20 



GOOD SEED. 



MARKETING 



With soil of high fertility, careful seed and plant selection, and 

 the very best treatment, it is possible to cut $50 worth of asparagus 

 to the acre the second season from planting. The grower should be 

 very careful to avoid heavy cutting the second season, as this will 

 cripple the plants during the following years. Even the third year 

 the cuttings should not be too heavy, but the fourth and succeeding 

 years it is permissible to cut until about the first of July. Asparagus 

 is still regarded as a luxury by many city consumers, and it pays to 

 place the product on the market in the most attractive form. ]\Iany 

 growers have found it an advantage to tie the bunches with red tape. 

 The tape can be secured at a very low cost, and it certainly pays to 

 use it. The bunches of asparagus are eight to ten inches in length, 

 and the average weight is two to two and a half pounds. In warm 

 growing weather, it is necessarj^ to look over the plantation every 

 other day, and sometimes every day, in order to catch the shoots 

 before they break or become too long for marketing. In order 

 to avoid cutting on Sunday, some growers remove the marketable 

 shoots Saturday afternoon, and after washing and bunching, they 

 are stood in trays with the butts standing in about one-half inch of 

 water. This will keep the asparagus perfectly fresh until Monday 

 morning, when it may be sent to market. 



DISCUSSION FOLLOWING ADDRESS ON 



GOOD SEED 

 Led by R. L. Watts, State College, Pennsylvania. 



A Member: Do you think it would be practicable to grow 

 Golden Self -blanching seed in this country, or spinach .^^ 



Professor Watts: I have never heard of a grower who has 

 produced his own seed of the Golden Self -blanching successfully. 

 Of course, there are other varieties that have been produced. But 

 it is, at least, very difficult to grow Golden Self-blanching in this 

 country. With spinach, I doubt the practicability. 



A Member: How can you prevent the celery growing up to 

 seed? Last year was the driest year, and never a head of my crop 

 went to seed. 



