DEMAND FOR FORCED VEGETABLES. 7 
in the forcing of vegetables. The demand for forced beans 
is already fairly good, and is undoubtedly destined to in- 
crease. The other minor forcing crops which are probably 
destined to receive greater attention are celery, asparagus, 
rhubarb, muskmelon ; and there may be others which we do 
not now conceive of as forcing crops. With the increase 
of population and the augmentation of the appetite for 
luxuries in the dietary, the forcing of vegetables is bound 
to become an industry of great importance. It is yet in its 
merest infancy. It has practically all arisen, in this country, 
in twenty years, yet the demand for information respecting 
it, in the Eastern states, is even now very earnest and wide- 
spread. There is a constant tendency for consumers to 
prefer a forced home-grown product to a transported and 
exotic one. The forced tomatoes generally sell well in 
the very presence of the cheaper product shipped in from 
Florida. The best consumers desire the product at first 
hand from the plant, and they enjoy the sentiment which 
is attached to the forcing of a plant into the pink of perfec- 
tion in the very teeth of blizzards. Whilst the author does 
not desire to urge anyone into the forcing of vegetables, 
he is nevertheless convinced that the business is bound to 
open up great possibilities in the future. 
It is generally best to devote an entire house to one kind 
of crop, for every crop demands a particular treatment to 
insure the most profitable results. Yet it is often advisable 
to grow an alternation or rotation of crops, in order to 
employ the house to best advantage, and to meet the re- 
quirements of the markets. Houses which are too cold for 
winter crops of tomatoes or cucumbers may be devoted to 
lettuce or other cool crops during the cold months, and to 
the warm crops in early spring and summer. Two crops of 
lettuce during the winter may be followed by the White 
Spine type of cucumber for spring and early summer. 
Winter tomatoes may often be followed advantageously by 
cucumbers or preceded by late fall melons. Vegetables are 
often alternated with flowers or with plant stock. In the 
