No. 4.] ]\L\RKET GARDENING. 123 



phoi'ic acid and decrease the amount of potash. This general 

 tendency should not be the practice of growers in many sec- 

 tions because there are soils that need potash more than 

 phosphoric acid for the proper nutrition of the plants grown. 

 It is important for the growers on different types of soils to 

 communicate with their experiment stations in regard to this 

 matter. 



With all that has been said and published regarding the 

 great value of commercial fertilizers for the growing of vege- 

 tables, manure continues to be the standby of thousands of 

 gardeners. Near the livery stables of our large cities many 

 growers continue the lavish use of manure ; i.e., intensive 

 growers apply 40 tons or more of horse manure to the acre. 

 That excellent crops may be grown without such liberal appli- 

 cations has been demonstrated, and yet it is far from me to 

 criticize any grower for using manure so freely when it may 

 be procured at reasonable prices. In fact, the large profits 

 now realized by intensive growers near Boston and other 

 eastern cities would not be possible without using stable ma- 

 nures most extensively. 



IeRIGATION becoming PpPULAE. 



For many years irrigation has been an important factor 

 in the agriculture of western States. It has never played an 

 important part, however, in eastern agriculture, or even hor- 

 ticulture, until a few years ago, when vegetable growers in 

 all of our eastern and central States began to give some 

 attention to this subject. A plan was devised and first in- 

 troduced in Ohio a few years ago, known as the Skinner 

 System of Irrigation, that has attracted wide attention in all 

 gardening sections, and is now in use to a greater or less 

 extent in every State. The producers in certain important 

 sections, such as Boston, Mass., Irondequoit, N. Y., Cleve- 

 land, O., Long Island and other places have seen the advan- 

 tages of the overhead system, and many have installed it 

 over large areas. It is now not uncommon to find a grower 

 who is prepared to irrigate from 5 to 25 acres. It is unneces- 

 sary here to describe the details of the Skinner System 

 of Irrigation, which is now generally known among vegetable 

 producer^. The merits of the system are well known, and 



