128 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 



more recent form of buncher is given in fig. 17. In thia 

 the shoots are placed between two strips of brass, and 

 the upper, hinged portion brought down, which firmly 

 holds the bunch in proper shape until it can be tied. 



Twine and small willow twigs are sometimes used foi 

 ties, but Cuba Bast is the best material, and gives the 

 bunches a very neat appearance. This is the inner bark 

 of Paritium elatum, a large tree of the Mallow family. 

 It is in large sheets, and sells, wholesale, at about $1.00 

 per pound. A recently introduced material, called Raf- 

 fia, the outer skin or cuticle of the leaf of a palm, is 

 very soft and strong, and may be used for the purpose. 

 Either kind should be cut of the proper length and laid 

 in water; this renders the material flexible, and allows 

 the ties to be made more readily. 



Asparagus is sold by the bunch, that from the South 

 bringing generally, in New York, from nine dollars to 

 twelve dollars per dozen, and it may be packed in other 

 than the usual bushel crate, although a uniformity of 

 package is desirable. The bunches should all stand up- 

 right, and if in more than one layer, the buds on top 

 of the shoots in the lower one should be protected from 

 being bruised by the stems of the layer above by some 

 soft intervening material, like moss. The first cost of 

 making a planting of asparagus with home-grown plants, 

 as above, is about one hundred dollars per acre. 



SAVING SEED. 



Asparagus is one of the vegetables of which Southern- 

 grown seed is as good as any. To save the seed, the ripe, 

 red berries should be stripped off by hand, or the bushes 

 cut down, and the berries threshed off. They are then 

 placed in a vessel or barrel, and pounded with a wooden 

 pestle to break the outer shells, which may be separated 

 from the seed by washing, when the latter are dried in 

 the sun and stored away. 



