y be adjusted to any size bunch desired
by simply loosening the bolts at either end, and pulling out the arms so
as to fit the shape of the bunch, and thus both ends can be bunched
properly. The style of buncher and knives in favor with growers in the
famous asparagus region near Concord, Mass., are seen in Fig. 30, and
the process of bunching in Fig. 31.

[Illustration: FIG. 29--WATT'S ASPARAGUS BUNCHER]

_Tying materials._--Twine, Cuban bast, sisal, and various other
materials are used for tying, but nothing is better for this purpose
than raffia fiber. This is obtained from the raffia or rofia palm, a
native of the island of Madagascar. The tree sends enormous branches
from near the ground, the pinnate leaves of which produce this fiber.
One palm frond will produce eighty to one hundred long, green leaflets
from two to five feet in length, and from this the fiber is prepared.
"Silk lamba" is also a product of this palm. Raffia fiber is now
extensively used for tying up plants, for grafting, and many other
purposes, as it is very strong, as soft as silk, and is not affected by
moisture or changes of temperature, and it does not break or ravel when
folded or knotted.

[Illustration: FIG. 30--RACK AND KNIVES USED IN NEW ENGLAND]

[Illustration: FIG. 31--AT THE BUNCHING TABLE]

_Rubber bands._--The use of rubber bands for fastening asparagus bunches
has recently been found to have some advantages not possessed by other
materials. Prof. W. J. Green, of the Ohio Experiment Station, writes in
Bulletin No. 9: "The work can be done more rapidly and better. The
saving in time is fully one-third, which will pay for the increased cost
of rubber over string, reckoning wages at seventy-five cents per day.
This difference might be less where expert tyers are employed, or very
low rates per hundred bunches are paid. In any case, the work can be
done in a manner that is much more satisfactory to dealers with rubber
than with string. This is owing to the fact that rubber holds the
bunches intact, while string allows them to fall apart and to become
unsightly. Doubtless, in some cases, dealers would be willing to pay
more for bunches fastened with rubber than for those put up in the
ordinary manner. Even though no difference is made in price for
asparagus put up by the two methods, the bunches fastened with rubber
bands sell more readily than those tied with string.

"Rubber bands can be bought for two dollars per pound, and the