MARKET GARDENING. 7 



before the close of the first season, as he works under heavy 

 expenses, and he must have ready cash to meet them, es- 

 pecially if the first season be an unprofitable oue. Of 

 course, the six or seven hundred dollars i)er acre which 

 may be exjiended tlie first year by a gardener having forc- 

 ing houses, with all the entailed expenses, need not be 

 repeated the second, not more than one-half of it, and, 

 indeed, it is absolutely necessary to reduce expenses, as 

 the profit in trucking would not warrant such an annual 

 cash outlay ; but what would, be thought of an annual 

 rental of six liundred. dollars per acre, which is tlie rate 

 charged for a market garden which the writer visited in 

 the outskirts of Paris, France. 



Location. — Alluvial soils with gravel subsoil are 

 best for garden vegetables, but one finds many excep- 

 tions, as nearly pure clays, on the one hand, and white, 

 apparently inert, sands, on the other, have been made to 

 yield a satisfactory return for labor and time put upon 

 them. Of course, a light soil means early crops, and a 

 clay soil later ones. It may be said that in the South 

 early crops always pay the best, but in the Xortli late 

 crops are often the most profitable, as they come in after 

 the market has ceased to be glutted. Location is of the 

 utmost importance, as, evidently, it would be idle to 

 expect success where the means of regular and prompt 

 shipment to market are not within reach, hence location 

 may be looked upon as an indispensable preliminary. 

 But it is not all, for the nature of the soil is an even 

 more important one, as without a soil, productive nat- 

 urall}^ or with artificial stimulation, it matters little 

 what the transportation facilities may be. 



Transportation. — From many communications 

 which the writer has received, he gathers that the in- 

 quirers imagine, because they arc on a railroad a few 

 hours or a hundred miles or so from a shipping point, 

 that they are well placed for market gardening. This 



