10 VEGETABLE FORCING 
purpose of vegetable forcing, the following considerations 
should receive attention: 
(1) Cost of fuel. The coal bill is usually the heaviest 
item of expense, although the labor sometimes costs more. 
Growers in the bituminous regions sometimes obtain coal 
at the mines for a dollar or less a ton. This is remarkably 
cheap fuel and materially lowers the cost of production 
when compared with establishments that must pay from 
$3 to $6 a ton. It is sometimes claimed that our great 
commercial greenhouse plants should be located at the 
mines, so that there would be no drayage or transporta- 
tion charges of any kind, so far as fuel is concerned, and 
this view of the problem is worth considering. It is 
largely a question, however, whether the freight charges 
on a ton of coal from the mines to the greenhouse, the 
latter located presumably at the market, will exceed the 
express charges on the vegetables produced by a ton of 
coal, in conveying them from the mines to the market. 
In most instances, however, the advantage of being near 
a good local market much more than offsets the disad- 
vantage of transporting coal long distances. 
(2) Transportation facilities. Unless located within 
driving distance of the market, the greenhouse should be 
easily accessible by railroad. Many of the largest estab- 
lishments are located near railroad centers, where compe- 
tition secures more reasonable freight rates and several 
large markets are easily reached. Electric lines often 
afford cheap and satisfactory transportation. 
(3) A large, nearby market is always a great advan- 
tage. Growers who sell from the wagon obtain higher 
average prices than those who must make consignments 
to city dealers. 
(4) Although many successful greenhouses are located 
on heavy soils, the sandy types are preferred. 
(5) There must be an ample supply of water. The 
evaporation of moisture from soil in a greenhouse, during 
