1458 Tin-; Yk<;i:tablk Industry in New Yokk State 



spring as bright and green as when they went in, without any 

 signs of yellowing. 



Plants stored in cellars are troublesome to handle, because it is 

 difficult to secure proper ventilation and control the temperature. 

 The heat and moisture are likely to cause yellowing, if not down- 

 right decay. Such conditions also favor the white mold {Alter- 

 naria brassiae (Berk.) Sacc.) the most dreaded of all storage 

 troubles. Once it has a foothold it destroys swiftly and surely. 

 The sprouts near the base should be removed, for they usually rot 

 if left, and sometimes cause the stump to rot. 



Sheds with the floor about two feet below the surface of the 

 ground are found to be desirable for storage. One grower has 

 such a house 12 x 65 feet, the walls being insulated with a six- 

 inch layer of seaweed. In setting the plants a path is left through 

 the center. Since so many plants are handled, this grower does 

 not take time to trim off any of the leaves, but finds it necessary 

 to pick off the yellow leaves about the first of March, or earlier if 

 the weather has been warm. 



The plants can also be wintered in trenches. It is the practice 

 to dig a trench a little wider than a spade, and deep enough so 

 that the plants will come just flush with the ground when stood 

 up in the trench. The plants are then packed in it in a double 

 row, so that the trench is completely filled. Xo covering is put on 

 at any time. One grower who recently stored about fifty plants 

 this way brought only about half through to actual seed-bearing. 



Cold frames are also successfully used for storing. 



Setting out. As soon as the ground can be prepared in the 

 spring (usually from the first to the tenth of April) the plants 

 are set out in rows about three and one-half feet apart, and about 

 two and one-half feet apart in the row. The sprouts soon expand, 

 and a few of the large ones near the base will produce flowering 

 shoots, but the chief growth is made from the terminal bud. A 

 tall, branching flower stem is thrown up from this bud, and the 

 first mature seed pods appear in the latter part of July. The 

 ripening is uneven over the field, and even on the same plant, so 

 that no method of gathering is feasible other than picking by 

 hand. The seed-stalks are clipped with small shears and crowded 

 into a barrel which the picker carries along. This receptacle is a 

 little cumbersome, but effectually prevents any waste by the in- 



