298 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 172. 



Per Cent, in Dry Matter. 



Ash 8.69 



Protein, 30.77 



Fiber 18.20 



Fat 3.07 



Total sugars 15.22 



Reducing sugars, . . . .. . . . . . .11.17 



Pentosans, . . . . . . . . . . .13.41 



Lignin, etc., . .• . . . . . . . . .10.64 



It will be noted that the succulent stalks contained over 92 per cent, 

 of water, and that protein, fiber and sugar were the most abundant con- 

 stitutents of the dry matter. Fiber forms the framework of the stalks, 

 while the protein and sugar are the substances utilized most freely by 

 the cells for food and growth. The two latter substances were studied 

 as the means of determining the kind and rate of change occurring in the 

 asparagus after cutting. 



Several experiments were conducted, each one varying a little in detail 

 from its predecessor; therefore each experiment v,ill be separately de- 

 scribed. 



Two were conducted in 1914 and the remainder in 1916. 



Experiment 1 . — This experiment was begun May 25, 1914. A quantity 

 of stalks was brought to the laboratory immediately after the}^ were cut 

 in the field. Each stalk was rinsed clean from adhering soil and wiped 

 dry with a towel. The lot was then divided into three bunches of uniform 

 size and appearance, and each bunch was weighed and placed under its 

 assigned conditions. 



One bunch. A, was prepared at once for quick drying. The stalks were 

 broken into pieces 2 to 3 inches long, which were spread in a single layer 

 on a tray and placed in a large drying oven. The oven was heated by a 

 steam coil which maintained a temperature between 50° and 60° C. This 

 heat was sufficient to expel the water from the succulent stalks without 

 softening them, as in cooking. 



The second bunch, B, was set in a jar with the butts in shallow water 

 and left in the laboratory where the temperature would remain at sum- 

 mer heat, or from 70° to 80° F. day and night. 



The third bunch, C, was loosely wrapped in paper and laid on the shelf 

 in a refrigerator of the usual family size, kept well suppUed with ice, 

 which held the temperature between 45° and 50° F. 



At the end of three days Cseventy-two hours), bunches B and C were 

 again wiped dry with towels and weighed, after which they were pre- 

 pared for the drying oven in the same manner as A. 



B was firm and brittle and had increased in weight over 15 per cent, 

 by imbibing water. C was somewhat limp but not withered, and had 

 lost a little over 3 per cent, of its original weight. 



When dried to a condition which permitted the asparagus to be easily 

 ground to a powder, the samples were removed from the large oven, 



