No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 125 



oiis States, and particularly in New Jersey. The Freehold 

 potato growers have managed to produce most excellent crops 

 for many years without the application of stable manures 

 and by following a short system of rotation; i.e., many 

 growers in this section have grown potatoes on the same land 

 year after year, following each year with crimson clover 

 which is plowed down in the spring. In some instances the 

 soil lias become so rich in the nitrogen derived from crimson 

 clover that the growers have been forced to abandon the use 

 of this legume and substitute non-legumes, such as rye and 

 wheat. Thousands of truckers in New Jersey depend solely 

 upon cover crops and green manures to maintain the vege- 

 table matter of the soil, thus clearly demonstrating that with 

 good management a profitable line of cropping may be fol- 

 lowed without the use of stable manures. Commercial fer- 

 tilizer, of course, must be used in proper amounts. 



Improvement in Varieties. 

 Gardeners who have had years of experience in producing, 

 vegetables, either for the home table or for commercial 

 purposes, agree that there has been a decided advancement in 

 varieties. This statement will hold with nearly all classes of 

 vegetables, although there are exceptions. Perhaps the most 

 marked advancement made in this particular has been among 

 the gardeners themselves in placing reliance upon a few 

 good varieties rather than upon a multiplicity of varieties 

 offered by seedsmen. In this connection mention should be 

 made of the Earliana tomato, which is planted more largely 

 than all other early varieties combined. Stone as a late 

 tomato is unquestionably the leading variety for canning, 

 and is planted almost exclusively for this purpose in many 

 districts. Examples among other classes of vegetables might 

 be named to show that the vegetable growers of our country 

 are pinning their faith to a limited number of varieties, and 

 that new varieties are not largely planted until their real 

 value has been demonstrated. As an illustration of this fact 

 the following table of a variety test of asparagus made at 

 the Pennsylvania State College shows the value of Palmetto, 

 which has been universally regarded by commercial growers 



