COUNTRY LIFE
Vegetable Perfection
I spent one day last week in the most fertile district of England, the rich plain or valley that includes Evesham and Pershore. Success and disaster rubbed shoulders. The crop of the moment was asparagus. Workmen were going up and down along the narrow ridges prodding the shoots that were just the right distance above the soil with the special tool of the district, a prodder with a saw-like end. No stick is cut side- ways, lest unseen tips should be spoiled. A great deal of the asparagus is sold co-operatively, and of late the co-operative producers have cemented a close alliance with the co-operative consumers—and that is a most desirable consummation. Much of the Worcestershire asparagus is sent direct to the Northern Co-operative associations. For a good many years it has seemed to me that Littleton and Badsey growers (whose address is Badsey, near Evesham) have set up a model for imitation. Anyone anywhere can order direct from the associa- tion many .sorts of fruit, vegetables or plants and trees, but to my view their highest claim to fame is this alliance with the co-operative consumers. The industry owes a good deal to " the Wine and Food Society" and its Ministry of Agri- culture organisers.
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