BUNDLING 



33 



audiences when lecturing. Indeed, having once pre- 

 pared the ground and planted the stock, so little further 

 attention is required that in these days of scarce and 

 expensive labour I would rather be the possessor of an 

 acre of asparagus than an acre of any other crop. 



In the latest number of the " Royal Agricultural 

 Society's Journal" (Vol. xi., part 4) is an article on 

 asparagus by Mr John Norfolk of Wilburton, in which 

 he says that " the time that cutting will commence must, 

 of course, depend upon the season. About the middle of 

 April would be the average time, though in some seasons 

 there would hardly be any through before the beginning of 

 May. It should begin as soon as any heads are one and 

 a half or two inches above the surface, cutting all, both 

 large and small with a proper asparagus knife — a saw- 

 edged one — as this kind of knife does not injure other 

 crowns (shoots) as a sharp one would. The knife 

 has a saw-edged blade about four inches long with a 

 handle twelve to fifteen inches. The way to use it is to 

 pass the blade down close by the head intended to be 

 cut until the crown of the root is felt, then by a dex- 

 terous twist sideways detach the stem from the root 

 (or crown). An experienced man should be employed 

 to do this work, as a number of shoots are always rising 

 at the same time in different stages from the same spot, 

 and a careless cutter might destroy a great many. It is 

 most important to keep the cutting well in hand. No 

 hard and fast rule can be laid down about it, beyond that 

 it must be done at the proper time. Two inches above 

 ground is quite enough of growth, as if longer the plants 

 begin to run and spoil their appearance in a few hours." 

 I presume that Mr Norfolk means by this that the head 

 would open and the compactness be spoilt. He goes on 

 to say that as asparagus grows in length, the heads lose 

 their plumpness and get thinner. It is only those who 

 are accustomed to seeing asparagus growing who can 



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