plenty large enough and
stOng enough, this year-only about twenty
five or twenty-six months from the seed.
The bed is one rod wide by three long, and
yielded several cuttings by the milk pan full
at time, once in two or three days. Some
OF the stalks measured three-fourths of an
inch in diameter. This may not be any
thing extraordinary for sleeve have heard
Of its coming up as large as hoe handle,
though that is rather an indefinite measure
but we think it very good for two-year-old
plants. With the same treatment continued,
we shall expect it to improve year or two
longer, and then last dozen years or more
and furnish full supply for moderate fam
lily.
Near by is row of rhubarb of the same
age which has had the same kind of treat
ment, as regards manure. 1t is covered
thickly every winter and just leveled a little
in the spring without digging it into the soil.
For crops like these, which are such rank
feeders, we like to put all the manure on the
surface, and let the strength of it soak down
among the roots, while the light, carbona-
ceous portion remain as mulch. This
method-if enough is applied-will enrich
the soil and keep it moist, while the surface
will be too dry and light for weeds to germi-
nate. If any of our readers have a better
method of cultivating these garden crops, we
should be pleased to have them communicate.
N. e. Farmer.
OLD POTATOES.
1t is and has been for some weeks past, the
time of year for poor old potatoes. Many
families do not seem to know how to Keep
potatoes so as to have them good through
the whole year. They are kept In cellars ln
heaps on the ground, or spread out to the
bitter. and thought to be poisonous, too,-
poison or not, they are very unpalatable.