462 



STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The greatly increased labor cost on beets in New England is accounted 

 for by the fact that some of the planters first start the plants in green- 

 houses in early spring, then transplant them into 2| inch pots, and finally 

 into the open field as soon as the weather will permit, all of which greatly 

 adds to the labor cost. Cucumbers, also, being so largely grown under 

 glass in this district, adds greatly to their cost. TJie increased labor cost 

 of some other vegetables in the New England district is accounted for by 

 the difficulty of cultivating the soil, and the fact that labor is more scarce 

 and therefore commands a higher price, while in most of the other districts 

 the soil is easier tilled and labor more abundant, colored persons being 

 mostly employed. 



SEEDS AND PLANTS. 



For the ordinary farm crops the seeds and plants are very largely of 

 home or neighborhood production, while on the truck farm so much more 

 time and attention has to be given to the details of growing and market- 

 ing that but little attention is given to seed growing. Consequently the 

 seed trade finds among truck farmers their largest and best customers. 



The following table shows the cost of seeds and plants per acre for the 

 various crops, the difference being caused largely by the lack of uniformity 

 in prices and by difference in quantity of seed used, and, again, by the few 

 reports on this subject received from truckers in some of the districts. 

 More complete returns may make a slight change before printing the final 

 reports. 



a Cost of seeds or plants for the asparagus is not an annual expense, for when a field is once established 

 it is permanent. 



Cost of seeds and Plants per Acre in each Trucking District. — Continued. 



