VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 



271 



as well kept and sown in the pulp. Asparagus seed will 

 keep four years. 



Use. — The tender shoots thrown up in the spring when 

 four or five inches long, are the parts in use, and are 

 very delicate and much esteemed, though not very nutri- 

 tious. They are excellent simply boiled, or as an addition 

 to soups when in season. 



Marketing. — To enter the market first with this popu- 

 lar vegetable will always secure to the grower good 



102— Bunching Asparagus. 



prices. Therefore the policy should be to plant the 

 earliest varieties under the best conditions. But unless 

 the asparagus is properly prepared and packed profits 

 will be greatly curtailed. It is important to understand 

 this fact at the beginning, and to make an honest effort to 

 place the vegetable in the market in the most attractive 

 form. Because of the advanced season in the South the 



