KEEPING ASPARAGUS AFTER CUTTING. 



301 



in a jar with its butts in water and set in the food compartment of the 

 refrigerator. 



At the end of forty-eight hours bunches B, D and E were unbound and 

 the stalks were wiped with towels. C, having been kept dry, needed no 

 such dr v'ing. Each bunch was then weighed, after which it was prepared 

 and put in the oven as A had been. 



The stalks in B were firm and crisp, but the heads were much opened. 

 The stalks in C were limp and slightly withered, and a few would not 

 break, but were cut into the proper lengths for drying. Those in D, 

 Ijdng directly on the ice, were somewhat limp but unwithered, while those 

 in E, standing in the water, were plump and firm, and the heads were 

 unchanged in appearance. Both B and E had imbibed water, but B 

 had gained almost 15 per cent, in weight, while E had gained only 10 

 per cent. C and D both lost weight; the former shrunk 21.7 per cent., 

 while the latter lost only 3.7 per cent. 



Dry matter and total sugar were the only determinations made after 

 the dried stalks were pulverized for analysis. 



Table VI. 



Experiment 4. — This experiment was begun June 5, 1916. The ma- 

 terial was much like that of the previous experiment, — a little too much 

 developed for the best marketable condition. The stalks were washed 

 and dried and arranged in five bunches which were subjected to conditions 

 like those of Experiment 3. B and C were held but twenty-four hours, 

 while D and E were continued throughout four days Cninety-six hours). 

 B, in twenty-four hours, imbibed water and increased in weight 16.8 per 

 cent. E, in four days, increased 13.7 per cent. Of the bunches kept 

 dry, C, in the warm room, lost 8.2 per cent, in twenty-four hours, and D, 

 on the ice, lost 5.4 per cent, in four days. 



The determinations in the dried material were confined to dry matter 

 and sugar. 



