CHAPTER XIII. 

 ASPARAGUS. 



ASPARAGUS A sparagus Officinalis. 



French, asperge; German, spargel; Flemish and Dutch, aspersie; Danish 

 asparges; Italian, sparagio; Spanish, esparrago; Portuguese, espargo. 



Asparagus is a leading winter vegetable in California and is 

 produced as a field crop for local sale, for canning, and for eastern 

 shipment. It is not grown, however, as a garden crop for home 

 use as widely as it should be. This is probably due in part to the 

 fact that in nearly all towns it can be cheaply bought during the 

 winter and spring; in part, also, to an exaggerated notion of the 

 difficulty of making and caring for an asparagus bed. In almost all 

 parts of the state it is not difficult for the attentive gardener to 

 secure crop and quality which will amply repay his efforts, but one 

 has to know the nature and needs of the plant and meet them. 



Regions open to coast influences either directly or through gaps 

 in the Coast Range, or regions where atmospheric humidity is in- 

 creased somewhat by evaporation from moist soils or wide water 

 surface, as in the case in interior river bottoms, have superior con- 

 ditions for the growth of the plant which is maritime in its origin 

 and nature. On the peat lands near the ocean in Orange county 

 asparagus established itself as an escape from cultivation and it is 

 stated that this demonstration of its choice of situation suggested 

 the plantings for distant shipment which some years ago were of 

 considerable commercial importance, but recently the crop has been 

 carried to much greater attainment in other parts of the state. 



Soil. Asparagus is chiefly grown commercially on peat lands 

 in the deltas of rivers and on soft, deep loams elsewhere with large 

 use of animal manures. These peat lands are composed of vege- 

 table debris intermixed with sand, and are very loose and penetrable 

 in their texture. They are also underlaid by impervious strata at 

 considerable depth, which holds water within reach ot the plant 

 roots. Such conditions are found in the reclaimed lands of the 

 Sacramento and San Joaquin deltas, where the largest growing areas 

 and canning factories are located. But it is not essential that just 

 these conditions prevail. In the Santa Clara valley and elsewhere 

 in central California deep alluvial soils without any great amount 

 of vegetable debris, for many years furnished large quantities to 

 the markets. More recently a commercial product for very early 

 shipment has been developed in the Imperial valley adjacent to the 

 Colorado river in the extreme southeast corner of the state. 



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