Asparagus

a genus of useful and ornamental plants belonging to the lily family. There are about 150 species, native to warm or tropical regions. Southern Africa is noted for many beautiful species. Asparagus stems are finely dissected. What appear to be leaves are really thread-like branches. The branchlets of several ornamental species form feathery plumes. The real leaves are reduced for the most part to pointed scales. Some species are climbers; some are trailing plants; some are bushy.

The common garden asparagus is a perennial herb native to Europe and Asia. The Greeks and Romans were familiar with asparagus. It has been cultivated for at least 2,000 years. It is a relative of the lily and the onion, but does not look like them. The fleshy young shoots are cut for table use as they peep from the ground. The fruit is a red berry. The seeds are black. The roots and berries were formerly in demand as remedies. Asparagus is cultivated widely. It seems to do fairly well in the soil of almost any garden. Like the horseradish, once planted, it persists in fence corners and other sheltered spots. Asparagus does best, however, in rich, deep, mellow soil. Gardeners sow the seed usually in drills and transplant when the plants are about a year old. The shoots should be cut off daily, as soon as the tips make their appearance over ground. If allowed to grow for a few days, they darken in color, and become woody. The asparagus season lasts "until peas come." After that the shoots are allowed to grow. If the pruning should continue throughout the entire growing season, the plant would lose vitality. Bailey states that 12,000,000 bunches of asparagus are sold annually by the market gardeners of the United States. The eastern centers of production are near the Atlantic cities, as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.

The largest asparagus plantation in the United States, probably the largest in the world, is owned by the Voorman Company of California. It is situated on Baldwin Island in the San Joaquin River. The island, which comprises in all about 7,000 acres, has been diked. Three thousand acres are under asparagus. The island has been fertilized by the tides for ages. The soil is deep and enormously fertile. During the asparagus season, which lasts from March 15th to June 15th, 1,500 persons are employed. The harvesters go up and down the rows daily, cutting the tender shoots, just as they peep above the soil. The cut is made about six inches below the surface of the soil with a peculiarly shaped knife. Wagons draw the cuttings to sheds, where they are culled and sorted according to length, quality, and size. The shoots are washed and cooked slightly in steam-heated salt water. They are then sealed in glass jars and cans and placed in hot water tanks to complete the cooking. About 650 cars of canned asparagus are shipped annually. The season's crop is valued by the owners at over half a million dollars. The island was originally reclaimed from the tides by diking and pumps. In 1904 high water made a breach in the dike. The company was obliged to close a passage 300 feet wide and 35 feet deep, and after that it was necessary to pump out 7,000 acres of water from six to seven feet deep. Two large pumps, having a capacity of 65,000 and 40,000 gallons respectively per minute, did the work. Although the rows had been washed out more or less, it was found that the asparagus roots were in pretty good condition. A force of 500 Japanese laborers were put at work leveling up. It is interesting to know that about 50,000 acres of this marshy tide land had been reclaimed by diking and pumping. The region is called locally the Holland of America. It is destined, no doubt, to retain its claim as the asparagus center of the world.