Comparative yields for hand cutting and nonselective mechanical harvesting of white asparagus were determined during the 1964 cannery season, using an experimental harvester. In the tests, the machine-harvested all-white treatment on a peat soil produced 72% as much weight of good, white asparagus as did the hand-cut rows. A rough cost analysis indicates that, under these conditions, nonselective mechanical harvesting may be economically feasible. Results were less favorable in a 16-year-old planting on a clay loam soil. Mechanical harvesting caused the beds to dry out more than hand cutting and increased the tendency for the peat soil to blow.

Assisting in the tests were R. E. Cowden and J. L. Koon, Department of Agricultural Engineering; M. Zahara, Department of Vegetable Crops; W. L. Sims, Extension Specialist in Vegetable Crops; and J. P. Underhill, County Director, Agricultural Extension Service, Stockton. The tests were conducted in fields owned by the M & T Company (Clair Davis, field manager) and Louis Sartini.