er crops revel. In this soil
the asparagus also finds a congenial home, but no better than in the
sand, in which but little else can be grown; neither can it be grown
here more profitably. The expense for fertilizers is a little more on
the sandy soil, but the cost in labor on the heavy soil will quite
equal the cost of extra fertilizer required on the light.

Whether away from a saline atmosphere a light soil would be as favorable
as a heavy one for the asparagus is a question that practical experiment
only can settle. But it is an important one, as it is not generally
supposed that it is possible to grow asparagus, at a profit, on such
soils as are now being devoted to this crop on Long Island.

That which has been called the barren wastes, the dwarf-pine and
scrub-oak lands of Suffolk County, can be made most profitable farming
lands may be a surprise to many, but that such is the case does not
admit of a doubt. As evidence of this, let us state what is being done
along these lines. Messrs. Hudson & Sons, leading canners of asparagus,
have bought a farm of 525 acres of as poor land as it is possible to
find on Long Island, which they are to devote exclusively to this crop.
They have already more than fifty acres planted, and are getting the
whole in readiness as rapidly as possible. This is no experiment, but
simply doing on a large scale what has profitably been done on a small
one.

On similar soils a low estimate of net profit is $100 per acre, and
there are many instances where double this profit is made. The price
paid last season by the canners was $14 per 100 bunches for first
quality, and $6 per 100 for culls, or "tips," as they are usually
called. With good cultivation, which means a liberal supply of plant
food--and there is no crop that requires more--and the surface kept
clean, free from weeds, and frequently cultivated, so that the surface
is at all times loose and fine to prevent evaporation, the average yield
is 2,500 bunches per acre. If we estimate the tips at 25 per cent. of
the crop, the gross receipts will amount to $200 per acre.

After a given acreage is ready for cutting, which is the third year
after planting, the annual cost of cultivation is not very much, if any,
more than that of a crop of potatoes. It is a question whether the
actual cost of growing and marketing an acre of asparagus is not less
than that of an acre of potatoes. Some growers assert it is three times
as much work to ta