i MARKET GARDENING. 13 



vestingiv^o unusual are the conditions that they have 

 upset all the usual gardening records of the seasons, for 

 tlie Florida trucker, working throughout the length of a 

 peninsula of two hundred mileS; is sowing nearly every 

 kind of seed in every month, and marketing crops out 

 of their usual seasons. For instance, egg plant is sown 

 in Aufjust, onion seed in October, tomato seed in Novem- 

 ber, and so on. The ordinary routine of sowing has been 

 disturbed, and yet everything appears to grow in profu- 

 sion and to perfection. 



Fertilizers. — The subject of fertilizers is one which 

 looms up boldly and expensively when considering the 

 culture of garden products, especially those designed for 

 early maturity. The writer is asked every day what 

 kind of manure is best for this or that crop. Is guano 

 good ? Do you use superphosphate ? He can only 

 answer in general terms. Yes, they are all good, if made 

 by reliable parties ; but which is most valuable in respect 

 to cost and effects produced will depend, in no small 

 degree, on each particular snrrounding. In localities 

 where horses and cattle abound, stable manures will usu- 

 ally be attainable at moderate prices ; especially will this 

 be the case where gardening is not pursued to a large 

 extent, and the sale of manure is mainly to ordinary far- 

 mers, who are not accustomed to paying high prices. 



On the other hand, around Philadelphia, for 

 instance, the charge for the article in question is fear- 

 fully exorbitant, the price it generally commands at 

 that city is seventy cents per small cartload, delivered 

 on board boat or car. Eight such loads can readily be 

 drawn by two good horses, as has frequently been done 

 at Bloomsdale. Under such conditions of expense, the 

 gardener must resort to all the fertilizers within reach, 

 hoping to find something less expensive, but all are gen- 

 erally quite costly. 



To give an idea of the expenditure for manure when 

 intense effects are to be produced, the writer will add 



