156 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



and when offered to manufacturers, it was refused av 

 any price. So there was no help for it, but dig up and 

 throw away his entirely worthless crop at a most unu- 

 sual expense, as its two year's. growth had massed the 

 whole soil with roots. This experiment of my neighbor 

 jras a loss to him of certainly not less than $1500. 



Grown in the deep rich soil of our market gardens, Horse- 

 radish has been for the past twenty years one of our most 

 profitable second crops, and as an encouragement to begin- 

 ners, I will state that the price has, in this, as with most other 

 vegetables, steadily advanced, showing that, even with in- 

 creased competition, there has been more than correspond- 

 ingly increased consumption. The price for five years, 

 ending 1854, did not average more than $70 per ton ; from 

 that time to 1860 about $120 per ton ; and from 1860 to 

 1866 fully 8200 per ton. Of course the prices these latei 

 years were inflated, yet still the proportion is higher for 

 this than for any other vegetable. Our average weight 

 per acre is five tons, or a little over three-quarters of a 

 pound per root for 12,000 planted. It has always been a 

 surprise to me how the price has kept up, in view of its 

 easy and safe, culture. But there is one thing to be re- 

 membered; these heavy crops are only obtained in our 

 gardens that are in the highest state of culture, no ordi 

 nary farm land, the first season, manure it as you might, 

 will produce such results. 



