558 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Fig. 3. Asparacus Bunchpr and Bunch of 

 Spears Ready to Be Tied. 



— Farmers Bulletin 61. 



Cost of an Asparagrns Bed 



The cost of establishing and maintain- 

 ing an asparagus bed is so dependent 

 upon the value of land, the cost of labor, 

 the kind and amount of manure used, and 

 the method of securing plants, etc., that 

 no definite figures can be given, but can 

 be best estimated by the farmer himself, 

 remembering that it is only once in 1.5 

 or 20 years that this has to be met. 



A prominent and successful New Jer- 

 sey grower says: 



"I cannot give the cost in detail of es- 

 tablishing asparagus beds, as so much 

 would depend upon whether one had roots 

 to buy, and upon other matters. Where 

 growers usually grow roots for their own 

 planting the cost is principally the labor, 

 manure, and loss of use of land for two 

 years, upon which, however, a half crop 

 can be had. 



"The cost of maintaining a bed I can 

 only estimate, as at times all the men on 

 the farm may be at work at the aspara- 

 gus, and at other times none at all, and 

 I do not keep an account of the time put 

 in at the asparagus. I should estimate 

 the cost per acre as follows: 



Manure (applied in the sprinRi $ L'." 



P'ertilizer (applied after cuttingi ir> 



Labor, plowing, cultivation, hoeing, etc. 20 



CuttiQg and bunching 40 



Total $100 



"A bed well established, say five years 

 after planting, when well cared for should 

 for the next 10 or 15 years yield from 

 1,800 to 2,000 bunches per annum, or at 

 10 cents per- bunch (factory price), $180 

 or $200." 



This agrees very closely with the ac- 

 tual figures of the yield and receipts of 

 another New Jersey grower who in 1896 

 cut 22,584 bunches from 12 acres, all of 

 which were not in full bearing, or 1,882 

 bunches per acre, and received $2,611 net 

 returns from commission houses, or -a 

 fraction over 11 cents per bunch. Of 

 course those getting higher prices or 

 larger yields will exceed this, but it is a 

 fair average for those who sell on com- 

 mission or to canneries. 



The cost of good one-year-old plants 

 ought not to be over $4 per thousand, and 

 it requires from 1,800 to 3,600 to fill an 

 acre, depending upon the distance between 

 plants: perhaps 2,500 would be a fair 

 number, allowing surplus plants to fill 

 missing hills, or $10 per acre. The plants 

 can be grown from the seed for half that 

 sum. if that plan be preferred. 



The cost of establishing a bed can be 

 somewhat reduced by planting for the 

 first two or three years some early gar- 

 den crop between the rows, such as pota- 

 toes, peas, beets, onions, strawberries, 

 etc., for as the roots are as yet not oc- 

 cupying all the ground there will be no 

 injury to the plants, and the manure and 

 cultivation necessary for the young aspar- 

 agus will be sufficient for the other crop, 

 hence the receipts for it will be almost 

 entirely net, and yield at least the re- 

 turns of "a half crop." 



The estimate above calls for an annual 

 expenditure of $40 per acre for fertilizer 

 and manure, which is a liberal allowance; 

 another estimate requires 2,000 pounds 

 per acre of a mixture containing 400 

 pounds of muriate of potash, 1,100 

 pounds acid phosphate, and 500 pounds of 

 nitrate of soda, which at market prices 

 can be secured for less than the above 

 sum. 



R. B. Handy. 

 U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Asparagus 



(Adapted to Southern Conditions) 

 This is one of the best paying crops of 

 the garden and can be grown anywhere 

 in the temperate regions. Any land that 

 will grow corn will grow asi)aragus but it 

 is a crop that responds readily to inten- 



