162 ASPARAGUS 



market, but the bed is then longer in coming to its 

 full strength and will not give so large a product the 

 following years. There is a variation in the spring 

 working, according to the nature of the land. Where 

 the soil has a tendency to be cold, the first plowing is 

 away from the rows, so as to let the sun more quickh- 

 down to the starting plants. Where the soil is light, 

 or the season for^vard, this plowing is omitted. The 

 latter plo wings are toward the rows, the efibrt being 

 by ridging to give a long blanched surface to the 

 shoots. For the canneries where nothing but the 

 white produ(5l is put up, the shoots are cut the instant 

 they show their tips above the surface. The local 

 market shows a preference for the greener shoot, and 

 so before cutting it is allowed to stretch itself up into 

 the light. The third year regular cutting begins, and 

 from that time forward the beds increase in the quan- 

 tity and quality of the produdl for the next fifteen 

 3'ears. 



The methods of marketing are somewhat different 

 from those pradticed in the East. Little or none of the 

 asparagus is bunched. It is packed loose in boxes 

 holding from forty to fifty pounds, and the loose 

 produdl is retailed to the consumer by the pound. The 

 first boxes begin to go out by the beginning of Feb- 

 ruar>% though small quantities can be seen in market 

 as early as January 15th. The canning contradls run, 

 as a rule, from March ist to June 15th. After that the 

 weather is so dry that the yield stops unless the beds 

 are irrigated. In most sections, however, irrigation is 

 not necessary up to this time. 



A notable exception to this is Bouldin Island, in 



