MARKET GARDENING. 15 



embrace several acres there will be needed a good two- 

 horse steel plow, costing, say ten dollars, for breaking 

 up the soil to a proper depth in spring, and whenever 

 the land is recropped ; a light one-horse steel plow, cost- 

 ing five dollars, for drawing open furrows, closing them, 

 earthing up such crops as are benefited by such culture ; 

 a harrow, best of iron, as it is lighter than wood ; an 

 Iron Age cultivator, with a full set of movable teeth, 

 price three dollars, for pulverizing the soil between 

 drilled crops ; a clod crusher, or leveler, readily made 

 of three boards nailed together to form a triangle, to be 

 drawn from either angle ; a seed drill, the Matthews or 

 the Model, costing six to eight dollars, both being used 

 on Bloomsdale with satisfaction ; or, still better, a Keeler 

 seed drill, price $9.00, ^vhich will sow continuous rows, 

 or drop the seed in hills, from ten to thirty-six inches ; 

 a Lees wheel hoe costing five dollars ; a full set of hoes 

 of various sizes and shapes for side scraping and cross 

 cutting. With these simple implements nearly all the 

 necessary appliances will be at command ; others, if need- 

 ful, may be procured at the hardware stores. 



Crates. — The boxes and baskets in which garden 

 products are to be transported to market, are of great 

 importance ; for it is self-evident, unless proper precau- 

 tion be taken, perishable articles may reach their desti- 

 nation so badly damaged as not to be worth the freight. 



For strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, very 

 light boxes are manufactured by parties who make a 

 business of it, and sell them at low prices. Some of 

 these are made at so slight a cost as to be given away to 

 the i^urchaser of the fruit ; others are expected to be 

 returned to the commission merchant, who, in turn, 

 dispatches them to the grower from whom they came. 

 Others are made with a view to greater ventilation, and 

 that is of special importance when the point of shipment 

 is distant from market. Peas, beans, cucumbers, can be 



