Arizona republican., 1922-04-09
BIG OPPORTUNITY
IN THIS VALLEY To
GROW ASPARAGUS

"The first straight car Of western
asparagus reached New York on
Mar. 80 and was received by John Nix
and company. The car sold at SIS
per 20-pound crate"
The above clipping from a New
York paper under date of March 81
tells a story of much interest to this
valley. Fifteen dollars for 20 pounds
OF grass"
Mr.. Shields. superintendent OF gar
dening at the state hospital on the
weeks yet to plant" C. W. Boggs
says: There are plenty of roots to
be had for planting. The telephone
book viii aid one in bringing the ex-
perts within speaking distance. and
the farmer who has a little piece OF
land suitable for asparagus growing
is right in luck
Ask any commission man in Phoe-
nix about the future market. Ask
the Scottsdale cannery. Every pound
of asparagus grown for the next three
years in this little old Roosevelt VAL
ley can be sold on contract tomor-
row.
Mr.. Sears of the Sears. Nicolls
company. one OF the biggest canning
concerns OF the country, says: The
asparagus of this valley will sell in
cans" Mr. Mickle, general manager
of the Arizona Grocery company,
says. "The difference between white
asparagus and green asparagus is the
difference between green olives and
ripe olives A little five-acre farmer
at the end Of the Center street bridge
says: Il could never have paid out
on my farm il it hadn't been for my
ons acre of asparagus. $3.50 net last
year.
How to Plant Seed
Select a single strip Of land. the
cleanest land you have. Let 1t be
strong land. if possible bordering on
a ditch for sub-irrigation. A single
cotton row will do. Plow 1t; go up
and down it half a dozen times with
B bordering disc: run water In the
burrows at both sides. Then plant
above the water line, dropping one
ounce of palmetto seed to every 100
linear feet and covering with one
inch of fine soil. If you have a piece
of alfalfa. so much the better.
Plow under a four-foot strip as a
cover crop; work it under with a bor-
dering disc and cart in load Oh
manure for the furrows every time
you take out load of hay. work
the young plants by hand until well
it, going over it with your cotton
cultivator or bordering disc every
time you irrigate. When the alfalfa
roots begin to grow chop them out
and thank God that w. ]. Murphy
and Chaplin Scott grubbed out the
MESQUITE roots before YOU got here.
At the end OF a year set out the best
roots and sell the balance. There's
q ready market at SO q thousand
for roots.
How to Plant Roots
Select a rich piece OF land. prefer
ably an old COW corral. Plow the |
manure in rows the width OF a COM
mon slip scraper. Scrape the manure |
to one side. plow again and scrape |
the dirt to the other side. When you |
have a trench two feet deep throw |
the manure in the bottom to depth /
OF one foot. Fill in the-dirt on top. |
Set out the roots six inches deep. Is
inches apart, with four feet between |
rows. Water often and cultivate
with a one horse cultivator. You
can't kill the plants and you won't
hurt the horse. At the end of the /
first year you will be cutting aspara-
gus for a market that is already here
Ask any commission man in Phoenix,
and when you take your first load OF
asparagus TO the cannery ask the
cannery man.
Now is the time 70 plant. Anyone
can prepare a single row within the |
next 10 days. The larger the row, |
the better. It's as easy TO drive to I
the end as to turn around. 1T you /
plant seed today. you'll be cutting
asparagus for market. If you catch |
the early market. you'll get rich. If /
vou ret the Gamers price. youh |
make good money. And the commits
sion men say the fresh market viii
take every pound for the next nve
years. Ask John T.. Barker. Ask /
Duncan and Jack.
It's a good bet on four bits worth
of seed.