162 ASPARAGUS 
market, but the bed is then longer in coming to its 
full strength and will not give so large a product the 
following years. There is a variation in the spring 
working, according to the nature of the land. Where 
the soil has a tendency to be cold, the first plowing is 
away from the rows, so as to let the sun more quickly 
down to the starting plants. Where the soil is light, 
or the season forward, this plowing is omitted. The 
latter plowings are toward the rows, the effort being 
by ridging to give a long blanched surface to the 
shoots. For the canneries where nothing but the 
white product is put up, the shoots are cut the instant 
they show their tips above the surface. The local 
market shows a preference for the greener shoot, and 
so before cutting it is allowed to stretch itself up into 
the light. The third year regular cutting begins, and 
from that time forward the beds increase in the quan- 
tity and quality of the product for the next fifteen 
years. 
The methods of marketing are somewhat different 
from those practiced in the East. Little or none of the 
asparagus. is bunched. It is packed loose in boxes 
holding from forty to fifty pounds, and the loose 
product is retailed to the consumer by the pound. The 
first boxes begin to go out by the beginning of Feb- 
ruary, though small quantities can be seen in market 
as early as January 15th. ‘The canning contra¢cts run, 
as arule, from March 1st toJuners5th. After that the 
weather is so dry that the yield stops unless the beds 
are irrigated. In most sections, however, irrigation is 
not necessary up to this time. 
A notable exception to this is Bouldin Island, in 
