5^' 



Thk Canadian }Ioki k im.ii'rist 



ril)rous roots on a short stocky stem. The temperature of the l)eds must be 

 closely watched, though it may vary considerable. The mercury mav run from 

 50 to 80 , though the mean, 65', should be as closely kept as possible. This for 

 tomatoes, peppers, etc. Cabbage and cauliflower plants require much less heat 

 and should ne\ er be i)laced in the same bed with tomatoes. In fact very little 

 or no bottom heat is required to produce good early cabbage plants. Fit a 

 frame as for a hot-bed except to omit the manure for the bottom heat, cover it 

 with sash and sow the seed in February, or early in March, and better plants 

 wili usually result than if bottom heat is used (see Fig. 12). — Tillinghast's 

 Mnnual. 



MAKRi:r CIARDENING AS A liLSlXESS. 



■ OIL is of first importance. Choose land, when it can l)e 

 done, that is level and well drained by having a gravelly 

 or sandy subsoil, not less than ten inches in depth of good 

 soil. Again, get as near to your market as possible, and 

 see that the roads leading thereto are good. This is par- 

 ticularly important if your market is a large city like New 

 \'ork. Boston or Philadelphia, but less important for a local 

 market. 

 The business of market gardening, though healthful and fairly profitable, is 

 exceedingly laborious, from which any one not accustomed to manual labor 

 would (juickly shrink. Tlie labor is not what might be called heavv, but the 

 hours are long — not less than an average of ten hours a day for both summer 

 and winter. No one should engage in it after passing middle life, nor men of 

 feeble constitution, for it is emj)hatically a business in which one has to rough it ; 

 and if it is to be prosecuted successfully the owner must put his own shoulder to 

 the wheel at least as strongly as his roughest employee. 



The capital required for beginning market gardening in the vicinity of any 

 large city should not be less than $300 per acre for anything less than ten acres. 

 The first year rarely pays more than current expenses and the capital of $300 per 

 acre is all absorbed in horses, wagons, implements, sashes, manure, seeds, etc. If 

 the capital be insufficient to secure these properly the chances of success are cor. 

 respondingly diminished. Above all, be careful not to attempt the cultivation of 

 more land than your capital and experience can properly manage. More men 

 are stranded both on the farm and garden, in allcmpting to cultivate too nui(-h. 

 perhaps, than from any other cause. 



It has been the practice in the past lo use hot-bed ashes almost cxclusiveh 

 for the purpo.se of forcing vegetables, or forwarding plants for use in the open 

 ground. Mut of late years greenhouses are being largely used, both for the pur 

 po.se of//'m//^ lettuce, radishes, lieets and cucumbers, as also ^ox growing \\\^wK'^ 



