ASPARAGUS GROWING

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21361, 2 June 1939, Page 10

ASPARAGUS GROWING

NAPIER EXPERIMENT Experiments in the raising of asparagus, which are being carried out on the Ahuriri LagOon area, Napier, under the direction of the Small Farms Board, give promise of being outstandingly successful. One acre of the lagoon area was planted in asparagus in 1937, and the plants have become firmly established in soil which is apparently ideal for their growth. The first cutting will be made during the coming spring, and so strong and vigorous are the plants that a heavy yield is expected. The success of the initial planting has encouraged the Small Farms Board to lay down a further acre and a half in asparagus, bringing the total area to two acres and a half, which will give full-time employment for one man.

The area of the Ahuriri Lagoon block, which was raised above sea-level during the 1931 earthquake, is 7500 acres. Since the Public Works Department completed a system of drainage for the Small Farms Board a large part of the area has been sown in grass, on which sheep and cattle are doing exceptionally well; possibly because of the mineral content of the soil the stock are very healthy. The success of the asparaus-grew-ing experiment, however, raises the possibility of large-scale production not only of asparagus, but of tomatoes and other vegetables, which ultimately justify the erection of a canning factory on the block.