Complete Text (Part 4)

The wind, moving the tops, can- not loosen the crown in the earth. After the first year staking is not necessary, except in exposed situations where the wind may break the stalks. 20 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES Cultivation, for the first year, consists in filling in the trenches as the plants grow, if possible with a good compost, until in late Jail the ground is level. Water during any drought, and every two weeks dress lightly with nitrate of soda, or water with liquid manure. Watch closely for pests and rust, and treat as directed below. For fall treatment, see Fall Manuring. Let the transpanted plants grow two years before cut- ting. Cut earlier, they lose vigor. Cutting in the third year, if done at all, should be for not more than two weeks. It is wiser to wait until the fourth year. Dur- ing the fourth spring, and regularly there- after, cut clean, allow- . ing no stalks to grow up to about the mid- dle of June. Some growers cut till nearly the first of July. It is a good practice to fol- low a rotation in cut- ting, stopping early each year on various parts of the plantation, to give the plants a rest. More than seven weeks' cutting is never advisable. Method of cutting. — The asparagus- knife is the usual implement, though pocket-, table- or pruning- l. Good and poormethods of cutting iporugus. Thrust ttie knife into tlie ouiid as vertically as possible, i ASPARAGUS 21 knives are also used. Thrust the knife into the ground beside the shoot, and cut it off obliquely as low as pos- sible, taking care not to injure other shoots or the crown of the plant. Two to three inches below ground is usual. Cut every shoot, whether needed or not. For green asparagus, the shoots are commonly cut when six or seven inches above ground. For blanched, cut the shoot as soon as it appears, first removing some of the earth by hand, so as to cut eight inches or more below the surface. Breaking the shoots is practiced in Europe, parts of England, and by many good growers in America. It is the best method in home gardens, as only the tender part is broken off, and other parts of the plant cannot be injured. Break the shoots off squarely as low down as possible. Shallow planting (leaving the crowns two inches deep) is the usual method in France (where probably is grown the best Asparagus in the world) and is advocated by some in England and America. Its great advantage is an early start to the plants; the danger in the method is injury to the crown and brittle roots by cultivation. If the crowns are near the surface the shoots must be picked by hand: by a gentle twist, or by thrusting the finger behind the base of the shoot and pushing gently outward from the crown, it can be broken from its socket, no part being left to decay in the ground. If 22 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES shoots of any length are required, the plants must be earthed up during the cutting season. Blanching^ which is practiced in many localities, con- sists in earthing up the plants a foot or more. The shoots are broken or cut as above. Fertilizing. — (1) Fall Manuring. — In the old prac- tice, still followed by many, the bed is manured every fall. As many commercial growers use no manure whatever, it is evident that the manure is not needed as a protection, even for shallow-planted roots. Much of the available fertilizing elements is lost by leaching. On the other hand, the manure helps an early start by preventing deep freezing. Fresh manure may be used. (2) Spring and summer manuring. — Manure is, how- ever, valuable in the Asparagus bed for its humus and its physical benefit to the soil. Early spring manuring, acting as a mulch and keeping the ground cool, may delay the start of the plants, unless the manure is at once worked deeply into the ground. Manure is best applied immediately after the cutting season, and should be spread between the rows, rather than upon them, as thus the food reaches the feeding roots rather than the heavy storage roots surrounding the crown. The manure is then valuable as a summer mulch, and should not be worked in deeply; a mixture of cow and horse manure is preferred by some growers. Appli- cations may be heavy; generally speaking, Asparagus will take twice the amount of fertilizer usually given ASPARAGUS 28 to root crops. (But, against this practice, see under Cultivation for Rust.) (3) Chemical fertilizers should always supplement manure, in the proportion per ton as given under Pre- paring the Permanent Bed. But Chemicals may be used without manure, mixed in the formula 4 per cent nitrogen, 8 per cent phosphoric acid, 10 per cent potash, 1,000 to 1,500 pounds per acre. Apply this before setting, and each spring, with an additional top-dressing, after the cutting season, per acre at least 250 pounds nitrate of soda, 300 of super- phosphates, and the equivalent of 100 pounds of actual potash. (Voorhees.) Other formulae give a larger per cent of potash. A good spring dressing consists of 450 pounds Peruvian (Chincha) guano and 400 pounds muriate of potash per acre. Nitrogen applied in April will benefit the season's crop if there is sufficient rain to carry the food to the roots. But it is probable that nitrogen is best dis- tributed through the year, either as nitrate of soda or as liquid manure. Manure versus chemicals is summarized in Farmers' Bulletin No. 233 ; " If the land is in good condition a well-balanced commercial fertilizer may produce as good yields as manure and be cheaper. " Notice the if; manure helps to keep the land in good condition. Common salt, frequently advocated, is never to be used on clay soils, and in general its value is not proven, 24 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES though recent Arkansas experiments are in its favor. Kainit, which contains potash with salt, is probably more valuable. Berries should be stripped off as soon as set, wher- ever practicable, because in ripening they take strength from the root, they harbor the twelve-spotted beetle, and if they ripen and fall they will produce troublesome " volunteer asparagus.'" Seed may be raised as in Farmers' Bulletin No. 61 . General culture. — (1) In the spring. — Cultivate as thoroughly and as deeply as possible without touching the roots or the crown. Fertilize as above, earth up if blanching is required. (2) After the cutting season, cultivate thoroughly, and, if the plants have been earthed up, level off the field. Give an application of nitrate of soda or liquid manure, and give between the plants and not over the crowns the heaviest general dressing of the year. (3) In the fall. — Strip off the berries before they ripen, and burn them. It is a good cleanly garden habit to cut the tops when wholly dead, in the late fall or early winter, and burn them. Good commercial growers now leave the tops for winter protection, and harrow them into the ground in spring; but for the garden they are too coarse to use thus, and if the bed is manured in the fall the tops are not needed for protection. All sap should have left them before cutting. ASPARAGUS 25 Uncovering the crowns. — It is the French practice, to uncover the crowns in the fall and to carefully cut away the stems left from the season's cutting. This is not to be done except with shallow-set plants, and with the greatest care not to injure the crowns. It is some- times recommended to hoe away from the crowns, in the fall, all but a few inches of soil, to give the plants an early start in the spring. Rather than have the plants winter -killed, it is evidently better, for northern culture, to hoe away the earth early in the spring if at all, and, when the plant has well started, to gradually work the earth back again while cultivating. Forcing. — (1) Under glass. — For this purpose the roots are taken up in the fall, allowed to freeze but not to dry out, and when wanted are put in earth in mild hotbeds or in greenhouses. Cut the shoots as they grow; cover from the light for blanching. The best roots for this method are three-year, grown three feet by two feet, and not transplanted; they are useless after forcing. Ether forcing (see under Rhubarb) might be successful here. (2) In the field. — Half-barrels may be placed over the planes and fresh manure piled around them; or sashes may be placed above the plants, which for this purpose are grown closer than ordinary. Elaborate systems of brick trenches between the rows, with open pipes running from trench to trench, are used abroad ; manure is put in the trenches ancl furnishes the heat, 26 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES Or steam pipes may be laid underneath or alongside the rows. These methods are all for field-forcing early in the spring. Winter forcing is possible in houses tempora- rily built over the plants, or by the method (of doubt- ful profit) described in Farmers' Bulletin No. 84. Here trenches were made between the rows, covered with manure and boards, and steam injected at intervals. Let forced plants rest for a year. Diseases. — The rust, a fungous disease, is a serious enemy to Asparagus over a widening area. Against it, the plants should, first of all, be kept growing vigorously by feeding well and by cultivation. Cultivation for rust is now considered a promising remedy, and recent results point to its helpfulness. By cultivating every week or ten days, the spores in the ground are turned to the surface, germinate, and die. With this method, summer mulching with manure is impossible. Wide planting for rust is now suggested, so that the sun and the wind may get at the plants and the earth. Set the plants six by two feet. Burning the tops is now discarded as a remedy for rust. If the tops are cut before their fine leaves fall, the roots will be injured by the loss of sap. If the leaves are allowed to fall, they will put so many spores in the ground that a few million more, from the stalks, will make no difference. ASPARAGUS 27 • Spraying for rust gives some promise with Bordeaux (1 to 8 formula, 40 gallons) and resin solution (resin five pounds, potash lye 1 pound, fish-oil 1 pint, water 5 gallons; prepare as under Cabbage Pests. Two gallons of this mixed with 8 gallons of water should be added to the Bordeaux). Or, instead of resin solution, use resin soap. (Dissolve 7 pounds sal-soda in 4 to 5 ' gallons of water, and boil; add 10 pounds resin, and continue boiling until (about a half-hour) the resin is completely dissolved; the result is a yellow soap in the bottom and a clear liquid above. Pour off the liquid and save the soap. For use, dissolve 2 pounds of the soap in 10 gallons of water and add to the Bordeaux as above, 40 gallons.) For experiment and special sprayer, see New York Agricultural Experiment Sta- tion Bulletin, No. 188. Sulphur treatment for rust (see California Bulletin, No. 165) is valuable chiefly in the Californian climate. Sow flowers of sulphur when the dew is on and the air quiet. Against anthracnose> apply Bordeaux. Other Euro- pean fungous diseases have not yet reached America. Pests are the two Asparagus beetles, — the common and the twelve-spotted. Against them: (1) Poultry. (2) During cutting season leave scattered shoots to grow as traps. Kill with insecticide, or cut down and burn. (3) After cutting season, or on young plants, dust fresh air-slaked lime or arsenites, or both, on the 28 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES plants while the dew is on. Repeat whenever larvae reappear. (4) In hot weather, shake or brush the larvae from the plants; they will die on the hot earth. (5) Against twelve -spotted beetle, pick off the young berries and burn. The lady-bug, the two soldier-bugs, and various wasps and dragon-flies, prey on the common beetle. The Asparagus fly, a European pest, has not yet appeared here. For the Asparagus Miner, which works underground, no remedy is as yet known. The pest does no great harm. Storing of Asparagus may be done by canning or by drying. Can as directed in the cook-books. Stalks of uniform sizes may be strung and hung in the sun, or dried over the stove. Keep in a dry place, and when wanted for use soak and cook. AUBERGINE. See Eggplant. BALM (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial plant, raised from seed, slips or root-divisions, and grown for its leaves, which are used in seasoning and for scents, and for Balm tea and Balm wine. The taste is like lemon. Soil should best be light and warm. Sow in spring in seed-bed, thinly, one-half to one inch deep, and transplant to one by two feet. Or sow BALM— BASIL 29 thinly where the plants are to stand, rows two feet apart, and when well up, thin to one foot. Set roots or slips one by two feet, in spring. Pick the leaves as wanted, after the plants are well established. For tea and wine, use the tender stalks as well as the leaves. Cut down the whole plant in the fall; leaves and stalks may be dried for winter use. Renew as the plants show less vigor. BASIL, or Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum), is an annual herb, the leaves of which are used in seasoning, tasting of cloves. The several varieties mentioned by European writers are seldom offered here. Soil, a warm light loam, well enriched. Distances. — Ro ws one foot apart ; plants six to eight inches in the rows. Sow under glass in April; prick out or pot. Set outdoors when frosts are past. Or sow in the open ground late in May, thinly. Depth, one-half to one inch. Thin or transplant to the above distances. Pick the leaves and shoots as required. When in bloom, cut the whole plant and dry in the house. Cut again in fall. Potting. — Basil may be potted and kept in a warm room, where it will yield through the winter. THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES BEANS are legumi- nous plants of allied genera, most important in garden culture, fall- ing into classes requir- hat different hand- Most of thein are very tender to frost, and some do not do well in our climate, — the Windsor because p. the summer is too hot, the Lima because it is too short. They are all, however, cultivable in the North under proper ;onditions, and are indispen- sable. Certain of them, such as the Scarlet Runner and the Dwarf Limas, should be better known, as giv- ing greater variety. For culi- nary pur- poses, Beans divide into two classes, —the edible - podded and Fig. 1*. Types of Beans, na Kidney Beans, e. Urn Beans. 1. Scarlet Bum BEANS SI the tough-podded, or shell Beans. The edible-podded are eaten, pods and all, before the . Beans are full grown; they are commonly called snap or string Beans, but the "strings" are undesirable, and should develop only as the pods grow old. In the best varie- ties, the young pods are thick and easily break clean across. The shell Beans are eaten when full-grown but before they dry. Snap Beans, when mature, are often used as shell Beans. Of both kinds the seed can be left to ripen on the vines, and when dry can be picked, shelled and stored for winter use. General rules, applicable to the culture of all Beans, are here given. Do not brush against the vines when they are wet. Fertilizer. — A general fertilizer for Beans should contain chiefly potash and phosphoric acid. Beans get most of their nitrogen from the air, and if over-stimu- lated will run to vine; but a little nitrogen should be either in the fertilizer or else applied alone before sowing or just after the seedlings appear above ground. On unmairared soil, a fertilizer with available per cents of nitrogen 1.8, phosphoric acid 8.7, potash 12.5, may be recommended. Soils vary somewhat according to the kind of Bean, the Lima requiring the lightest, the Windsor doing better on heavier land. Generally speaking, soil for Beans should not have been freshly manured, even with well-rotted manure; compost is much to be preferred. 82 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES Diseases. — For anthracnose, buy sound seed, avoid low, damp ground, pick and burn all diseased plants. Spray with Bordeaux (weak, containing 1.5 per cent of copper sulphate) and keep the foliage covered with it. Or spray with sulphur in water. For rust, Bordeaux. For Lima- blight, spray with "some clear copper com- pound " (Lodeman) two or three times before the dis- ease is expected. Pests. — If the weevil attacks the plant, treat the seed, as soon as picked, with bisulphide of carbon in a closed vessel ; give two or three applications three to four weeks apart. Or heat to 145° Fahr. for an hour. Seed so treated may be safely sown. Destroy all rubbish of the patch, especially all unused seed. Sow none but seed free of the pest; or sow in the drills sifted coal ashes, or sand saturated with carbolic acid. Scatter suspected seed lightly in water before sowing, and reject all that floats. For leaf-beetle, hand-picking, pyrethrum, arsenical sprays, clean culture. For blister-beetles, spray at their first appearance with Paris Green mixed with ten to twenty parts of flour or air-slaked lime or plaster, or with ten gallons Bordeaux or whitewash to