MARKET GARDENING. 87 



sales ; the product of the first may be worth seventy-fiv^e 

 cents to one dollar a bushel, Avhile the latter would hardly be 

 worth fifteen or twenty cents a bushel, and only suitable for 

 cattle-feeding. The one would yield a profit^ the other 

 would prove a loss, and the cost of growing would be the 

 same in both cases. 



Much care should be exercised in planting the seed. Deep 

 planting of some of the smaller seeds is often fatal, as they 

 are likely to rot if planted deep with succeeding wet wea- 

 ther. If the surface of the ground is dry, a rolling, after 

 sowing, with a light roller, will compact the surface and 

 cause the seed to germinate better. 



Straight rows are always desirable ; you can run a culti- 

 vator or a scutfie hoe throus^h the rows easier and nearer to 

 the plants, and it is really no more work to sow or plant tj 

 straight row than a crooked one, and it looks better. 



To carry on this business thoroughly requires the use of 

 glass, either in the form of hot beds, cold frames, or houses 

 for the winter growing of vegetables, such as cucumbers, 

 tomatoes, radishes, lettuce and some other varieties, also for 

 forwarding plants of various kinds to be planted out after 

 danger of frosts is over. A large part of the plants for 

 planting out are grown in frames, either hot beds or beds 

 from which the heat has been spent for other crops. 



The cost of sash, shutter, mat, fence, plank, for every 

 sash 3 feet wide by 6 feet long is substantially $5. The num- 

 ber of sashes used by gardeners in the vicinity of Boston 

 varies from 100 to 1,000 for each place, and in many in- 

 stances large glass structures, heated by steam and hot water, 

 for winter growing are used in addition to the frames. 



Therefore it is evident that a large amount of capital is 

 required not only for the real estate but for structures where 

 vegetables are forced, and that these structures are of such 

 material that they must necessarily rapidly decrease in value. 

 To realize the best results, one who is enofajjed in this 

 business largely should have command of an abundance of 

 water ; and while it does not take the place of frequent rains, 

 it often saves a crop for a few days until rain comes, and in 

 forwarding crops, in such seasons as we have had for the 

 last two years, and in the washing and cleaning of vegetables 



