The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1892-01-29

tfDLlCih Z
held in Trenton in December. gave an in
teresting report of the proceedings of that
body. Adam s. Graf, delegate TO tie
State Board of Agriculture last week. re-
ported to the Board in an entertaining
manner synopsis of the State Board
meeting. Both reports were accepted with
rising votes Of thanks, and some of the
subjects raised by Mr.. Graf opened IN in-
terestlng discussions, notably hat of
sheep raising.
j. Nj. White, of New Brunswick, then
read the following paper for which a vote
of thanks was given.
ASPARAGUS CULTURE o PROFIT.
To make asparagus culture profitable de-
ponds upon five requirements, viz: First. q
suitable soil for occupation: second. the
proper fitting of the ground and planting of
the roots; q say planting Of the roots, for with
the average producer il will be better to pur.
chase the roots than to grow them from the
seed }; third. good and thorough cultivation.
fourth, amount and Kind of plant food applied
at the right tirne:ffth,m marketing the product.
In regaTd to soil. almost any of urNew Jer-
Sey soil can De made to grow good asparagus,
but OF course ease of cultivation and expense
viii vary widely. ! would prefer q sandy
loan with q clay sub-soil, yet ] plant on a very
light sandy soil, because have it in such a
location and exposure as suits me for getting
a few cuttings very early, when but little il
upon the market and prices good.
Ct'gitbs A1t HA0DEIZ AtllllS u Int sOll anu
planting. The land should lie pIouahed and
well p~ulverized and fortified with well rot
TED manure, applied broadcast and worked in
with the harrow. furrow for the rows 5 or 6
feet apart with a two-horse pIow. going twice
or three times to each row so as to give an OPP
portnnity to plant deep. Then l would put a
liberal amount OF fine manure in the row, and
npo 1t set the roots, which had better be
strong and vigorous, two years old, and
placed about Is inches to 2 feet apart, with
the crown atleast s inches below the level of
the surface, but would not at first cover more
than 3 or inches deep. and let the furrow be
gradually filed By succeeding civilizations.
If covered to full depth at once some of the
plants might be smothered and never come
up In setting the plants the roots should be
spread ont fiat Just as they grow in the seed
bed. some may think the distance apart
which l have given the rows too great, but
my experience leads me to. believe il is not.
In setting out my first bed ] made the mis-
take Of putting the rows only three feet apart
and afte. a few years the ground became SO
full ofinterlaced roots that, ~feriilize as heavy
as | would. the stalks would be small and un-
satisfactory With The wider fows the roots
have more room and give heavier stalks and
more pounds per acre, with the wide rows
You nave an opportunity to occupy the land
for two or three years with some other crop.
such as tomatoes. melons, etc, so that instead
OF having the land an expense to you, there
may be a profit derived from it.
Third, cultivation. The ground should be
kept clear OF weeds by frequent use of the
cultivation and hoe, especially whilethep plants
are small, and but little If any asparagus
should be cut Till the third year, although a
Thorough cultivation should be constantly
KEN up.
Fourth. fertilizers. There never can be any
danger of making the asparagus field too fer
tile: the more so the better. l practice clean.
ing on The rubbish from the bed either in the
fall or early spring, and Just before the bud
OF the crown begin to start in the spring, pillow
away from the ro8s ana scatter over them
wei fotted manure at the rate of i to % two
horse loads per acre, and over this apply
Kainit at the rate of two or three tons per
acre / then turn on the rows two light fur
IONS on either side and then niNW no more
till | have cut for ten DAYS or two week..
meanwhile keeping the weeds down between
the rows by use of the cultivator, when /
again throw two or three more light burrows
on each row. This work can be done imme-
diateiy after q cutting tand / usually take q
saturday for III without injury TO The young
shoots.
Fifth. marketing. This is a matter in which
each producer must be guided by the market
In which he sells. Customs and practices vary
in different markets and the seller must cater
TO the wants of his customers. In my own
home market al New Brunswick, and our
manner Of cutting and putting up is quite
different from what II would be for the New
York market. We seldom cut very much be-
low the surface, and do not make the stalks
as long as are found in New York. The spears
are usually about 6 inches in length, and tied
in punches OF one pound each. We practice
cutting every dayand market either the even
ing of the day on which ii was cut or on the
morning Of the next day. We make two
grades, and each grade is sold by itself, and it
always gives the best satisfaction to be thus
graded and put upon the market as soon as
possible after cutting, thus giving the dealer
no stale goods. Always eadeayor to put up
in neat packages OF even quality, and when
you have sold TO a person once you can sell to
the same the second time.
suppose you may wish to know something
of the profit arising from the business. l am
not al extensive producer, but Will give you
figures tor the past five years, beginning with
1887, in which year, from an acre. / cut @lls
lbs, which sold for s353- q net, averaging about
81 cts. per Id. To 1855 1 cut 3l65 lbs, which
1 LA Eaas -aSf -.a4 81 -
per III. In 1883 1 cut 1910 lbs, whieh sold fol
S2S4.+0 net, an average OF a trife less than 91s
cts. per ID. In 1890 I eut 1896 lbs, which sold
| for 1925. - net. an average OF about l25sets pen
! Id. In 1891 / cut 260G lbs, which sold fol
S5ls.4s net, an average ofabouI l2t6cts per III
The greater number OF pounds cut in 81, ~
and SO is accounted for by The fact that | had
an old bed OF less than a quarter of an acre
that L cut from. and the smaller average price
was owing. IN q measure, 10 me greater pro
| portion of second quality, and in those years
/ the larger bed was hardly in full bearing
The old bed was the one on which l made
I the mistake of setting too close. Ilouohed
4 up this old bed two years ago, and the cut
tngs for the past two years have been from
the larger and newer bed, which contains 4
little less that an acre.
l have a neighbor who does better than my
self. He has two acres from which he soit
500 the past season. His prices were aDoui
the same as mine. His soil is rather heayfe'
I with q closer slO-soll, but he does not, as
general thing, begin to cut till about a weel
after commence. His bed is made very rici
by the application OF large quantities OF Gov
manure. which he obtains by keeping q herr
of cows for the sale OF milk. He probabl.
uses double the amount of manure that l d
but applies no kainit. His plants are set
feet by 4, audin eultivating he pl0ws The en-
lire surface two or three inches deep. an
then after two or three weeks Turns two ligh
burrows on each side of the rows.
My first emitting is generally April IL to 81
and last on June Lotto y, according to season
of course cutting can be continued mucl
longer, but we do not consider ii wise 0
profitable.
Mr.. White also stated IN addition to TIA
above that he was forcibly impresse,
while on his way TO Woodstewn of th
a~dapsability ofour soil for asparagus rails
ing. In answ TO questions from mem
bers of the Board. be marketed his Gro
in New Brunswick, to several grocers VIII
had trade for nearly all he grew; aspars
gus as little troubled with insect enemi les
the louise being kept down by clearing Of
the bed and burning up clean every fall
also raises strawberries, raspberries, pears
peaches, apples, grapes and pigs; thinks
the variety of seed used of little account
compared with the cultivation.
Jos. l.. Dnell, an extensive grower o
this crop, said his father had planted 90 in
deep; he planted nearer the tsp; cuts from
5000 to S225 frsm ms acre; goes over be-
about 5 times 4 week; sells through com
mission men and considers it a payin,
crap.
Joel Borton. also an extensive grower
agreed entirely with Mr.. Whites mode 0
culture, and his plan diffeis only in til
marketing, he wholesaling aud realize
about the same prices; thinks asparagu
- =. 4 n.a %ha