1396.] 101 [Bailey, 



The last column in this table has particular interest because it shows 

 the enormous acreage which these seeds, if all planted, would cover. 

 We are now curious to know if such areas really are planted to these 

 species, and if they are not, it will be pertinent to inquire what becomes 

 of the seeds. Unfortunately, we have no statistics of the entire acreages 

 of these various truck-garden crops, but the same census gives the statis- 

 tics of the commercial market gardens of the country. Inquiry of seed- 

 merchants has convinced me that about one-fourth of all the seeds sold in 

 any year go to market gardeners. I have therefore multiplied the census 

 figures of market gardens by four for the purpose of arriving at an esti- 

 mate of the total acreage of the given crops in the United States ; and I 

 have introduced the last column from the above table for purposes of 

 comparison : 



Probable 

 Acreage of market total There are seeds enough 



gardens. acreage. to plant Difference. 



Cabbage, 77,094 308,376 1,014,400 acres. 706,024 acres. 



Cucumber, 4,721 18,884 613,140 " 594,256 " 



Tomato, 22,802 91,308 1,473,920 " 1,382,712 " 



It will thus be seen that there are enough cabbage seeds raised in this 

 country each year — if the census year is a fair sample — to plant nearly 

 three-quarters of a million acres more than actually are planted; about 

 the same surplus of cucumber seeds ; and a surplus of tomato seeds suffi- 

 cient to plant over one and a quarter million acres. It is possible, of 

 course, that the figures of actual acreage of these crops are too low ; but 

 such error, if it occur, must be much overbalanced by the large quanti- 

 ties of home-grown and imported seeds which are used every year. These 

 startling figures would not apply so well to many other crops which are 

 detailed in the census bulletin. For instance, the peas raised in this 

 country would plant only about 46,000 acres, whilst there are over 100,000 

 acres actually grown ; but this discrepancy is probably accounted for by 

 the fact that the larger part of the seed peas are grown in Canada and 

 therefore do not figure in our census. There is a somewhat similar dis- 

 crepancy in the watermelon, but in this crop the seeds are very largely 

 home-saved by the heavy planters in the South and West. I do not give 

 these figures for their value as statistics, but simply for the purpose of 

 graphically expressing the fact that many more seeds are raised by culti- 

 vators each average year than are ever grown into plants, and that 

 the struggle for existence does not necessarily cease when plants are taken 

 under the care of man. 



