No. 4.] MARKET (iAKDEXING. 41 



quite a reputation for poor lettuce. This same grower is 

 very successful with hotbed lettuce and all out-door vege- 

 tables. 



Lettuce is the most profitable of any crop grown by market 

 gardeners in greenhouses. Some of the best growers have 

 taken crops of lettuce in four to six weeks from the time of 

 setting the plants ; many growers are eight to ten weeks in 

 getting a crop. 



Most greenhouse men like to tell of the high prices for 

 stuff, but they seldom tell of the low ones. During the 

 winter of 1904-05 there was a period of seven weeks in 

 which lettuce was bought by one of the largest produce firms 

 in Boston at from 25 cents to 75 cents a box of three dozen 

 heads. So far this winter the price has ruled low. 



Unless a grower can get a high average price, or strike 

 the market high once in a while, there is not much money 

 for him in the business ; but he who has enough stuff to be 

 in the market every day is sure to strike it right some time. 



A great many hotbed sash are used on market gardens for 

 raising plants to set in the open, and for lettuce, dandelions 

 and cucumbers to mature. On some farms we find 2,000 or 

 more, but on most of them about 300 to 500. 



Where hotbeds are to be used early in the season, the 

 planks are set in the fall and filled with leaves or manure or 

 both, to keep frost out. The upper plank should be o inches 

 higher than the lower one. The loam in a newly made bed 

 should not be nearer than 3 inches to the glass. 



Several of our largest market gardeners have made use of 

 large quantities of water for irrigation. It has been pro- 

 ductive of great results, increasing the gross and net returns 

 per acre, and making possible a quicker rotation of crops. 

 Almost any crop can be benefited ])y use of water. Corn, 

 tomatoes, celery, lettuce, cucuml^ers and cabbage seem to 

 show its effect most quickly. There is great danger of not 

 beginning to water soon enough, and nearly as much of 

 not using enough. Too little is worse than none ; it beats 

 the surface, and promotes a greater evaporation of the sub- 

 soil moisture. The soil must be thoroughly wet, and then the 

 surface stirred as soon as it can be, to preserve the moisture. 



