MARKET-GARDENING WITH KITCHEN VEGETABLES. 25 



claimed swamp lands by planting in the late fall so as to have the 

 crop come in in the later spring months after the Northern crop is 

 over. In the moist bottom-lands of the piedmont section celery grows 

 finely, and in the cool valleys of the mountain country it attains a 

 quality far superior to the big pithy celery that is so largely grown in 

 Michigan and shipped over the country. The home markets of the 

 State and of the Southern cities in general are poorly supplied with 

 fine celery till the late crop from Florida comes in, and a very profit- 

 able industry could be added in the mountain country in growing 

 celery for the home and Southern markets in winter. It is an 

 expensive crop to grow, and the gardeners in the eastern section find 

 it more profitable to devote their attention to the lettuce crop. 



CUCUMBERS. 



The cucumber crop is getting to be a very important one to plant in 

 the cloth-protected frames as the lettuce is cut out and shipped, and, 

 being protected there from late frosts, it comes on early and the crop 

 is shipped North till the price falls, and then the growers have im- 

 mense tanks, holding about fifty barrels each, in which the remainder 

 of the crop is put into brine and later sold to the picklers, and the 

 second-crop Irish potatoes occupy the land till time to set the lettuce 

 again for the spring crop. A thousand bushels per acre is a common 

 crop of cucumbers. 



MUSKMELONS OR CANTALOUPS. 



These are sometimes grown in the same way as the cucumbers to 

 get an early crop, but are commonly planted in large areas following 

 a crop that is taken off in early spring or planted while that crop is 

 still growing. Only the very early varieties of small size, like the 

 Netted Gem or Rocky Ford, are grown, as these are more in demand 

 than the large kinds and are easily packed in crates. 



CAULIFLOWERS. 



These, like the early cabbages, are set in the fall, but are not so 

 largely grown. Sometimes they are set in the frames and the remain- 

 ing space filled in with lettuce and the cauliflower given the full 

 room as the lettuce is cut out. Grown in this way, they come into 

 head in March and can be made quite a profitable crop. 



TOMATOES. 



Tomatoes are not largely grown by the market-gardeners in the 

 eastern section. When the plants are forwarded under glass and set 

 early, so that the first fruits ripen the first of June, they can be profit- 

 ably shipped ; but later the crop is seriously damaged by sun-scald 

 and the plants are liable to blight. Hence, the crop is not there con- 

 sidered a profitable one. In the western part of the State, and 



