58 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



our own product, if found on the market with half the length of the stems 

 white, is the better for it. The truth is, the delicate product of the Paris 

 market has been carefully blanched after an approved method, is crisp 

 and tender its full length ; while a similar-looking product on our own 

 market, grown in our ordinary field culture, is more than half waste 

 because of the threads of woody fiber extending through the white part of 

 the stems. 



"It is a custom among many of our gardeners, by the use of the knife, to- 

 give their bunches the required length by cutting far beneath the surface, 

 lowering the quality of their product and demoralizing the market. By 

 following my method of breaking the stems there is no waste and the 

 quality of the lower part of the stems is as excellent as any part of them. 



" The doing away with the necessity of careful rules for cutting aspara- 

 gus, and the forms of implements best fitted for the purpose; the simply- 

 fying of the tying process, and the elimination of a large proportion of the 

 expense in preparing the field, are decidedly important steps in progressive 

 asparagus culture. 



"'While for one's own table asparagus should be cut and cooked in the 

 same hour, by judicious handling the product of a field may be kept two 

 or three days and be fresh and plump for the market. This is done by 

 standing the biinches in fresh water and renewing it once in twelve hours,, 

 removing a little of the loose ends of the bunches with a sharp knife just- 

 previous to placing it on the market. . 



" My practice is to keep my field clean of all sprouts from the beginning 

 to the end of the picking season. A shoot that is grassy or gnarled is 

 thrown away or fed to the calves. 



" The plantation should not be weakened by too long a season of gather- 

 ing. A good rule to follow is to stop when the early peas are ready to 

 market from adjoining land. 



" I have given a good deal of attention to the literature of asparagus 

 profits and confess that while my own product compares favorably witli 

 that secured from the same area by eastern gardeners, my profits are but 

 a fraction of theirs. 



" The growing of asparagus as a field crop, however, in our state, may 

 be made a source of considerable profit, even at moderate prices. The 

 labor, after a plantation is once established, comes at a season when it is 

 least felt. The income, on the other hand, materializes at a season when 

 it is most needed — before other sources have begun to render any assist- 

 ance. 



"Two exigencies have materially reduced the profits from my own field:; 

 (1) untimely frosts, which may in a single night nip the buds which 

 would otherwise mature into a full picking; (2) a hard wind will occasion- 

 ally arise just as a picking of shoots is nearly ready, and blow particles of 

 sand against them, puncturing the epidermis and inducing a gnarled, 

 monstrous, and often woody growth, thus destroying the picking for 

 market. 



" To avoid evil results from the first contingency, I shall this year smooth 

 my field in autumn and spread over it a coating of coarse barn manure. 

 This will make a protection for winter and in spring this will be hauled 

 between the rows and be in readiness to quickly draw over the young buds 

 upon a sudden depression of temperature indicative of frost. This can be 

 done at a very slight expense and perhaps the investment of a few pennies 

 may save as many dollars. 



