Vegetable Growing for Market 77 



be increased to 3 or 4 in. It must not be forgotten that an Asparagus 

 crown rises as it grows, it never gets deeper than when planted. 



When the year for cutting comes, all the soil that has been heaped up 

 between the rows of Asparagus can be turned on to it by the plough or 

 the fork, the hollow that was where the row is will now be in the alley, 

 where cutters will walk. If the soil is at all inclined to be lumpy it must 

 be fined down and left loose. Unbroken clods or large stones will cause the 

 buds to be deflected in their upward course and make " crooks ". The best 

 way to effect this where the breadth is too great for the fork is to make 

 a tool that will carry tines on a crooked back running on wheels in the 

 alleys and pulled by a pony. 



The soil that this process pulls down into the alleys can be put up again 

 by running an earth plough up them with the mould boards set wide apart. 

 Some trouble will be experienced in keeping the beds free of weeds during 

 the summer. A great deal will be saved if the surface of the beds is left 

 rough until the weeds are just coming through, then if a wire-toothed rake 

 is run over them in dry weather it will fine the surface of the beds and 

 destroy the weeds at the same time. 



Cutting". The Asparagus should not be cut until the third year after 

 planting, and then it will be wise to pass over the smaller buds and 

 leave off cutting early in June. _ ^^ 



The cutting is done with a toothed 



knife (fig. 457) set on a shaft 12 in. Fig. 457.- Asparagus Knife 



long put into a wooden handle. In 



cutting, the object is to get the full length of the bud without wounding 

 the crown, and without damaging the young buds that are not yet through 

 the surface. To do this the cutter should insert his knife straight down, 

 close beside the bud to be cut, and then, when it is well down, he should 

 give it a twist so as to bring the toothed edge into contact with the bud, 

 which will be severed with a few saws of the knife. The careless but 

 frequent habit of putting the knife in nearly at right angles to the bud 

 should be checked as soon as perceived; its result is to damage several 

 coming buds for every one cut. 



" Grass " is fit to be cut for the English market when there is 2 in. of 

 it purply green. If allowed to get too far out of ground it quickly loses 

 girth at the top. There is a singular difference between the manner of 

 cutting and eating Asparagus on the Continent and here. There, as soon 

 as it is greened it is considered spoilt, and so the buds are cut before they 

 come through. It is claimed that by this practice the whole of the bud 

 is soft and eatable when cooked, and that a finer flavour is preserved. 

 But nothing will drive the average Englishman from the belief that his 

 "grass" should be green, at least it will not pay the market gardener to try 

 it. The cost of cutting is about 2d. per 1000 stalks. 



Grading* and Marketing*. After cutting there are several different 

 methods of dealing with the buds. Sometimes they are sorted into "Ware", 

 " Middlings", " Crooks", and " Sprue", tied into " hands" of twenty-five with 



