in depth, then there should be another coating of good rich compost placed on top of that, taking care that the bottom of the furrow at the level of the crown should be wide enough to keep the furrow from washing shut and destroying the young shoots by heavy dashes of rain.

After the young plants begin to grow it is necessary to keep out all weeds by hoeing the rows between the plants and cultivating the sides of the furrows with a fine toothed hoe-harrow, gradually filling up the furrows as the plants grow, but at the same time not allowing too much dirt to get into the furrow until late in the fall, when the plant will be strong enough to take care of itself. A bed planted in this way, with proper care and with plenty of rich manure worked into the soil every spring either by plowng, or which is better, by running a spring tooth harrow over and thoroughly mixing to a good depth, will last a number of years, and will insure good returns for the labor and patience required of the owner. When the bed is once planted, it should be well cultivated and manured every year. But it should be remembered that none of the asparagus should be cut until the third year after planting, and the wise grower is he who cuts sparingly even at that season, as the plant is not at its maturity and will not stand hard cropping until the fourth year, when there is no danger of injury to the plant.

The cutting can begin as soon as the young shoots reach five or six inches above the ground. They should be cut every morning regularly during the season, which lasts in this season until the first or tenth of June, after which the crop should be given a chance to recuperate and get itself in condition for the following year. Always bear in mind the necessity of keeping the beds free from weeds and grasses, which are a positive injury to asparagus, and if left alone would eventually destroy the bed. Salt is an excellent article to spread on the beds after the spring cultivation and about the time the weed seeds begin to germinate; it will kill the majority of weeds and will not affect the asparagus, owing to the nature of the latter plant. Nitrate of soda, applied at the rate of about two hundred pounds to the acre, in the spring of the year, and about the time the crop is shooting through, is an excellent stimulant and its use will prove a good investment.

When cutting the stalks, a sharp pointed knife should be used, and the stalks severed about one inch under the ground, care being exercised so that none of the young shoots just coming through the ground are cut or broken, as an injury to the bud will cause the loss of the stalk. Asparagus should never be allowed to get old or left stand until the crown buds commence to shoot from the stalk, as it then loses its flavor and tenderness and such should not be taken to market, or it will hurt your reputation for growing a good article. For market

ing, the stalks should be tied into nicely shaped bunches, four or five inches in diameter, as the market demands. Keep the bunches firm and tight by tying with a good, stout, soft string, rejecting all illshaped and undersized stalks, and cutting the butts to an even length after tying, thus, making a neat and saleable package.

To obtain the best prices for asparagus, it should be taken to market immediately to enable its being sold as soon as possible after cutting and while it is in a fresh condition. No matter how tender it may be when bunched, if it is allowed to stand around in the dif ferent stores and market places and become stale, it will be more or less tough and lose its delicious flavor, and consequently cause a loss to the grower and to the retailer.

Conover's Colossal and the Philadelphia Mammoth are the two brands of asparagus generally grown. Both are of excellent flavor, and are rapid growers. To raise the Philadelphia Mammoth it should be planted at least three feet in the rows instead of two, as required for Conover's Colossal.

STRAWBERRY CULTURE.

No work on vegetable and market gardening could justly be called complete if it failed to take notice of the strawberry and its culture. Because it is the most luscious, most desirable, and the queen of all fruits; not only in the home garden, but the market garden as well; coveted by both the young and old consumer. A most enjoyable luxury and a potent medicine at the same time, and it also fits admirably in the crop rotation of the market garden.

The market gardener who retails his own product to local or near by customers, finds it a useful crop, and one which adds many dollars to his receipts during a period of two or three weeks annually, without requiring very much extra time to dispose of it. During the strawberry season, we generally find the market abundantly supplied and frequently overstocked with this fruit, such as it is. Poor, coated with dust, jammed, ill-looking, and anything but inviting to people who are used to getting them fresh from the garden. It averages poor, and so equally and deservedly does the price which the grower realizes from them. On the other hand, real first class fruit, large, even, fresh, packed neatly in attractive boxes, is rare and always in demand at paying prices.

The premium is on superiority. There is scarcely any overproduction of good berries. Large, well colored, perfect berries, have always been in demand, bringing good prices, and prove profitable to the producer, as well as the dealer.

Like the onion among vegetables, so is the strawberry among fruits. A great money crop for the skillful producer, but a source of annoyance, disappointment, and even loss to the shiftless manager.

The chief aim of the grower should be to raise fine berries, pick them at the proper time, and take them to market in the best possible shape. Have them uniform in size and deliver them to the customers as soon after picking as possible.

The best soil for growing strawberries, in my opinion, is well drained clay loam. But a good crop can be grown on any soil that will produce good corn. The nature and lay of the soil generally have considerable to do with the season of ripening. A sandy composition of soil, with a southeastern exposure, will bring an early crop of berries, while a muck or clay soil, having a northwestern exposure, with mulch left on until late-in the spring, will bring much later crops; and the grower, who has the selection of such conditions, can generally lengthen his berry season, and consequently get more money from his crops.

In planting strawberries, old sod should be avoided, as it is usually infested with white grub and other insect enemies. The best ground for planting strawberries is soil which has been highly manured, thoroughly cultivated, reasonably free from weeds, and previously worked for one or two years with other vegetable crops or corn.

The best strawberries can only be grown on fertile soil. Too much manure cannot well be applied, although it is not necessary to give the soil an overdose. Well decomposed stable manure is a reliable fertilizer, and if free from weed seea, and enough of it, there will be no reason to look for anything else. But we should never use any manure that is liable to befoul the land with weeds, as the latter are a curse to the strawberry bed, and an annoyance to the grower. If the strawberry bed once becomes a bed of weeds, the sooner it is plowed down and a new bed planted, the better it will be for the berries, and less will be the loss to the producer.

On ordinary good soil, good crops of berries can be raised with concentrated commercial fertilizers, and they have the advantage of being free from weed seed, thus lessening the danger from fungus diseases and making really a better berry than the stable manure alone. Muriate of potash and bone meal applied liberally are a special benefit to the strawberry bed.

The roots of strawberries usually go down deeply into the ground without spreading a great deal; hence the soil should be loosened up to a considerable depth. If we use stable manure it should be plowed in. But on the other hand, if we use concentrated fertilizers, they should be put on the surface after plowing and thoroughly worked into the soil with a spring-tooth harrow, or other instrument that answers the same purpose.

I have found that planting strawberries in solid beds and planting every year, is the most economical and produces the best results. In this latitude strawberries should be planted in the spring, as soon as

the frost gets out of the ground, and it can be worked into the proper condition, and when the plants commence to show sings of new growth by pushing out new leaves.

After the ground is in proper condition, mark out the rows one foot apart and plant every fourth row, putting your plants, if strong runners, in single rows one foot apart. If plants, which do not produce so many runners are used, they should be planted in double rows about nine inches apart in octagonal shape. If the plants are staminate, or perfect flowering plants, they can be planted with the same variety in consecutive rows. But if the plants are of the imperfect or pistillate varieties, every third row at least should be planted with a staminate variety, and one which is known to be a free bloomer. If this is not done, you will have a poor crop and imperfect berries. It has been found that by planting the different varieties in this proportion, it will greatly increase the crop and also the quality of the fruit.

When berries are planted in the spring of the year, they should, under no circumstances, be allowed to fruit the first season. All such

fruits should be picked off and the soil kept clean from weeds, if you wish to obtain good strong plants and a good crop the following season. In this connection it also should be remembered that strong, vigorous plants-young runners from the previous year-should always be used. These can easily be known by their fibrous roots, the roots of the old stools being very dark or nearly black, and the roots of the young ones a light yellowish color.

It is always best, when planting out a bed of strawberries, to have good, strong, fresh, vigorous plants, because we cannot raise a good healthy crop of berries from a poor crop of plants, any more than we can raise a good crop of vegetables from a poor or inferior quality of seed. In planting a strawberry bed in the way suggested in this article, the grower can raise, during the first season, an excellent crop of different varieties of vegetables in the intervening rows, and there is therefore no loss of ground. At the same time keeping the ground free from weeds while you are cultivating the vegetables.

The best results can be obtained in strawberry culture by planting a new bed every year and plowing the old bed down immediately after the first crop. But never plant a new crop of berries on an old bed.

It is also better, if the grower has no suitable plants of his own, to get them near at home, from reliable growers, so they can be freshly dug and not withered or dried.

In planting the plants it is necessary to get the roots in their natural position as near as possible, with the crown at about the level of the surface, and the soil firmly pressed around them. The dirt should never be soggy, neither should it be dry, but just contain enough moisture to make it crumbly or pliable.

After the plants are started, the soil should be kept perfectly clean from weeds, and the new runners trained into the proper shape to form a new bed for the crop in the coming season.

As to the kind of berries, they should be of the best, and the variety should be that which has the best flavor, the finest appearance, and the largest size; and that which will best please the palate of the local consumer wherever they are raised. For fruit is like vegetables. You must cultivate the taste of your customer and be in the fashion; for fashion nowadays controls the world, not only in dress and society, but also in the vegetable creation. And if we are not in the fashion, we are not in it.

Different varieties of berries are suited to different varieties of soil, and I therefore will not dwell further upon this subject, but as to what variety is best suited to one's particular trade, I will leave to the judgment of the producer or grower himself.

Strawberry plants are quite hardy, but at the same time they are liable to destruction, to a considerable extent, by being raised from the ground during the different freezes and thaws of winter. They, therefore, should be given a winter coat or mulching, not for the purpose of excluding the cold alone, but also to prevent the frequent thaws which are most always recurring during this time, and especially toward spring. For it is not the freezing which injures the plants, but as stated before, the changes of temperature which causes the damage to the fruit buds and roots and, if not properly protected, it will be unavoidable.

There is nothing better for this purpose than salt or marsh hay, because it is perfectly clean of weeds and has a natural tendency to work itself down close to the ground and between the plants. Also because of its less liability to decay; it can be left on the plants during the summer, keeping nice and moist, while at the same time keeping the fruit perfectly clean.

This hay is to be obtained quite cheaply, costing from six to nine dollars per ton in bales at any large hay or feed store.

Mulching is absolutely necessary on ground where the soil has the tendency of upheaval by the action of the frost.

In conclusion will say that no grower can be successful unless he produces the best varieties which apparently are in the most demand at his particular place. Always give good measure, uniform ber