MARKET GARDENING. 5 



Tlie market gardener, filling a mnltiform position 

 as a cultivator of the soil to an intense degree, as a care- 

 ful packer of products in such a manner as to make his 

 goods attractive and saleable, as a shipper and a close 

 reader of market intelligence, must have the best agri- 

 cultural appliances and commercial aids, none of which 

 can be procured without money, consequently the sub- 

 ject of capital is one of considerable importance. 



Capital. — The capital of a market gardener should 

 be estimated by his available cash, compared with the 

 number of his acres, and, as, in other things, opinions 

 vary, so do the estimates of practical gardeners, some 

 being satisfied to live on inexpensive land far removed 

 from market, and use what otliers would term an incom- 

 plete line of implements, and be satisfied with what 

 nature develops in the ordinary routine of their busi- 

 ness, while others, more progressive, locate in the out- 

 skirts of great cities, consequently upon high-priced 

 land, and have everything new in the way of labor-saving 

 appliances. 



The first class of gardeners may be termed e,xperi- 

 mental farmers, men tired of the humdrum rotation of 

 farm processes and small profits, men looking for a pay- 

 ing diversification of their agricultural interests. Their 

 expenses for appliances are not great, as they have 

 already on hand the usual stock of farm tools, requiring 

 only one or two seed drills, a small addition to their cul- 

 tivating implements, and a few tons of fertilizers. 

 Their laborers and teams are always on hand for the 

 working of moderate areas. In addition to their usual 

 expenses of the farm, they would not need to have 

 a cash capital of beyond twenty to twenty-five dollars 

 per acre for the area in truck. Other men, in ordinary 

 farming districts, purchasing or renting land, especially 

 for market gardening, taking only improved land of 

 suitable aspect, soil and situation, and counting in cost 



