96 ASPARAGUS 



bands is to slip a band over an ordinary teacup — one 

 with straight sides and without a handle; fill the cup 

 with asparagus shoots, the heads downward, and then 

 slip the band from the cup to the bunch. This makes 

 a bunch of about the right size, and gives the upper 

 end a nicely rounded appearance. All that remains to 

 be done is to slip on another band and to square the 

 butts with a sharp knife. Possibly a metallic cup 

 would answer better, being thinner, but a teacup is 

 not objedlionable in this particular. If smaller bunches 

 are desired than the smallest cup that can be found, it 

 is not necessary to fill the cup." 



MARKETING 



During the entire process of cutting, sorting, 

 bunching, and packing great care must be exercised 

 not to bruise or in anj^ way injure the heads, as the 

 gummy juice of these soon heats and spoils the whole. 

 They should also be kept cool and dry, else the mois- 

 ture causes decay. Of course if, when cutting, the 

 ground is wet, some of the soil will adhere to the 

 lower ends of the stalks; this has to be rinsed off in 

 clean water, but not by immersing the entire stalk. 



If the bunches are to be kept over night, before 

 packing, the butts should be dipped in clean water 

 and stood on end on a cold cellar bottom, or upon 

 grass or hay that has been thoroughly wet; but the 

 crowns, or the green portions of the sprouts, should 

 never be sprinkled or wet. It is a common pra(5lice to 

 set the bunches in shallow pans containing water, but 

 this is apt to give a bitter taste to the stalks. 



Crates. — There is no standard shape or size of 



