THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 153 



grass in crates that have g-alvanized wire bottoms, 

 care being taken to keep the heads of the shoots 

 all in one direction. 



" These crates are taken to the packing house, 

 where they are first doused in a tank of water 

 several times to remove all dirt, then taken to the 

 packing tables, where they are placed in bunches 

 8 inches long and about 4 inches in diameter. As 

 soon as bunched, each bunch is placed in water to 

 keep it fresh and plump. Then it is taken out of 

 the water tubs and placed in strawberry crates, 

 placing six in each layer, or 24 bunches to each 

 crate. These crates are then shipped by freight to 

 New York city or Newark, New Jersey, where they 

 are sold by reliable commission dealers and returns 

 made daily. The utmost care is necessary in 

 handling asparagus, especially in very hot weather, 

 and it sometimes happens that it will so heat in 

 shipping that it will hardly sell at any price. To 

 remedy this I always stand the bunches up in 

 crates during extreme hot weather." 



BEANS 



L. C. Seal of Indiana discusses bean growing as 

 follows : " Did your young bean vines ever prom- 

 ise well, then suddenly yellow up and, perhaps, 

 die, and you could not account for it? Maybe you 

 hoed them one time when their foliage was wet. 

 You should not have done so. Never touch snap 

 beans until the foliage is absolutely dry. It will 

 cause the leaves to drop prematurely. 



" Beans are very sensitive to cold and wet 

 weather. It is time, labor, and garden space wasted 

 to plant beans before the spring has come to stay. 

 A few pods gathered from weak, sickly plants are 



