128 Subtropical Vegetable-Gardening 



to store up food in the roots for next year's crop of shoots. 

 If cutting goes on too long, the next crop will be small. 



Bunching and crating asparagus. 



The stems are usually cut when they are about 6 inches 

 above the ground, and since they are cut 3 or 4 inches 

 below the ground, the shoots are 9 or 10 inches long. 

 The stems are laid into some kind of contrivance, either 

 home-made or bought, that will keep them straight and 

 keep the tips even. A simple buncher is made by using 

 a board 8 by 12 inches; to one end of this a thin board 

 8 by 8 inches is nailed ; three or four U-shaped iron straps 

 are nailed on to the 8- by 12-inch piece, so that they will be 

 parallel to the 8- by 8-inch board, and when the asparagus 

 is laid into these the heads will abut against the board. 

 This 8- by 8-inch board will keep the heads even, and the 

 U-shaped straps make the bunch round. Strings of raffia 

 or soft cord are laid across the buncher, and when enough 

 of the vegetable to make a bunch has been added, the 

 whole is tied tightly. Then with a sharp knife the butts 

 are cut square, and the work is done. A handier buncher 

 may be obtained from dealers in garden implements at 

 a small cost. Such a buncher will be found profitable 

 when much asparagus is to be prepared for market. 



Marketing. 



A carrier for shipping to a distant market must be either 

 a half-crate or one divided so as to hold one tier of bunches 

 in a compartment. Some soft moist material, as moss or 

 grass is placed in the bottom, and the bunches set upright 

 on this ; a layer of the same soft material is then put on 



