XVI 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE IN DIFFERENT 

 LOCALITIES 



ASPARAGUS IX NEW ENGLAND 



SPARAGUS was grown in Concord, Mass. , in a 

 limited way as early as 1825. Mr. Edmund 

 Hosmer used to carr}^ it to market in season 

 on his milk wagon. Timothy Prescott and 

 F. R. Gourgas grew garden patches before 1840. 

 To John B. Moore belongs the credit of growing and 

 improving asparagus in this section of the State. Mr. 

 Moore seledled the most promising shoots, and by a 

 judicious system of culture succeeded in placing on 

 the market a valuable variety in the shape of Moore's 

 Cross-bred. Most, of the "giant" asparagus grown 

 in Concord to-day could be traced to the plants pro- 

 duced by his skill. A sample bunch of twelve stalks, 

 twelve inches long, from Moore's Cross-bred plants 

 weighed four pounds eight ounces. In 1872 the first 

 bed of asparagus of any size was set out by Mr. George 

 D. Hubbard, who was laughed at by his neighbor 

 farmers, who saw onl}^ ruin for the young man. The 

 next year Mr. Hubbard set out more, so that for 

 twenty years he was probably the largest grower in 

 Massachusetts. 



Most of the leading varieties are grown in Concord, 

 but the farmers are looking for a rust-proof variety and 



