158 ASPARAGUS 
always tell you when to stop—the soil should be again 
worked down flat, and if the growth has not been as 
satisfactory as could be wished, a dressing of 100 
pounds per acre of nitrate of soda at this time wil! 
usually pay very well. Asparagus should always be 
bunched in a machine made for that purpose. The 
bunches are packed in crates just deep enough to hold 
the bunches set upright on a bed of moss, and a cover 
of the same damp moss should be placed on top. 
Where there is a demand for green asparagus the 
planting should be done more shallowly in a simple 
furrow, and the entire culture should be flat and shal- 
low. The shoots are cut at the surface of the ground 
after they have attained the proper length. One thing 
is to be observed in either method, and this is that 
during the cutting season everything long enough 
must be cut daily, and that the little shoots be not 
allowed to run up and branch out. Cull the shoots 
after they are all out and bunch accordingly. Green 
shoots should be bunched by themselves and not 
mixed with the blanched ones. None but new, light 
crates should be used, for a clean and neat package 
will always favor its contents in the selling. 
W. F. MASSEY. 
North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. 
ASPARAGUS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA 
The growing of asparagus for market in Califor- 
nia is proving to be one of the most successful of 
its minor industries. There is a large area in the 
State which is exactly suited to the production of 
this vegetable. This is the region of sedimentary 
