THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 129 



" Another crop that all gardeners should grow is 

 asparagus. It is one of the easiest grown and one 

 of the most profitable single crops. It requires a 

 very rich soil, and has the disadvantage of occupy- 

 ing the ground the entire season, making double 

 cropping impossible. We cut $64.95 worth from 

 0.35 acre that had stood over 20 years. Another 

 year we cut $44.94 worth from 0.20 acre of five- 

 year-old plants, or at the rate of $224.20 an acre. 

 While the yield is not as large as with some other 

 crops, the small amount of care required makes it 

 one of the most profitable. 



GRADING ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS 



" Everything we sell is carefully sorted and care- 

 fully prepared for the market. The lower the price, 

 the more carefully we try to sort and grade. Our 

 first-grade tomatoes usually bring 25 cents to $1 

 more than the average market price. The culls 

 are sold for what they will bring for immediate use, 

 and the demand for this grade is greater than we 

 can supply, for, by our way of growing tomatoes, 

 the percentage of culls is very small, except in very 

 wet weather, when the cracked fruit must go into 

 that class. 



" We go direct to the customers, solicit their 

 orders, and, if desired, deliver in the evening of the 

 same day directly from our own wagon. The re- 

 sult is we have built up a list of select patrons, who 

 appreciate perfectly fresh garden stuff, and who 

 are willing to pay a reasonable price for it. Any 

 surplus over and above the amount this list will 

 take is readily disposed of through the usual market 

 channels, where we generally find ourselves in the 

 enviable position of having the buyers competing 

 among themselves for our stuff. 



