CHAPTER XXIII. 

 COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS AND THE MARKET GARDEN. 



Forty years or more ago, it was assumed that the cultivation of market 

 garden crops must be confined to the immediate vicinity of the cities requiring 

 the supply, because it was thought that abundant supplies of stable manure 

 were a first essential to the successful culture of garden crops. At that time, 

 too, the rapid transportation from distant points was not established, hence 

 all of our cities were dependent on the gardens of the immediate vicinity for 

 their supply of vegetables, and from them supplies were sent to the smaller 

 towns in their vicinity. But with the introduction of Peruvian guano, 

 growers on the warm and sandy soils of New Jersey, outside of what had been 

 the market garden region proper, began to produce certain easily grown and 

 easily transported crops; but the market gardeners proper, with their few 

 acres of high priced land, assumed that while peas and such things might 

 be thus grown on cheap lands, they still would have the monopoly of the 

 bulky cabbages, beets and other things for which they considered a supply 

 of stable manure essential. For many years these market gardeners re- 

 fused to take advantage of the commercial fertilizers, and adhered to their 

 old time heavy applications of stable manure, believing that no real success 

 could be had with the majority of vegetables without it. Even when the 

 culture of early vegetables had extended to Norfolk, in the South, and was 

 assuming an important position in the trade, such was the force of old habits 

 that the first of the Norfolk gardeners spent large amounts in the freighting 

 of stable manure, not only from their own city but from the North. 



But gradually the fact became evident that in the easily transported 

 commercial fertilizers was the true source of profit for those at a distance 

 from their market, and that the easy solubility of the complete fertilizer 

 mixture was a great advantage in the forcing of early crops. They also 

 realized the fact that after their early crops were off, they could cover their 

 land with the cow pea, and thus furnish it with all the organic matter that 



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