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the box he points the tips of the grass to the middle of the box and the boxes are just wide enough to hold two rows of grass. The object of keeping the tips to the center is to prevent them from becoming damaged in transit.

The wash shed is always handy to the field and should have plenty of running water and where the haul will be short. All the preliminary work of sorting and washing is done here.

Cutting Period: The cutting period extends from March 15th to June 15th, a matter of three months. This period applies to the cutting of the grass after it is three years from the root but if cutting the second year from the root under no circumstances allow the cutting period to exceed forty days, and then do not cut the full extent of the crop.

Time of Cutting: When cutting to the full extent of the yield the field must be gone over every day, otherwise any grass that is allowed to appear above the mound a day's growth will turn coarse and tough.

After the cutting period is over a plow is run along each side of the mound and the top is then smoothed off until there is only about six inches of earth left over the crown. A light cultivator of plow shape is used for this. The grass is now allowed to grow up until the first frosts of the fall when it is mown off as already described and hauled from the field and burned unless saving it for seed. If necessary place rotted manure over the crown (some prefer to place the manure between the rows), then heap up the mounds. Continue cultivating at every opportunity till the next

season.

As above stated, the cutting period on the first cut should be very limited and although some cut for 40 days, getting one box of 45 pounds off each acre per day, the wise man only cuts for a period of 20 days getting 20 of these boxes per acre in the 20 days.

If the roots are taxed too much at this early part of their growth they will be ruined for future crops as they will throw off only weak grass.

The next year's cutting should also be limited to 70 boxes per acre for the season (90 days).

Following years the crop will range from 130 to 170 boxes per acre for the cutting season (90 days).

A packer says it is safe to figure on getting on an average of 100 boxes of 45 pounds each, per acre, for the ten-year life of the beds.

One box of asparagus will can one case of 24 No. 22 square cans so that 300 acres of grass should produce sufficient for a pack of 30,000 cases. This being a conservative estimate.

Contract for Raising: The following contract is generally made with Chinese, Japanese or Italians, as this class of labor is found to be the best for this kind of work. They are not only found to be the most reliable but are the best gardeners.

The owner supplies the land, the seed, or the roots, the horses, tools, fertilizers, etc. and builds the necessary trenching ditches, and houses for the contractor to house his help, animals and implements.

The contractor generally takes hold one year after the seed has been sown, he then takes up the roots, transplants them and cultivates them until maturity. For this he receives 50 to 60 per cent of the crop as his share for supplying the labor and superintending the work as outlined. There is no fixed rate, on the price, as to the amount the contractor is to receive and it is purely a business contract between the owner and the contractor.

The contractor has the privilege of planting between the rows the first year, any light crops such as beans or peas, but nothing that grows tall enough to shade the young asparagus. After the first and second year nothing is planted between the rows. The owner of the land gets 25 to 30 per cent of this vegetable crop.

Length of Cutting: When contracting, the length the grass is to be cut should be specified as near the required length as possible. This should be 61⁄2 to 7 inches long as this length will allow for trimming before being canned and at the same time there will be very little waste to the canner. The grower, of course, will try to make the length as long as possible as he is paid by the pound. Some canners can the butts and sell for use in making purée of asparagus soup, but the sale is very limited and it will pay to throw these butts away until some further use is discovered for them.

Life of the Beds: The life of the beds will vary in length

according to the richness of the soil in which the grass grows. The attack of rust will shorten the life of the beds unless properly treated with a solution of bluestone and lime. The discovery of this treatment was made by the University of California about 1903. The solution must be sprayed on the stems whenever the rust appears. This rust is a fungus which seems to dry all the life out of the stem and if allowed to continue will finally kill the roots. It is very easy to detect as the grass affected is much darker than the healthy grass and before the spear can grow any height above the ground it will dry up and die off. This rust fungus has virtually wiped out the asparagus beds of Long Island, New York, and no doubt would have done the same thing with the Sacramento beds had the canners neglected investigation of the trouble much longer (1905).

After 10 years of cutting, the ground can be cleared of the roots. The cost of this work is considerable, probably $100 per acre. It will readily be understood that the ground after being in asparagus for a number of years must be cropped with other crops for a long time before again setting out grass.

Process: After the grass is cut in the field it is immediately hauled to the sorting shed, which as already stated, is on the edge of the field. Here a liberal supply of running water is available. Laborers take the grass and wash it thoroughly in tanks of running water. This is done by submerging the whole box in the tank. As already stated the grass is piled in the box, tip to tip toward the center and this rule is adhered to throughout the handling. During the first washing the laborers pick out all grass having crooked stems. These are thrown away if they cannot be used for tips.

The reason for these stems being crooked is that the grass in growing up to the surface strikes a clod and being of a tender nature will not pass through the clod but will circle around it, and if the grass is too crooked for tips it is absolute waste so this will impress upon the farmer the necessity of having the ground always thoroughly mellowed.

After the box of grass has been thoroughly washed and is free from dirt it is passed on to another man at a fresh trough of water and this man takes the grass out of the box by the handful, again washes and sorts each lot, piling it on

a shelf in front of him. This shelf is the width the grass is cut as specified in the contract and is about 8 inches long with a movable backboard on each end. The board is stationary so the grass can be piled up some height before being trimmed. When the shelf is well filled, a board of the same width as the shelf is placed over the grass to hold it in place while a long butcher knife is run over the butts, trimming them down uniformly to the width of the shelf. The grass is piled so that the tips are toward the movable backboard, with the butts projecting over the edge of the shelf toward the cutter.

After the grass has been trimmed down to the proper length the backboard is removed from the shelf and a man standing on the opposite side of the shelf and facing the cutter takes the grass off in handfulls, washes it thoroughly and grades it roughly, placing it in clean boxes, tips to the center. Another man then nails slats on the top of the boxes and loads them in a truck which takes them to the cannery. The cannery should be within easy hauling distance and at the same time handy for shipping. If the grass has to be hauled any great distance before reaching the cannery, wet sacks should be thrown over the boxes. After reaching the cannery, the canning should not be delayed and the grass should never be allowed to stand over any length of time as it will sour and toughen in a few hours.

Hours of Labor in the Field: The laborers in the field start cutting the grass at 5 a. m., and stop cutting at 2:30 p. m., and under all conditions the field must be covered every day. After the cutting is through for the day, the field laborers go to cultivating and weeding until 5 p. m. By starting cutting at 5 a. m. the cannery will have enough grass to start canning operations at 11 a. m., and will finish for the day about 10 p. m. though it is usual to wind up about midnight. 108 cutters cover 130 acres daily.

Labor in the Cannery: 32 Chinese sorting grass, will finish 396 50-pound boxes per day. This equals 19,800 pounds of grass. Following is a list of workers engaged in the cannery operations:

32 men sorting or grading, as stated. 40 men filling the cans.

36 men brining, cooking, stacking, etc.

Total 108, all of whom can be Chinese or Japanese.

One superintendent, 1 field foreman, 2 box makers, 2 warehousemen and laborers, 1 cannery inspector, 1 clerk and assistant inspector, 1 foreman and engineer, 1 assistant fireman, 1 processor.

Hours of Labor in the Cannery: Start sorting at 11 a. m. Lunch at 5. p. m. The cleaning-up crew will come in at 5 p. m. and wash and clean the cannery. The cannery help return to work at 5:30 p. m. and work until 9. p. m. when the cleaning-up crew comes in again and thoroughly washes and cleans the cannery machinery and equipment. Should there be any grass on hand at this time it must be worked up before quitting for the night. The processing continues until about 11 p. m., or later, if necessary to get all the grass run through.

Sorting and Grading: When the grass arrives at the cannery, the Chinese take the boxes from the wagons, put them on and off the scale, take off and save the covers of the boxes, take the grass out of the boxes, and grade into the following grades, each grade being graded into white and green:

Giant, 14 to 20 spears to can; Mammoth, 20 to 25 spears to can; Large, 26 to 34 spears to can; Medium, 35 to 45 spears to can; Small, over 45 spears to can.

Giant and Mammoth is sometimes peeled and packed in No. 3 square cans.

The above are all put up in No. 21⁄2 square cans except the small and crooked spears which are received for packing tips. The No. 3 square and the No. 1 tall size and the peeled should only be put up for special orders sold on future contract as the sale of these grades is very uncertain both on account of high price and odd size of can. The grade of grass packed in No. 1 tall cans is generally the poorest, while that packed in the No. 3 is always the best and is most invariably peeled.

When put on the market the grass is labeled, and known as follows: Giant, Mammoth, Large, Medium and Small. Great care should be exercised in grading and sorting. Sort the grass into three shades, white, green and purple. Each shade being graded into sizes according to the above

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