Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-09-16
ALL IN THE TREATMENT.
Large Varieties of Plants the Result of Ju-
dicious Manuring and Proper Culture.

Large Varieties of Plants the Result of Ju-
dicious Manuring and Proper Culture.
Every year many persons pay large
prices or are at great pains to secure
varieties of eurrants, asparagus and
rhubarb, or pie-plant, which they see
in nursery grounds or in the garden of
their friends. Sometimes they see
specimens in the hands of agents, and
give orders for a supply for planting in
their own grounds. Quite likely they
have all these things growing, but they
want better varieties of them 1t does
not occur to them and of course the
agent does not inform them that they
now have the very kinds they are or
dering, and that the difference between
what they have and what they wish is
entirely due to the judicious applica-
ton of manure and proper cultuEe
Such, however, is generally the case.
BY using sufficient quantity of we'll
rotted stable manure. applied at the
right time, and by giving the soil the
working it requires, the stalks of as
paragus and pie-plant may be made
exceedingly large. These plants are
very gross feeders, as might be ex.
pected when we take into considera-
ton the circumstance that a portion
of their growth is cut away every two
or three days during several months of
the season. Most kinds of plants
would be killed outright by this sort of
treatment, and these will only thrive
well by supplying them with material
to reproduce the portions that have
been removed.
The currant bush is as gross feeder
as the rhubarb or asparagus plant. 1t
will retain its life, make some increase
in size, and produce some fruit if it
stands in poor soil, is surrounded by
grass and weeds. and receives the
benefit of no fertilizers. But its
growth will be very small under
these circumstances, and the fruit will
be inferior in quality and very small in
quantity. The common red Dutch
currant is very good variety and is
distributed in all parts of the west. 1t
was planted near old Fort Dearborn,
which was located near the mouth of
the Chicago River, and cuttings taken
to various portions of the Western
States. A supply of currant cuttings
can be obtained in almost any neigh
borhood for nothing or for the trouble
of pruning the bushes. Their increase
into the dimensions of bearing bushes
and their productiveness will depend
almost entirely on the amount of
manure that is applied to them. If
some of the bushes are planted where
the soil is very poor and the ground is
allowed to grow up to grass and weeds,
naturally rich, is kept we'll supplied
with manure and free from weeds and
grass, the difference will be so great
between them in a few years that a
stranger would conclude they. be-
longed to distinct varieties.
Large stalks of asparagus and pie
plant sell much more readily than
small ones, and customers generally
think that their quality is better.
Large currants are more salable than
small ones, and the quality of currants
is ordinarily determined by their size.
The larger currants are the greater
IS the quantity of juice that can be
expressed from a given amount. There
are as many seeds in very small cur
rant as in very large one. 1t is much
easier to gather a bushel of currants if
the clusters are long and the berries
are large than if the reverse is the case
If currants are very large they are adj
mirable to eat without being cooked.
Only bushes that are in good growing
condition will produce large crops of
fine fruit. Their growth will depend
chiefly on the amount of manure that
is applied to them. The early part of
the fall is the best time to apply manure
to currant bushes and to asparagus
and rhubarb plant. Well-rotted stable
manure is as good a fertilizer as can be
found. If applied near the surface of
the ground the soluble portions of it
will be carried about the roots by the
fall and spring rains. The application
of manure in the fall will cause the
bushes and plants to commence grow
ing as soon as the frost has left the
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