CULTURE IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES I5I 
equal the cost of extra fertilizer required on the 
light. 
Whether away from a saline atmosphere a light 
soil would be as favorable as a heavy one for the as- 
paragus is a question that practical experiment only 
can settle. But it is an important one, as it is not 
generally supposed that it is possible to grow aspara- 
gus, at a profit, on such soils as are now being devoted 
to this crop on Long Island. 
That which has been called the barren wastes, the 
dwarf-pine and scrub-oak lands of Suffolk County, 
can be made most profitable farming lands may be a 
surprise to many, but that such is the case does not 
admit of a doubt. As evidence of this, let us state 
what is being done along these lines. Messrs. Hudson 
& Sons, leading canners of asparagus, have bought a 
farm of 525 acresof as poor land as it is possible to find 
on Long Island, which they are to devote exclusively 
tothis crop. They have already more than fifty acres 
planted, and are getting the whole in readiness as 
rapidly as possible. This is no experiment, but simply 
doing on a large scale what has profitably been done 
on a small one. 
On similar soils a low estimate of net profit is 
$roo per acre, and there are many instances where 
double this profit is made. The price paid last season 
by the canners was $14 per 1oo bunches for first 
quality, and $6 per 1oo for culls, or ‘‘tips,’’ as they 
are usually called. With good cultivation, which 
means a liberal supply of plant food—and there is no 
crop that requires more—and the surface kept clean, 
free from weeds, and frequently cultivated, so that the 
