CULTURE IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES 1 59 



deposits, washed by waters that are to some extent 

 brackish, or naturally saline. Commercial asparagus 

 farming is limited to the reclaimed lands around 

 the ba}^ of San Francisco, the marshy deltas of the 

 San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, and the so- 

 called peat lands of Orange and San L,uis Obispo coun- 

 ties. Small beds, however, for local consumption are 

 to be found in California as generally and frequently 

 as they are in other States. 



There is a fascination about asparagus culture that 

 is founded on legitimate financial returns. It is prac- 

 tically "a sure thing" when once established, and 

 the conditions of climate and soil are such that the 

 work attendant on produ(5tion is a minimum in pro- 

 portion to the return. No diseases of the plant have 

 yet shown themselves in California, and it is seldom 

 that the weather is unsteady enough to be a fadtor in 

 limiting production. The deterring feature is the 

 fadl that it is not till the third year that a return can 

 be expedled on the investment. But as other crops, 

 such as potatoes and beans, can be grown between the 

 rows in the interim, the time of waiting is not so 

 entirely an unprodudtive one as might at first be sup- 

 posed. 



The methods of preparing, planting, and working 

 are pradlically the same in all sedlions of California. 

 The proposed beds are plowed as deeply as possible 

 and thoroughly fertilized. All of the soils appropriate 

 for commercial asparagus farming are so light that 

 deep cultivation is a comparatively easy matter. Fur- 

 rows for planting are then run and made double depth. 

 Some growers think it worth while to distribute fer- 



