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.
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