126 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 



winter top-dressing is to be applied, would obviate the 

 necessity of frequent working, and of chopping, or mow- 

 ing down the- bushes, and would destroy all the seed, 

 without causing any injury to the deeply buried roots. 

 Subsequent cultivation consists in keeping down weeds 

 by stirring the soil with cultivator and hoes, and in the 

 annual installment of fertilizers, alternating each year 

 with a different kind. 



The natural habitat of asparagus being the sea coast, 

 it is benefited by applications of common salt, which 

 may be used with advantage in sufficient quantity to de- 

 stroy weeds, say from six hundred to eight hundred 

 pounds to the acre, particularly if the crop is at a 

 distance from the sea shore. The burning of a mulch 

 of marsh sedge would supply the crop with other salts of 

 sea water besides common salt. If the shoots are nu- 

 merous and strong, a few may be cut the third year, but 

 it is better to defer cutting any until the fourth season 

 from the seed. 



CUTTING AND MARKETING. 



Asparagus knives of various shapes are made expressly 

 for the purpose. The blade should be passed down along 

 the shoot to the necessary depth, when by a turn of the 

 handle the shoot is severed, and can be lifted out. 



Only the part of the shoot made green by exposure 

 to light is eaten, the white blanched portion being tough 

 and stringy. Yet fashion, and, therefore, the trade, de- 

 mand that at least a part of the sprouts be white, other- 

 wise it would not bo necessary to place the crowns so 

 deeply in the ground. A change in this respect is tak- 

 ing place, however, and a modification in the mode of 

 planting may soon be advisable. 



Asparagus should not be cut until the shoots are four 

 or five, or even six inches above the ground, so that they 

 may be at least eight inches long, that being the usual 



