24 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



minute knowledge of all the details, which can only be gained 

 by experience. If, therefore, the farmer proposes to undertake 

 the cultivation of any new crop, the best plan is to begin in a 

 small way, keeping a record of the time of planting, quantity 

 and variety of seed, with other details of management, each 

 year observing the results and increasing the amount of land 

 devoted to its culture as may be found expedient. 



Another consideration in the choice of crops is the character 

 of the market to be supplied, its accessibility and wants. It is 

 a well-known truth that the increased supply of any article en- 

 larges the demand. Many products which a few years ago were 

 considered as a luxury which only the rich could afford, are con- 

 stantly used by the day laborers in our cities and villages. 

 Twenty years ago a half acre of strawberries would glut any 

 market in the county, and this delicious fruit was entirely un- 

 known in the smaller village markets. Now there is scarcely a 

 family which does not consume more or less, and their produc- 

 tion is becoming a leading branch of horticulture. And so of 

 other things. Supply the market with a really good fruit or 

 vegetable, and the public will learn to use it. 



Another important consideration affecting the choice of a crop 

 is the size of the farm and facilities for obtaining labor for extra 

 purposes. Most of us are so situated that we cannot readily in- 

 crease our labor force very much in any emergency ; hence we 

 find it most judicious to employ a certain uniform number of 

 men for the season. It becomes of importance then, that the 

 general plan of management for the year should be so adapted 

 to the force employed that there may always be enough to do, 

 and yet that nothing may suffer. Unless the labor force can be 

 increased at pleasure, economy of management requires that 

 such crops should be planted, and at such times that their 

 management will not interfere one with the other. Here arises 

 the greatest difficulty in raising strawberries and other small 

 fruits, as well as early vegtables, on farms which produce large 

 quantities of hay. The small fruits must be marketed in their 

 season, and this is mainly at a time when hoeing and haying 

 both need attention. 



One of the chief difficulties in raising roots largely I have 

 found to be the fact that they generally need hoeing and weed- 



