78 GARDENING FOB PROFIT. 



made on the same ground as each crop is marketed, 

 which, according to the season, is from four to six weeks 

 from the time of sowing, five crops usually being obtained 

 by the middle of May. The seed is sown thinly in rows 

 three or four inches apart, and the radishes thinned out 

 when an inch high to two inches between the plants. 

 After a crop of early Lettuce and Radishes has been mar- 

 keted (about the middle of March), the benches are often 

 planted with Snowball Cauliflower at twelve or fourteen 

 inches aparfc each way, which is marketed about the end 

 of May, or two weeks before the outdoor crop is ready. 

 Another, and very often profitable, use is made of these 

 forcing greenhouses by packing large clumps of roots of 

 Rhubarb or Asparagus, lifted so as to leave the soil still 

 adhering to the roots. These clumps can be set as close 

 as they can be packed, about the middle of December, 

 under the front bench, as they require no light, and will 

 be found to be very profitable, the only cost being the 

 roots, which can easily be raised, where ground is plenti- 

 ful, in the open field, by sowing the seed in rows eighteen 

 inches apart, and thinning out to a foot between the 

 plants. It requires three years, however, to grow roots 

 of Ehubarb large enough to force, and four years for 

 Asparagus. There are often cases where old beds must 

 be removed, where the roots, instead of being thrown 

 away, would give, by being closely jammed together under 

 a greenhouse bench, a product of about fifty cents per 

 square foot, if sold any time before April. 



It is not easy to estimate the profits on such an invest- 

 ment in forcing greenhouses for vegetable crops, as so 

 much depends on what the market demands. Of course, 

 all the products in such a market as New York are sold 

 at wholesale, and not infrequently pass through several 

 different hands before reaching the consumer ; but even 

 thus sold, it is safe to say that, with fair average culture, 

 such crops at wholesale rates will pay a clear net profit of 



