DEMAND FOR FORCED VEGETABLES. 7 



in the forcing of vegetables. The demand for forced beans 

 is already fairly good, and is undoubtedly destined to in- 

 crease. The other minor forcing crops which are probably 

 destined to receive greater attention are celery, asparagus, 

 rhubarb, muskmelon ; and there may be others which we do 

 not now conceive of as forcing crops. With the increase 

 of population and the augmentation of the appetite for 

 luxuries in the dietary, the forcing of vegetables is bound 

 to become an industry of great importance. It is yet in its 

 merest infancy. It has practically all arisen, in this country, 

 in twenty years, yet the demand for information respecting 

 it, in the Eastern states, is even now very earnest and wide- 

 spread. There is a constant tendency for consumers to 

 prefer a forced home-grown product to a transported and 

 exotic one. The forced tomatoes generally sell well in 

 the very presence of the cheaper product shipped in from 

 Florida. The best consumers desire the product at first 

 hand from the plant, and they enjoy the sentiment which 

 is attached to the forcing of a plant into the pink of perfec- 

 tion in the very teeth of blizzards. Whilst the author does 

 not desire to urge anyone into the forcing of vegetables, 

 he is nevertheless convinced that the business is bound to 

 open up great possibilities in the future. 



It is generally best to devote an entire house to one kind 

 of crop, for every crop demands a particular treatment to 

 insure the most profitable results. Yet it is often advisable 

 to grow an alternation or rotation of crops, in order to 

 employ the house to best advantage, and to meet the re- 

 quirements of the markets. Houses which are too cold for 

 winter crops of tomatoes or cucumbers may be devoted to 

 lettuce or other cool crops during the cold months, and to 

 the warm crops in early spring and summer. Two crops of 

 lettuce during the winter may be followed by the White 

 Spine type of cucumber for spring and early summer. 

 Winter tomatoes may often be followed advantageously by 

 cucumbers or preceded by late fall melons. Vegetables are 

 often alternated with flowers or with plant stock. In the 



