HARVESTING AND MARKETING 87 



and the knife run down close alongside of it to the 

 proper depth, carefully avoiding other spears that are 

 just beginning to push up all around' the crown. 

 Then the handle of the knife is moved away from 

 the stalk, to give it the proper slant, the knife shoved 

 down so as to sever the stalk with a tapering cut, 

 and at the same time the stalk is pulled out. After 

 cutting, the asparagus should be removed out of the 

 sun as soon as possible to prevent its wilting and 



FIG. 25 — HORSE CARRIER FOR TEN BOXES OF ASPARAGUS 



discoloring. Usually this is done by dropping the 

 stalks in a basket which, when full (Fig. 23), is 

 carried to the bunching shed. On large plantations, 

 however, the cutters leave the stalks on the ground to 

 be picked up by boys following closely, as seen in 

 Fig. 24. To facilitate the picking up and carrying 

 away, horse carriers are used, as shown in Fig. 25. 



In some se(5tions of Europe, especially at the famous 

 asparagus regions of Argenteuil, a knife is never used. 

 According to W. Robinson : ' ' The slightly hardened 

 crust around the emerging bud and on top of the little 

 mound is pushed aside, the fore and middle finger 



