MARKET GARDENING UNDER GLASS. 103 



tered situations. The plant beds are watered by a hose 

 which is attached to a three-inch supply pipe running 

 along the passage at one end of the houses. 



The soil used in these houses is removed every year 

 and spread in extensive chicken pens, where it is 

 scratched over and worked up by the fowls, which ex- 

 terminate all insect life, while at the same time fertiliz- 

 ing and ameliorating the mass. The plant beds, after 

 being excavated, are filled in with earth from the chicken 

 pens, where it has already been worked over by fowls. 

 The manure used is finely decayed stable manure or 

 compost, the elements of which are of little consequence, 

 BO that they be thoroughly decayed and in fine condition. 

 Of course, the usual precautions are taken to keep in 

 subjection lice and other insects. Fumigation by burn- 

 ing tobacco stems is cheap and effective if not overdone. 



Three good paying crops raised in glass houses are 

 considered a full success, often only two are really prof- 

 itable. The rotation of crops is, first, lettuce, which, 

 when removed, is followed by radish, and, when an inch 

 high, if on the level, may have set out among it cauli- 

 flower plants. The variety of lettuce found most relia- 

 ble is Boston Market, which has a good leaf and carries 

 well ; of radish for shipment, the Carmine Globe is of 

 good form and color, though there is a large demand in 

 Philadelphia for a small early white turnip radish. Of 

 cauliflower, the extra early Erfurt is a quick and reliable 

 variety. Other crops are grown in considerable breadth, 

 water cress, parsley, French sorrel, mint and tomatoes, 

 often bringing sixty to seventy-five cents per pound. 

 The laborers required in a house covering a square of 

 twenty thousand feet is from five to ten men. 



The commercial gardener who has the capital and 

 ability to carry on an extensive system of vegetable gar- 

 dening under glass, thoughtfully secures a line of direct 

 customers for his products by making contracts with 



