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.
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