ASPARAGUS 185 



feet. A steam hose long enough to reach each tunnel was attached 

 to this pipe through which to blow steam into the tunnels. It was 

 not the idea to give a constant supply of steam, but to discharge a 

 little into the tunnels each afternoon, or as often as was necessary 

 to maintain sufficient warmth. A piece of tile was inserted into the 

 mouth of each tunnel to prevent the discharging steam from tearing 

 away the earth. 



"The first steam was turned into the tunnels on November 14, 

 1896. Steam was discharged into each tunnel, not to exceed five 

 minutes at a time, in order not to heat the earth too hot in any 

 single place. It required about one hour of steaming the first day 

 to bring the bed up to the required temperature of sixty degrees. 

 The distribution of heat throughout the bed was very uniform and 

 satisfactory. The moist steam seemed to permeate the soil equally 

 in all directions. 



"After the first day, very little steaming was necessary until the 

 asparagus began to be produced. On an average the bed was steamed 

 about twice in three days, and then only for about five minutes for 

 each tunnel. The soil and horse manure mulch seemed to hold the 

 heat very well, the frequent steamings keeping up fermentation in 

 the mulch. 



"The first asparagus was cut November 24, 10 days after the 

 first steam was applied. The stems were cut just before they got 

 through the soil and were perfectly bleached. They were as large 

 as those ordinarily produced during the normal period of growth 

 in spring, and were far more crisp and delicious. 



"Cuttings of asparagus were made almost daily for about a 

 month, when the growth became somewhat weak. The last cutting 

 was made on December 22. During the month 141 bunches of the 

 ordinary market size and weighing about one-half pound each were 

 cut from this bed of 25 by 50 feet. This was equivalent to 300 feet 

 of row or 100 hills of asparagus. 



"The second asparagus bed was managed the same as the first. 

 It was steamed on December 16, 1896, and the first asparagus was 

 cut on December 30. The weather was much colder at this time 

 and a little more steam was required. At times, however, no steam 

 was applied for two or three days, and the temperature of the bed 

 did not fall much below sixty degrees. The finest asparagus was 

 produced during the coldest weather. The time of cutting, how- 

 ever, was slightly more irregular than in the previous bed, and was 



