CULTURE IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES 151 



equal the cost of extra fertilizer required on the 

 light. 



Whether away from a saline atmosphere a light 

 soil would be as favorable as a heavy one for the as- 

 paragus is a question that pradtical experiment only 

 can settle. But it is an important one, as it is not 

 generally supposed that it is possible to grow aspara- 

 gus, at a profit, on such soils as are now being devoted 

 to this crop on I^ong Island. 



That which has been called the barren wastes, the 

 dwarf-pine and scrub-oak lands of Suffolk County, 

 can be made most profitable farming lands ma}' be a 

 surprise to many, but that such is the case does not 

 admit of a doubt. As evidence of this, let us state 

 what is being done along these lines. Messrs. Hudson 

 & Sons, leading canners of asparagus, have bought a 

 farm of 525 acres of as poor land as it is possible to find 

 on lyong Island, which they are to devote exclusivel}' 

 to this crop. The}' have already more than fift}^ acres 

 planted, and are getting the whole in readiness as 

 rapidly as possible. This is no experiment, but simply 

 doing on a large scale what has profitably been done 

 on a small one. 



On similar soils a low estimate of net profit is 

 $100 per acre, and there are many instances where 

 double this profit is made. The price paid last season 

 by the canners was $14 per 100 bunches for first 

 qualit}', and $6 per 100 for culls, or "tips," as the}' 

 are usually called. With good cultivation, which 

 means a liberal supply of plant food — and there is no 

 crop that requires more — and the surface kept clean, 

 free from weeds, and frequently cultivated, so that the 



