130 Subtropical Vegetable-Gardening 



Only about half of the asparagus plants produce berries, 

 the others having barren or staminate flowers. It has been 

 found that the plants with the barren flowers produce more 

 and better shoots. When the berries are ripe they turn a 

 bright red, and in a short time are liable to fall from the 

 plant. When the seed is desired, it will be necessary to 

 collect the stems bearing the berries for storing. As 

 stated before, if one does not want to save the seed, all 

 plants bearing green berries should be cut off to keep the 

 bed from being crowded by seedlings that would spring 

 up from these seeds if allowed to fall. Another way of 

 getting the seed is to go into the field and strip off the 

 ripe berries by hand. If the plants are cut to obtain the 

 seed, they should be dried, when the berries may be beaten 

 off on a cloth. The seed is so common that there is no 

 sale for it. 



For sowing seed, a rich piece of land should be prepared 

 by plowing deeply, and laying off rows about 20 inches 

 apart; the seeds are dropped about an inch apart in a 

 drill and covered an inch deep. When the plants are about 

 4 or 5 inches high, thin out to one in 4 or 5 inches. 



Canning asparagus. 



Much of the asparagus used in the South has been 

 canned. The operation is similar to that for other 

 vegetables or fruit. (See Farmers' Bulletin 359 of the 

 U. S. Dept. of Agric.) 



Enemies. 



The two chief enemies of asparagus are the asparagus 

 rust and the asparagus beetle. 



