302 How THE FARM PAYS. 



tions on this subject see chapter on " Manures, and their Modes of 

 Application," in this work. 



Such large quantities of manure per acre will, no doubt, be appall- 

 ing to the average farmer, as it is no unusual thing for a farm of 

 fifty acres to get no more than we market gardeners put on a single 

 acre ; but every one who has had experience in growing vegetables 

 or fruits knows that the only true way to make the business profitable 

 is to use manure to the extent here advised. It is safe to say that 

 the average profits to the market gardener in the vicinity of our 

 large cities, where he pays sometimes as high as $100 per acre 

 annually for rent, is at least $300 per acre. The usual amount of 

 ground cultivated by market gardeners is ten acres, and they think 

 it is a poor year when their profits from that amount of land do not 

 average $3, 000, and that, too, when nearly all the products are sold 

 at wholesale to middlemen, in large quantities, and which, before 

 reaching the consumer, costs him at least double the original price 

 paid. The farmer, in most cases, growing vegetables or fruits, has a 

 great advantage in selling direct to the consumer, and the small 

 amount of land necessary for growing these crops will cost him com- 

 paratively little, so that, with proper attention, I think there is every 

 inducement for many farmers to add this profitable branch to their 

 farm operations. A case in point, which has been communicated to 

 me by a friend, is as follows:. His farm adjoined a village of 2,000 

 inhabitants. He had one year a large surplus of strawberries and 

 sweet corn, and had many applications for the fruit and the corn by the 

 village people. He conceived the idea of employing a man with a 

 cart to supply this unexpected demand in the village, and sold the 

 whole of these products at such prices as paid a clear profit of $175 

 per acre, which was about five times as much as the average value of 

 the farm crops. In addition, the sale of the strawberries created a 

 large demand for cream, which was equally profitable. No doubt' 

 this example could be followed in the neighborhood of nearly every 

 village in the country. 



I will give in detail brief, and as clear directions, for the culture of 

 the leading varieties of both vegetables and fruits, as an experience 

 of nearly forty years in the business may enable me to do. Any one, 

 however, who may desire a more lengthy and elaborate treatise on 

 the subject, I would refer to my work, written especially for market 

 gardeners, entitled " GARDENING FOB PROFIT. " 



The following list of vegetables and fruits, whose culture we 

 describe, are such only as are likely to be wanted for the purpose 

 alluded to, supplying smaller towns and villages, hotels and summer 

 boarding houses. 



