desired. Whatever individual preferences may be, the fact is that in New
York City, and some other large market centers, 75 per cent. of the
asparagus sold is white or blanched, and it would be useless to try to
persuade the buyers to take any other. To show how extreme the
convictions are in this matter of taste, we quote from Prof. J. F. C. Du
Pre, of the Clemson Agricultural College: "Why any one should prefer the
almost tasteless, insipid white to the green 'grass,' into which the
sunshine has put the flavor of ambrosia, is beyond my comprehension." On
the other hand, Leboeuf, the famous asparagus expert of Argenteuil,
writes: "Properly blanched asparagus is infinitely more tender and
delicate than green. To serve up green asparagus is to dishonor the
table."

In recent years a compromise has been made between the two styles. By
allowing the tops of the hilled-up sprouts to grow four inches above the
surface, the upper half of the stalk is green while the lower half
remains white.

[Illustration: FIG. 23--BASKET OF ASPARAGUS READY FOR THE BUNCHING SHED]

For green asparagus the sprouts are cut when six or seven inches high,
and then only so far below the surface as to furnish a stalk about nine
inches long. For the white style the rows have to be ridged twelve
inches above the crowns, and the stalks are cut as soon as the tops show
above the ground, the cutting off being eight or nine inches below the
surface.

Whichever method is followed, it is very important to cut every day
during the season, and to cut clean at each cutting, taking all the
small sprouts as well as the large ones. If the weak and spindling
shoots are allowed to grow they will draw away the strength from the
roots, to the injury of the crop.

[Illustration: FIG. 24--CUTTING AND PICKING UP ASPARAGUS IN A TEN-ACRE
FIELD OF C. W. PRESCOTT, MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASS.]

When cutting, the sprout is taken in the left hand and the knife run
down close alongside of it to the proper depth, carefully avoiding other
spears that are just beginning to push up all around the crown. Then the
handle of the knife is moved away from the stalk, to give it the proper
slant, the knife shoved down so as to sever the stalk with a tapering
cut, and at the same time the stalk is pulled out. After cutting, the
asparagus should be removed out of the sun as soon as possible to
prevent its wilting and discoloring. Usually this is done by dropping
the stalks in a basket wh