ce of applying all
fertilizers immediately after the cutting is finished is rapidly
increasing. The reason for this is found in the fact that, during the
growth of the stalks, after the cutting season is over, the crowns form
the buds from which the spears of next season spring, and it is probable
that it is principally during this period that the roots assimilate and
store up the materials which produce these spears. This being true, the
plant food added to the soil and becoming available after the cessation
of vegetation in the autumn can have little, if any, effect upon the
spears which are cut for market the following spring; it first becomes
of use to the plant after the crop has been cut and the stalks allowed
to grow. Thus the manuring of the autumn of 1901 will not benefit the
grower materially until the spring of 1903.

Nevertheless, some highly successful asparagus raisers continue to apply
fertilizers in the spring, as evidenced by the following directions
given by one of the most prominent growers in the Oyster Bay district.
"After the roots have been set in the drill, put enough soil on them to
cover about two inches. Then sow about 500 pounds of high grade potato
fertilizer per acre in the drill. As the weeds commence to grow,
cultivate and hoe, letting the soil cave down in the drill. About the
middle of the season sow about 500 pounds more of fertilizer in the
drill. Continue to cultivate and hoe the remainder of the season. At the
end of the season the drill should be entirely filled up. The second
year sow about 2,000 pounds of fertilizer per acre broadcast, plow the
ground and harrow it down level, and keep the ground clean. The third
year open the drill over the asparagus with a one-horse plow, broadcast
2,000 pounds of fertilizer per acre about the time the shoots begin to
show, and back-furrow it up with a plow over the drill to form a ridge.
Then smooth the ridge down with a home-made implement resembling a
snow-plow reversed. Cut every morning all the shoots that show through
the ground. Do not cut more than four weeks in the first cutting season.
Continue to broadcast 2,000 pounds of fertilizer per acre every year."

From what has been said in regard to the various methods of applying
fertilizers to asparagus, it will be readily understood that it can make
but little difference how it is distributed, whether on the rows,
between the rows, or broadcast, so long as enough of it is put on the
land