CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 211 



PRODUCT FROM FIFTY PLANTS EACH, MALE AND FEMALE 



"This shows a gain of the male over the female plants 

 of 76 per cent for the first period and a fraction less than 

 50 per cent for the whole season. Reversing the standard 

 of comparison, it will be seen that the female plants fall 

 below the male 43 per cent for the first period and a little 

 more than 33 per cent in the total. In no case did the 

 female plants produce equally with the male." 



The difficulty with any method of propagation is that 

 the sex of the plant cannot be determined until the plants 

 produce flowers, and this does not occur until the sec- 

 ond season, when the plants are universally regarded 

 as being too old for the most successful transplanting. 

 It is possible that the increased productiveness of male 

 plants would overbalance the disadvantages that result 

 from shifting the plants a year later than 'is approved 

 by our best growers. Then, too, the one-year plants 

 might be set temporarily in a special plat, with at least 

 a foot between plants in the row, so they could be moved 

 later with considerable soil to permanent quarters. 



275. White and green asparagus. When rows of as- 

 paragus are ridged to the usual height, the shoots must 

 make an additional growth of 5 to 10 inches before they 

 reach the light, and if cut as soon as the tips appear 

 above ground, the product is known as white "grass" or 

 white asparagus. If the ridge is slight or only a few 

 inches high and the spears cut at or only a few inches 



