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Page 51
If, on the contrary, a cold, heavy clay must be dealt with, every
effort should be made to ameliorate it. Work in a large quantity
of sand at first, if possible; employ manures from the horse-
stable, or other light and exciting fertilizers, and there will be
no failure.
In regard to the use of salt, Mr. Harris writes: "It is a popular
notion that common salt is exceedingly beneficial to asparagus. I
do not know that there is any positive proof of this, but, at any
rate, salt will do no harm, even if applied thick enough to kill
many of our common weeds. Salt is usually sown broadcast, at the
rate of ten bushels to the acre."
Until recently I have grown asparagus without salt. Hereafter I
shall employ it in sufficient degree to kill all weeds except the
strongest. I shall sow it every spring after the bed is dug until
the ground is as white as if a flurry of snow had passed over it.
I think salt is a good manure for asparagus, and many other
things. At any rate, we secure a great advantage in keeping our
beds free of weeds.
I have written thus fully of asparagus because when a man makes a
bed as directed he makes it for a lifetime. He can scarcely find
another investment that will yield a larger return. We have
asparagus on our table every day, from the middle of April to July
1; and the annual care of the crop is far less than that of a
cabbage-patch. I do not advise severe cutting, however, after the
middle of June, for this reason: it is well known that the most
pestiferous perennial weed can be killed utterly if never allowed
to make foliage. As foliage depends upon the root, so the root
depends on foliage. The roots of asparagus may therefore be
greatly enfeebled by too severe and long-continued cutting.
Avarice always overreaches itself.
In some localities the asparagus beetle destroys whole
plantations. Thompson, the English authority, says: "The larvae,
beetles, and eggs are found from June to the end of September.
Picking off the larvae and beetles, or shaking them into
receptacles, appears to be the only remedy."
Peter Henderson, in his valuable book, "Gardening for Profit,"
figures this insect and its larvae accurately, and says: "Whenever
the eggs or larvae appear, cut and burn the plants as long as any
traces of the insect are seen. This must be done if it destroys
every vestige of vegetation." He and other authorities speak of
the advantage of cooping a hen and chickens in the bed. Most
emphatically would I recommend this latter course, for I have
tried it with various vegetables. Active broods of little chickens
here and there in the garden are the best of insecticides, and pay
for themselves twice over in this service alone.
We will next speak of the ONION, because it is so hardy that the
earlier it is planted in spring the better. Indeed, I have often,
with great advantage, sown the seed on light soils the first of
September, and wintered over the young plants in the open ground.
Nature evidently intended the onion for humanity in general, for
she has endowed the plant with the power to flourish from the
tropics to the coldest limit of the temperate zone.
While onions are grown in all sorts of careless ways, like other
vegetables, it is by far the best plan to select a space for an
annual and permanent bed, just as we do for asparagus. Unlike most
other crops, the onion does not require change of ground, but
usually does better on the same soil for an indefinite number of
years. Therefore I would advise that upon the Home Acre the onion,
like the asparagus bed, should be made with a view to permanence.
Not much success can be hoped for on rough, poor land. The onion,
like the asparagus bed, should be made and maintained with some
care. If possible, select a light, well-drained, but not dry plot.
Make the soil rich, deep, mellow, to the depth of twenty inches,
taking out all stones, roots, etc.; cover the land with at least
six inches of good strong barnyard manure. This should be done in
the autumn. Sow the ground white with salt, as in the case of
asparagus, and then mingle these fertilizers thoroughly with the
soil, by forking or plowing it at once, leaving the surface as
rough as possible, so that the frost can penetrate deeply. Just as
soon as the ground is dry enough to work in the spring, fork or
plow again, breaking every lump and raking all smooth, so that the
surface is as fine as the soil in a hot-bed. You cannot hope for
much in heavy, lumpy ground. Sow at least three seeds to the inch
in a shallow drill one inch deep, and spat the earth firmly over
the seed with the back of a spade or with your hand. In subsequent
culture little more is required than keeping the MERE SURFACE
stirred with a hoe, and the rows clean of weeds. Onions are not
benefited by deep stirring of the soil, but the surface, from the
start, should be kept clean and scarified an inch or two deep
between the rows during the growing season. I prefer to have my
onions growing at the rate of one or two to every inch of row, for
I do not like large bulbs. I think that moderate-sized onions are
better for the table. Those who value largeness should thin out
the plants to three or four inches apart; but even in the market
there is less demand for large, coarse onions. When the tops begin
to fall over from their own weight, in August or September, leave
them to mature and ripen naturally. When the tops begin to dry up,
pull them from the soil, let them dry thoroughly in the sun, and
then spread them thinly in a dry loft till there is danger of
their freezing. Even there they will keep better, if covered
deeply with straw, hay, etc., than in a damp cellar. Wherever the
air is damp and a little too warm, onions will speedily start to
grow again, and soon become worthless. After the crop has been
taken, the ground should be treated as at first--thoroughly
enriched and pulverized late in autumn, and left to lie in a rough
state during the winter, then prepared for planting as early as
possible. I prefer March sowing of the seed to April, and April,
by far, to May. In England they try to plant in February. Indeed,
as I have said, I have had excellent success by sowing the seed
early in September on light soils, and letting the plants grow
during all the mild days of fall, winter, and early spring. By
this course we have onions fit for the table and market the
following May. In this latitude they need the protection of a
little coarse litter from December 1 to about the middle of March.
Only the very severest frost injures them. Most of us have seen
onions, overlooked in the fall gathering, growing vigorously as
soon as the thaws began in spring. This fact contains all the hint
we need in wintering over the vegetable in the open ground. If the
seed is sown late in September, the plants do not usually acquire
sufficient strength in this latitude to resist the frost. It is
necessary, therefore, to secure our main crop by very early spring
sowings, and it may be said here that after the second thorough
pulverization of the soil in spring, the ground will be in such
good condition that, if well enriched and stirred late in autumn,
it will only need levelling down and smoothing off before the
spring sowing. Onions appear to do best on a compact soil, if
rich, deep, and clean. It is the SURFACE merely that needs to be
stirred lightly and frequently.
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