Asparagus In New Jersey

An important point in asparagus culture is to remove the top growth in

the fall of the year. For this purpose I use a mowing-machine, then rake

up the brush and burn it on the bed. After this I top-dress heavy with

manure, leaving it lie on the land until spring.



Just as soon as the ground is fit to work at all I put on a disk-harrow,

and cut it about four times each way until it is thoroughly pulverized.

Then with a smoothing-harrow I level it, and repeat the smoothing-harrow

operation about once a week to keep down all weeds coming through. Then

we let it go as long as we can, possibly two weeks, and at the

appearance of weeds we take an ordinary sweet-potato ridger having a

plow on either side and run it astride the row, covering everything in

the row. Doing this on Saturday afternoon holds the asparagus back over

the following day. Then we take the middle out with a one-horse

cultivator. This is done probably three times during the cutting season,

which is eight weeks. With the help of one of these weeders, which we

use at least once a week, we keep the bed quite clean of all weeds, and

this I consider very essential. The cultivation should continue after

cutting until the top growth becomes so large as to protect the ground,

and then there will be but little trouble late in the season about

weeds. It doesn't pay to grow them anywhere, and especially not in

asparagus beds.



In planting, the ground should be well prepared and furrowed out eight

inches in depth, four and one-half feet apart, and the plants two and

one-half feet in the row, with a little fine manure in bottom of row;

put about two inches of soil on the plants to cover. Then as the sprouts

come up, keep on filling the furrows by cultivation.



I have been using some commercial manures the past two years, applying

at the rate of one ton to the acre about the rows in the spring; then

nearly a ton of salt to the acre applied at any time. It helps keep

weeds down and gives the asparagus a good flavor. Above all, do not

forget to apply the fertilizer, and Plenty, with a big "P," of

it--either stable manure or commercial fertilizers. Probably there will

be less weeds by using the latter, but there needs to be a great deal of

the former in the beginning for several years, to give the bed a good

body of rich earth, from which the plants feed. It appears to me this

is the secret of success.



Much depends upon how asparagus is put up for the market, making it look

attractive, in nice, clean, new crates and neatly prepared bunches, and

the stalks must be large, tender, and of good flavor. Grass from a

strong bed grown in twenty-four hours is much more tender and better in

every way than grass grown in forty-eight hours from a poor bed. We are

compelled to cut every twenty-four hours, or the asparagus would waste,

and the gathering is accomplished in about three and one-half hours each

day, early in the morning.



JOEL BORTON.



Salem County, N. J.