6 VEGETABLE FORCING 



the marked advantages is in the selling of produce. A 

 shrewd business man can attend to all sales. To obtain 

 the best prices he must be constantly informed of crop 

 conditions in competing sections, and he must have a 

 thorough knowledge of the problems relating to distribu- 

 tion. If all greenhouse sections were properly organized 

 and affiliated with a general organization, market slumps 

 would rarely occur. (3) Supplies, such as greenhouse- 

 building materials, pipe, tools and fertilizers, may be 

 purchased at lower cost because of larger orders. 

 (4) Each community might work to advantage through 

 its organization in the production of well-bred seed. This 

 would be especially valuable in obtaining greater uni- 

 formity of the products offered for sale. (5) Organization 

 promotes uniformity in the packages used, and also more 

 thorough and skillful grading and packing. (6) If the 

 produce is sold through a general manager, the grower is 

 relieved of the worry, trouble and responsibility of finding 

 a market, and is thus permitted to devote all his energy 

 to production. (7) Fraternal advantages. Growers are 

 brought closer together and the community enjoys a more 

 delightful fellowship than is possible when neighbors are 

 constantly competing with one another in business 

 matters. 



Southern competition is unquestionably the most 

 serious obstacle to the development of vegetable forcing 

 in the North. There are times when southern-grown 

 lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes are rushed to the great 

 markets in such enormous quantities that northern green- 

 house growers are forced to sell their products at very 

 low prices. These periods of depression occur almost 

 every year and are barriers to the extension of the forcing 

 industry; the result is to make greenhouse building in 

 the various sections rather spasmodic. For example, 

 Boston, in 1910, built no houses for vegetable forcing 

 because of the two discouraging previous seasons, when 



