14 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899. 



but little competition between southern and northern grown 

 vegetables, but since then, it has had a very important bearing 

 on the market gardening of the North, lessening the demand, 

 and also lowering the prices previously obtained. 



Green Peas and String Beans are shipped North in large quan- 

 tities during the winter months, and when the home grown sup- 

 ply comes in the demand has become small. 



The same conditions apply to most varieties of vegetables, as 

 the extent of our country is so large, that while the northern 

 section is covered with snow, and under the grip of the Frost 

 King, the southern section is producing the luscious strawberry 

 and other seasonable fruits and vegetables. Although grown 

 thousands of miles away, the improved methods of transporta- 

 tion deliver them at our doors, apparently as fresh as when 

 picked from our own vines, or gathered from our own gardens. 

 The above condition of things the market gardener of the North 

 is obliged to confront, and one of the most important problems 

 of the future is its successful solution. 



Another important factor within a few years has entered into 

 the production of vegetables, — the canning industry. Thous- 

 ands of acres are annually grown solely to supply the canning 

 factories. Perhaps the two most important vegetables grown 

 for that purpose are the Tomato and Sweet Corn. Many of 

 those present doubtless remember the first appearance of the 

 Tomato in our markets. Some forty-five or fifty years ago a 

 neighbor came to me one spring morning and wanted to know if 

 I would not send with him to Boston and buy a dozen of tomato 

 plants. He said he did not want more than a half-dozen and 

 thought I might want the rest. We sent and got them, and I 

 think they were about the first tomato plants set out in the 

 town. 



There was not any demand in the market for Tomatoes, but 

 an increasing demand to try them. The following spring I com- 

 menced growing the plants in hotbeds. The demand rapidly 

 increased, and in a few years I had to grow many thousands of 

 plants to supply the call for them. The demand for Tomatoes 

 in the open market rapidly increased, the first brought in selling 



