VEGETABLE GARDENING 



There seems to be a growing teudcncy in tliis couutry 

 for vegetable-gardening to become a part of general 

 farming schemes. A generation ago a large part of the 

 Tegetahle-gardcning for profit was condncted in rela- 

 tively small areas l>y men who devoted their entire time 

 to the business. At present much of tlie vegetable- 

 gardening enterprise is merely an adjuin.d to faDning 

 proper. This is in part due to the di'Vcldpnient of the 

 canning industry, because of \vliich enormous (|uanti- 

 ties of certain products, as of to'matoes, are desired. It 

 is partly due also to tlu' extension of agriculture iiito 

 the newer regions \\-hereby lands are discovered that 

 are particularly well ada|ited to the growing of special 

 commodities; as. for example, the raising of sc(uashes in 

 some of the prairie states ami the recent extiaision of 



VEGETABLE GARDENING 



1905 



Census, IS'.IO. Aci'ording to 

 census the investuient in en 

 gardening interests of tln^ 

 iuiuii-diate vicinity of large citi 

 than $100.0(10,1100. More tlian li.ilt 

 laud were devoted to the industi-y al 

 of a niilliiui of pcoide were oni|.lo> 

 freights and cdoi mission, tlie jo-imIu 



a bulletin issued by that 



mmercial or purely "triu.'k- 



itry lying beyond the 



untcd ti' more 



lijlicu acr.-s uf 



learly a quarter 



Alter iia\ing 



of Ihcsc cslab- 



^f^JI~^9f^^^: 



2643. Onion-g:rowing on flat lands in southern New York, the houses beine the homes of the workmen. 



melon-growing into Colorado. Long-distance transpor- 

 tation has revolutionized vegetable - gardening in this 

 country. See Parl-hu/. Whilst there has been great 

 progress in the industry, our vegetable-gardening has 

 not developed so widely from the European ideals as 

 our pomology has. Yet tomatoes, sweet corn, water- 

 melons and sweet potatoes are probably grown more 

 extensively here than elsewhere in the world. 



Vegetable-gardening is an im]>ortant business wher- 

 ever there are large citie.s, because tlie markets are 

 close at hand. The second most itiii>ortant fartor in 

 determining the location is climate, since earlines.s 

 of 'product usually increases the profits. A third in- 

 fluence in the geography of vegetaldt - gardening is 

 the soil. Usually soils of a li,:,^Iit and innse character, or 

 those that are said to Vie "quick," are ]irrferred, becauso 

 the plants may be started early in the spring and thi-y 

 also grow and mature rapidly. Because such soils 

 are so frequently employed for vegetable - gardening 

 purposes, gardeners have come to be very free users of 

 stable manure and concentrated fertilizers. In recent 

 years the vegetable - gardening areas of the eastern 

 country have rapidly extended along the Atlantic sea- 

 board as far as the keys of Florida. In these southern 

 localities vegetables can be secured in advance of the 

 nortiiern season and when the best prices are reigning. 

 The development of transportation facilities has made 

 this enterprise possible. The southern Mississippi val- 

 ley region is also developing a large vegetable-garden- 

 ing interest since it is tapped by trunk lines of railroad 

 running to the north and east. Well-marked vegetable- 

 gardening areas are those on Long Island, N. Y., and 

 about Norfolk, Va., where special industries and prac- 

 tices have developed. Fig. 2643 shows an onion-grow- 

 ing community in southeastern New York. 



The most recent published statistics of vegetable-gar- 

 dening in the United States are those of the Eleventh 



which the purpose is to raise a supply for the family 

 use. Whilst the same principles of selection of soil, 

 tillage and fertilizing apply to ).)oth these categories, 

 these kinds of gardening are unlike in the general meth- 

 ods of procedure. The market-garden is ordinarily lo- 

 cated where the climate and soil influences are favorable. 

 Every effort is made to secure uniformity an<l great pro- 

 ductiv(.-ness of ci'i)]*. and it is usually dusirabto tiiat the 

 crop come into the market somewhat ([uickly and then 

 give place to c>tlicr crops. In the homf-;,'-arden the cli- 

 mate and the srtil are largely beyond the choice of the 

 gardener, since these matters are determined l.iy the 

 hii-ation of tlie homestead. The general effort is to se- 

 cure products of high Cjuality and to have a more or 

 less continuous supply throughout thi.- season. In mar- 

 ket - gardening emphasis is nsuall\" phiced on a few 

 I'vops, whereas in home - gardening it is }daeed on a 

 great variety of crops. 



The old-time home vegetable -garden was generally 

 unsuited to the easy handling of the soil and to the etfi- 

 ci(>nf growing of the plants. Ordinarily it was a small 

 eonflned area in which horse tools could not be used. 

 The rows were short and close foi^ether, so lliat finger 

 work was necessary. The custom of ;;-r("A\in;j: crops in 

 small raised beds arose, probal.)ly because such beds are 

 earlier in the spring than those that are level with the 

 ground (Fig. 1528). With the evolution of modern til- 

 lage tools, however, it is now advised that even in the 

 home-garden finger-work be dispensed with as much as 

 possible. Some of the very earliest crops may be grown 

 in raised beds to advantage, but in general it is better 

 to secure earliness by means of glass covers or by 

 ameliorating the entire soil by imderdrainage and the 

 incorporation of humus and by judicious tillage. See 

 TiUar/r and Tools:. For farm purposes particularly if is 

 desirable that the rows lie long and far enough apart to 

 allow of tillage with horse tools. If the vegetable-gar- 



