158 ASPARAGUS 



alwaj's tell you when to stop — the soil should be again 

 worked down flat, and if the growth has not been as 

 satisfactory as could be wished, a dressing of 100 

 pounds per acre of nitrate of soda at this time will 

 usually pay very well. Asparagus should always be 

 bunched in a machine made for that purpose. The 

 bunches are packed in crates just deep enough to hold 

 the bunches set upright on a bed of moss, and a cover 

 of the same damp moss should be placed on top. 



Where there is a demand for green asparagus the 

 planting should be done more shallowlj' in a simple 

 furrow, and the entire culture should be fiat and shal- 

 low. The shoots are cut at the surface of the ground 

 after they have attained the proper length. One thing 

 is to be observed in either method, and this is that 

 during the cutting season everything long enough 

 must be cut daily, and that the little shoots be not 

 allowed to run up and branch out. Cull the shoots 

 after they are all out and bunch accordingly. Green 

 shoots ahould be bunched by themselves and not 

 mixed with the blanched ones. None but new, light 

 crates should be used, for a clean and neat package 

 will always favor its contents in the selling. 



W. F. Massey. 



North Carolina Agricultural Experintfut Station. 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA 



The growing of asparagus for market in Califor- 

 nia is proving to be one of the most successful of 

 its minor industries. There is a large area in the 

 State which is exadlly suited • to the produdlion of 

 this vegetable. This is the region of sedimentary 



