This analysis shows very accurately what a given weight of asparagus abstracts from the soil, but it does not, and can not, show or even indicate certain indispensable demands. In this, as in other cases, the analysis of a crop is a very uncertain guide to its proper fertilization. It should be clearly understood by every cultivator of the soil that no rigidly fixed formulas can be given for any one crop on all soils. The question of quantity of application and of proportion must always, in the very nature of the case, remain more or less a matter of individual experiment. The following formula, given by Prof. P. H. Rolfs, makes a good asparagus fertilizer:
| Nitrogen | 4 | per cent. |
| Potash | 5 | " |
| Available phosphoric acid | 7 | " |
One thousand five hundred pounds of the above formula should be applied per acre. When possible apply twenty to forty tons of vegetable material, such as partially rotted rakings of barnyard manure. Where such vegetable matter is procurable, the quantity of nitrogen may be decreased proportionately. If manure is obtainable, allowance should be made for the fertilizing elements contained therein.
An excellent formula for one ton of asparagus fertilizer, given by Prof. W. F. Massey, consists of:
| 200 | lbs. | nitrate of soda |
| 700 | " | cottonseed-meal |
| 800 | " | acid phosphate (13 per cent.) |
| 300 | " | muriate of potash |
This will yield 4.9 per cent. ammonia, 6.1 per cent. available phosphoric acid, 8.4 per cent. potash.
The effects of the application of a scientifically balanced fertilizer ration upon asparagus is clearly illustrated in Fig. 21, which presents a photographic reproduction of an experimental plat of the North Carolina State Horticultural Society at Southern Pines, N. C., fertilized with
| 250 | lbs. | nitrate of soda |
| 400 | " | acid phosphate |
| 160 | " | muriate of potash |
per acre, while Fig. 22 shows a plat of equal size which remained unfertilized.
