12 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



Summer resort regions require large quantities of fresh 

 vegetables and the prices in such sections are nearly al- 

 ways satisfactory. 



12. Soil is second in importance to market. A gardener 

 is more likely to succeed with a poor soil and a good 

 market than with a good soil and poor market. Favor- 

 able soil conditions, though, are exceedingly important 

 and should be carefully considered in selecting a loca- 

 tion. The sandy loams, with porous subsoils insuring 

 thorough drainage, are undoubtedly the most val- 

 uable for a general line of cropping. Proper physical 

 composition is of greater importance than the chemical 

 character, for it is a simple matter to apply the required 

 amounts of plant food, while it is expensive, if not im- 

 practicable, to make radical changes in the physical prop- 

 erties. Practically all good agricultural soils will, with 

 proper treatment, produce fair crops of most classes of 

 vegetables. 



13. Climate. Immense areas are planted in truck crops 

 in various parts of the South because of favorable cli- 

 matic conditions. The earlier season makes it possible 

 to produce vegetables and place them on northern mar- 

 kets before local supplies arrive in large quantities. 

 Yields southward are not usually larger, although it may 

 be possible to remove more crops from the same area in 

 a season. Long and warm seasons are also favorable to 

 soil improvement. In many parts of the South it is 

 easily possible to harvest two or even three cash crops in 

 ample time to start a soil improvement crop. Cowpeas 

 can often be worked into the rotation at midsummer, 

 while such a course would be impossible in northern sec- 

 tions. These climatic advantages have made the South 

 famous for its extensive trucking enterprises. 



The cooler sections of the North also liave their ad- 

 vantages. Insect and fungous pests are less troublesome 

 than in the South. There is not so much leaching of sol- 



