!^^', 



yiB 



GROWING ASPARAGUS 



IN SLAT HOUSES 



As the growing of asparagus in slat houses is confined to certain com- 

 paratively narrow regions of the country, the methods employed are un- 

 familiar to many florists. Yet a large proportion of the supply of asparagus 

 is produced in slat structures; so the subject surely is of general interest. 





HEN the slat-house culture 

 of ornamental asparagus is 

 under consideration, one of 

 the first questions that oe- 

 E? \flr ^ cur to the mind is some- 

 V^Jp-^ thing like this: What is 

 t>'\ \^^ the likelihood of immunity 

 /y^}k from frost, or the probable 

 II amount of loss from frost, 

 in the asparagus-growing 

 districts of Florida, southern California 

 and elsewhere f That is a big and 

 treacherous question, liable to lead to 

 misunderstandings, and a definite an- 

 swer in a few words would be impossi- 

 ble. In Florida, for instance, not only 

 the state's 400 miles of length' and its 

 half-dozen degrees of latitude must be 

 taken into account, but the distance of 

 the respective establishments from the 

 coast and from the warm ocean currents 

 must also be considered. 



Wben Frosts Are a Menace. 



Growers who have had many years 

 of experience in the production of as- 

 paragus, principally A. plumosus, in the 

 vicinity of Palm Beach, Fla., state that 

 in all those years the crop has not been 

 injured by frost — not even during the 

 so-called cold waves of the lenient Flor- 

 ida type. Palm Beach, however, not 

 only is nearly 100 

 miles south of the 

 center of the state, 

 but nestles close to 

 the seashore at a 

 point where the Gulf 

 Stream also is an es- 

 pecially near neigh- 

 bor. Of the 150 acres, 

 more or less, of aspar- 

 agus in the state, the 

 larger proportion is 

 north of Palm Beach. 

 Orlando, Apopka and 

 Altamonte Springs, 

 where the industry is 

 carried on extens- 

 ively, are thirty-five 

 to fifty miles north of 

 the center of the 

 state. In that lati- 

 tude frosts aro not in- 

 frequeht, and occa- 

 sionally they are se- 

 vere enough, no 

 doubt, to cause plain- 

 ly appreciable dam- 

 age. 



However, where the 

 frosts are a real men- 

 ace to the business, 

 it would seem quite 

 feasible to have 

 "heater protection," 

 such as is used -for 



citrus groves. P. H. Bolfs, director of 

 the College of Agriculture at the Uni- 

 versity of Florida, advises the use of 

 such heaters anywhere north of the cen- 

 ter of the state, in addition to the 

 shelter provided by the slat hauses, 

 which, he says, should be so constructed 

 as to cast "about one-half shade." 



Improvement of Slat Houses. 



It is alio reasonable to hope, in view 

 of the continued development of this 

 phase of the asparagus business, that 

 the slat houses of the near future will 

 be so improved as to serve their pur- 

 pose more effectively, both in the regu- 

 lation of shade and the exclusion of 

 frost. In fact, it is already reported 

 that a Florida grower expects soon to 

 secure a patent on a new system of 

 slat-house construction which will go 

 far toward attaining the double object, 

 defense both from the sun and from 

 cold. At any rate, here is a fine oppor- 

 tunity for inventive skill. 



Professor Bolfs, already quoted, says 

 that exact data with reference to the 

 extent of the asparagus industry in 

 Florida are diflScult to obtain, but he 

 estimates that there are in the state 

 probably two dozen more or less im- 

 portant asparagus growers, the areas of 



Asparagus Thrives Finely in Such a House as 



(The typical style of asparagrus bouse in Florida and sonthern 



whose plantings vary from two to ten 

 acres. He has visited several of the 

 slat-house ranges and says that, in most 

 cases, the cultivation is simple, being 

 confined mainly to running over the 

 surface with a wheel hoe, and in some 

 cases the plantings are set so closely 

 that no cultivation is practicable. The 

 gray sandy loam. Professor Bolfs con- 

 tinues, is best adapted to this crop, 

 although some asparagus is grown on the 

 pure white sand that is usually con- 

 sidered useful only for pineapple grow- 

 ing. Plants set on this character of 

 soil need to have much more fertilizer 

 than those grown on the gray sandy 

 soils. Soils that are likely to become 

 water-logged during the rainy season 

 are not favorable to the production of 

 Asparagus plumosus. Professor Bolfs, 

 unlike some other authorities on the 

 subject, recommends subirrigation as the 

 best method of watering. 



The Season of Slow Qrowth. 



The resting season of asparagus, says 

 Professor Bolfs, begins usually in May. 

 This likewise is the principal season 

 of cultivation. Fertilization generally 

 is practiced later, or about the time 

 that the rainy season is closing. Where 

 the field has been given careful atten- 

 tion, plumes may be 

 taken off in the early 

 fall, but of course the 

 winter plumes bring 

 the best prices. 



C. J. Ohmer, of 

 West Palm Beach, 

 Fla., has at present 

 a little over seven 

 acres of asparagus, 

 all protected from 

 the direct sunshine 

 by lath sheds, and all 

 watered by an over- 

 head system of irri- 

 gation. The water 

 for this sprinkling 

 system is supplied by 

 pumps capable of de- 

 livering 20,000 gal- 

 lons per hour. The 

 pilmps are operated 

 by engines which 

 have a combined ca- 

 pacity of twenty 

 horsepower. As Mr. 

 Ohmer undoubtedly 

 is one of the most suc- 

 cessful of asparagus 

 growers, his ideas on 

 the subject should be 

 of great value. The 

 Eeview, therefore, se- 

 cured from him the 

 c u 1 1 u ral directions 



Thfs. 



California.) 



