THE PROFITS OP FLOEICUJ/TURE. 225 



possible. But, as we have heretofore done, we will confine 

 ourselves to the district of New York, which may be taken 

 at the present time as a fair representation of the whole 

 country. 



The capital required in starting this department of hor- 

 ticulture I consider need not be so much as in that of 

 either nursery, vegetable, or fruit growing, and the 

 chances of moderate success I believe, from my observa- 

 tions, to be far greater. I say moderate success, for the 

 chances of making a colossal fortune in this are by no 

 means so great as in the regular nursery business, while 

 to offset this the chances of failure are less, and the busi- 

 ness is pleasanter and less exhaustive to follow. I have 

 hardly ever known a man who started in the florist's busi- 

 ness to fail, unless he brought failure on himself by his 

 own imprudence ; while I have known scores to fail in the 

 vegetable and nursery business, from causes entirely be- 

 yond their control. A frugal man, with a knowledge of 

 the business and $1,000 capital, may safely start in this 

 vicinity, or in any vicinity where there is a town of 10,000 

 inhabitants of average intelligence and culture. But the 

 difficult question with all at starting is how to make that 

 $1,000 best available. Of course expensive erections, such 

 as we have described in the chapter on green-house struc- 

 tures, are beyond his means, and something cheaper must 

 be adopted. The general principle on which these green- 

 houses are formed is in all respects the same, and the 

 beginner with limited means, instead of erecting three 

 houses, need erect only one, which should not be more than 

 50 feet long and of a width of 11 Yeet in the clear. The 

 proportions of height, <fcc., will be found in the drawing 

 on page 57. The sides may be formed of cedar or chest- 

 nut posts planked to the required height, having a lining 

 of tarred paper between the boards. In this way, at 

 present prices, a structure of this kind with flue, benches 

 and all complete need not cost more than six or eight dollars 



