Sharp County record., 1885-08-20
rMBANKM D.

Ho" THE Use of Asparagus
vsn'eu- devices have been tried TO
vpr,t4I tbe washing away of railroad 'pSr
pre'en'I '.msnts, W., cutting sides and o'neI
s15ed snbant%suiII' spiI surfaces by freshets and
aDsVU unsV rain torrents, but no com cOmpte't te :
heavy Tan lam hos vet been discovered that
rev aware of. Ihaye seen u. tne rontS ont.' Of
sor' flows III are too coarse to PreEEon' 3Ean'
tne.Mii,U" ,S currents passing between IN !1eat III
small cuiiuni1 o,oin I stem. Brush laid at
thn ana Sottom OF guleys and Was4Oati tions n
sue sasn tred butit rots in sucn sua.,pii Eoaps +
.engb peen it would last several ye"c1 po,.tl .
tnoun tnp,pEantjv submerged. OF various Sor,S Ol,r
conssantly GO anso: tried to prevent exposed sur, :,
Of grasses s,,, 'lIU Washing away Canadian
tsu tssnd tells me that blue grass, wi Wl.I haSt lSf
,,nprous l, interlacing roots, is Ine Teos has
nap1.U nrarcnt washing away that ne mas las
tos pi'' after much experimenting III
this matter. ,ors oro 7 noticed
j, "A H tbe roots of asparagus penetrated
rarv .nrv dpep, % throwing out many tine rooIS ,
WY % torpIs corresponding to the nu-
s,sorn"s' ~ fine, thread-like branches @ de-
veIoped vel, in its top growth In line - 1ons fon5
roofs @ of this plant penetrate TWO 70 n ioul ou
feet fo deep and ranlify to as wide an :il eA-
tevt tevt thus. when the plants are thlcH'
tent' | s,nnIins interlacing roots in
aspat s.s.pat sbnndance, and by seeding thick
fbis plant can be easily made TO Hi Ine
sn;l sn;I Nth roots-suhciently so to pre-
S Tent any small currents from Washing
tbe M soil from among them. As rne'
Jaen. S growing roots in abundance can
he's he Secured ~ by thick seeding, it appears
that in a given quantity OF soll--as d
cnbic yard-as many and as fine rC0tS
90 may be desired are easily obtalnaoIe,
# i true blue grass makes an excellent
sod but it does not root half as deeP as
s ssnoraous. is not so easy to handle, and
bI3e Grass seed can only be seeded on
tho surface and raked in or covered
with hand-harroW, ,,,, :.
Asparagus seed can be dibbled IN
very rapidly and covered with garden
rake, as follows Make small harrow
frame. with the beams one and one-haIl
;nches apart, with five or six beams Sc
cured bv cross-ties. In these beams
wood teeth. similar to hay-rake teeth,
tbree-ouarters of an inch thick, can be
Inserted five or six inches apart. with Il
suitable handle This dibbler can be
used to make twenty-five holes one men
deep every time it is set down. In this
way a large surface of bare soil, on the
sides of a railway cmbankmcnt or cut
tino, for instance, can be rapidly per-
msated with shallow holes, ready to re-
ceiye the asparagus seed. The area to
be planted being made ready by the
dibblor. SOW the seed by hand, and
enough of it will drop in or be raked
into the shallow holes to secure a good
stand. 1t should be carefully covered
with garden-rake and the surface
smoothed with the back of large
shovel or large piece of board with a
handle on, or with garden-roller. OF
cour e a secd-drill can be used, if at
hand, the method suggested being for
cases where no drill is available. If
asparagus seed be planted early in
spring it will root deeply by midsum-
mer, so as not to be injured by drought,
and this plant is so hardy that it has
not been injured even by the severity of
last winter.
OF course any slopes on steep sur
faces, such as the banks of small
streams, or railway cuttings and en-
bankments, should be prepared by fill
ing holes, small wash. outs, etc, and
smoothing over before dibbIing or seed
ing, and it appears to the writer that a
miniature forest of green plants, COM
pletely filling the soil with roots and
keeping it moist by shading, would give
a beautiful yernal aspect during much
of the summer, while permanently pre-
venting the damage .-Iowa Cor. COM
try Gentleman.