5 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



9. Capital required. — The capital required to the acre 

 to equip and operate a vegetable garden or a farm de- 

 pends upon the following factors: (i) The size of the 

 farm. Small places require relatively more capital than 

 larger ones. (2) The amount of glass desired. (3) The 

 type of gardening to be followed. Market gardening re- 

 quires much more capital to the acre than truck farming, 

 and general truck farming requires more capital than 

 special farming, as the growing of celery, onions, toma- 

 toes and cabbage. The more intensive the business, the 

 greater the capital needed. (4) The fertility of the land. 

 Impoverished land requires heavy expenditures for 

 manure and fertilizers to secure satisfactory crops. (5) 

 Distance from market if produce is to be transported by 

 wagon. 



The estimates of capital required range from $20 to 

 $500 an acre. Bailey states that the average in various 

 sections is as follows: Florida, $95; Texas, $45; Illinois, 

 $70; Norfolk, Va., $75 to $125; east end of Long Island, 

 $75 ; west end of Long Island, $150; 10 miles out of Phil- 

 adelphia, $200 to $300 an acre. Peter Henderson suggests 

 $300 an acre for a lo-acre place, while Rawson claims that 

 $500 an acre is not too great an expenditure for a lo-acre 

 place under intensive cultivation. The reader should 

 bear in mind that Rawson has always used a large amount 

 of glass. To start on as comprehensive a scale as the 

 gardener referred to at Cleveland, O., (7) would require 

 much more capital an acre than the largest sum men- 

 tioned. 



These figures should not be discouraging to beginners 

 of limited means. It is possible to start on a few acres 

 and succeed with very little capital. Progress is much 

 slower, however, under such conditions, but it is better 

 than to borrow money and to make heavy investments 

 without certainty of financial success. Anyone who 

 knows the value of horses, tools, wagons, sash, manure 



