11 GARnENIXG FOR PROFIT. 



starting. With a small capital, two or three acres may 

 be profitably worked ; while if ten or twelve were at- 

 tempted with the same amount, it would most likely re- 

 sult in failure. Many would suppose, that if three acres 

 could be leased for $100 per year, that twenty acres would 

 be cheaper at $500 ; nothing can be more erroneous, un- 

 less the enterprise be backed up with the necessary capi- 

 tal — $300 per acre. For be it known, that the rental or 

 interest on the ground used for gardening operations is 

 usually only about 10 per cent, of the working expenses, 

 so that an apparently cheap rent, or cheap purchase, does 

 not very materially affect the result. It is very different 

 from filming operations, where often the rent or interest 

 on purchase money amounts to nearly half the expenses. 



The number of men employed throughout the year on 

 a market garden of ten acres, within three miles of mar- 

 ket, planted in close crop, averages seven ; this number is 

 varied in proportion, somewhat, according to the quantity 

 of glass in use. I have generally employed more than 

 that ; fully a man to an acre, but that was in consequence 

 of having in use more than the ordinary proportion of 

 sashes. This may seem to many an unnecessary force for 

 such a small area ; but all our experience proves, that any 

 attempt to work with less, will be unprofitable. What 

 with the large quantity of manure indispensable, 75 tons 

 per acre ; the close planting of the crops, so that every 

 foot will tell ; the immense handling preparatory for mar- 

 ket, to be done on a double crop each season, one market- 

 ed in mid-summer, another in fall and winter, a large and 

 continued amount of labor is required. On lends within 

 a short distance of market — say two miles — two horses 



