i8 



GARDEN FARMING 



nails driven through it so as to give the semblance of a harrow. 



This serves to stir the soil slightly and kill young weeds. After 



cutting has been in prog- 

 ress, if there is any weed 

 growth, this board is passed 

 over the ridges immedi- 

 ately after the cutters. 



Blanched asparagus is 

 cut daily during the season. 

 The plantation is gone 

 over each morning, and 

 all shoots that can be de- 

 tected, either by their ap- 

 pearance aboveground or 

 by the lifting of the soil, 

 are cut by thrusting a long, 

 thin-bladed knife with a 

 V-shaped point through the 

 side of the bank, as sug- 

 gested in figure 37, in such 

 a manner as to sever the 

 shoot and at the same time 

 give it a slight upward 



movement. The shoot is grasped by the left hand and carefully 



placed in a suitable tray or basket. At the end of the row the 



basket is emptied into a crate or box, in which the shoots are 



carried to the packing and 



washing shed. 



Bunching. Asparagus is 



usually bunched by means 



of some simple apparatus, 



as shown in figure 38. 



The stalks are laid in two 



parallel saddles, which are 



about five inches apart, with 



the tips against a board. 



Bands of tape, or, in some 



markets, rubber bands, are FIG. 38. Asparagus buncher 



FIG. 37. Cutting blanched asparagus 



