:S4 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Boc. 



i\JAHKH;T GARDENING AND THE MARKETING OF PRODUCE. 



Bv Hon. li. F. SCHWABZ, Amdoinink. Pa. 



Tliree conditions must primarily be considered by bim wbo in- 

 tends to enter the business of market gardening and small fruit 

 growing. Tbey are: First, '*Soil," second "A suitable market," and, 

 third, ''Physical as well as mental energy of the man behind the 

 gun, or, in other words, the man- who carries on the business." 



As to soil, while all land used for the market garden and the 

 strawberry bed ought to be smooth enough and sufficiently clear 

 of stones to permit the use of the most improved labor-saving tools 

 and implements, both horse and hand, the market must, to a great 

 extent, influence the selection of soil. If the market requires the 

 production of early vegetables, it is evident that a cold clay soil 

 would be unsuitable, but that a light, sandy loam would be needed; 

 while, again, if the market can most profitably be supplied with 

 later varieties in their most perfect development, a good, strong 

 soil, clay or heavy loam, would be best. That gardener who, w^ith 

 a steady market, can combine these two soils in his land purchased 

 for his garden would naturally have the best equipment. 



Soil alone does not, however, make a garden nor must it be sup- 

 posed that a h(^avy applicatioin of manure and fertilizer will make 

 a garden out of an ordinary farm field in one year. It takes some 

 years of heavy applications of both manure and fertilizer, and 

 constant working and deepening of the soil to produce the ideal 

 condition of soil suitable for the production of ideal and, therefore, 

 most profitable crops. Quantity alone is never an indication of 

 success. Quality, and the best quality at that, must be, or ought 

 always to be, the star toward which the wise business gardener 

 travels. 



Few except those long in the business realize the enormous 

 quantities of manure and high-grade fertilizers needed in the suc- 

 cessful pursuit of market gardening. Almost all failures of novices 

 in the business, and I have seen the financial death throes of scores 

 of men who entered it with hearts full of hope but with an exag- 



