The Story of a Boy's Successful Market Garden-By Roger N. Perry, 



A BOY'S EXPERIENCE IN STARTING A BUSINESS — EIGHT YEARS OF GROWTH, BEGINNING 

 WITH A FEW SQUARE FEET FOR FUN, UNTIL NOW HE HAS A REGULAR TRADE 



Massa- 

 chusetts 



1 BECAME a gardener nine years ago 

 when I was eight years old. Be- 

 cause of ill health, outdoor occupation 

 was necessary and as I was not strong 

 enough to play with other children, my 

 parents gave me a little garden of my own. 

 The large kitchen garden had 

 already been planted, but that 

 year, wherever I could find a 

 bare spot, I planted hills of 

 potatoes, corn, sunflower and 

 radish seed. 



The next year, when I was 

 nine, I had a garden of four 

 rows twenty-five feet long. 

 When my vegetables were 

 large enough I thought it 

 would be fun to become a 

 peddler, so loaded up my ex- 

 press cart and went to a 

 neighbor who had asked me 

 to dig dandelion greens for 

 her. She bought of me and 

 encouraged me to go to other 

 neighbors. 



At ten my joints were so 

 sore and stiff from rheumatism that I 

 could not use a hoe and I had to crawl 

 on my hands and knees, using a trowel 

 to loosen the soil around my plants; that 

 year I had a garden 25 x 30 ft. 



The next year my garden area was 

 increased to eleven hundred square feet. 

 That same year a skylight was taken out 

 of my room and I used the window and 

 frame for a hotbed. The bed was made 

 two feet deep. I put the window frame, 

 which was two by three feet, over the hole, 

 sinking the south side five inches lower than 

 the north side to get all the sun possible. 



We put a foot of fresh horse manure 

 from under the stable in the bottom of 

 the bed and covered this with six inches of 

 garden soil. I put the window on and let 



it stay four or five days. The manure 

 heated the soil so that it was very moist 

 and the window was all steam. Then I 

 sowed cabbage, lettuce and celery seed, 

 and covered them with about one-fourth 

 inch of soil. If my hotbed seemed dry I 



These hotbeds, made out of old window sash and rough boards, raised all the 



seedlings 



would sprinkle it, and as the days got 

 warmer, I would take off the window to 

 let the plants harden. If any of the nights 

 were cold enough to freeze through the 

 glass I would get an old blanket and cover 

 the window. When I was fourteen a man 

 gave me two windows six by four feet. 

 The soil was the same as I used in the 

 first hotbed except that I mixed in sand 

 where I sowed celery. 



About this time I heard the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society was offering 

 prizes for children's home gardens. I 

 entered mine and took first prize. In 1906 

 I made a harness for my dog out of some 

 old straps and my grandfather made me a 

 real little dump-cart. I delivered my goods 

 to the neighbors and to stores in the town. 



In 1907 my father bought an adjoining 

 strip of property and I had a flower garden 

 on part of it, growing such plants as bal- 

 sam, bachelor's button, zinnia, candytuft, 

 stock, coreopsis and snapdragon. 



In 1909 I grew parsley. My pri- 

 vate customers could use but 

 little, but I found the hotels 

 and restaurants would use a 

 quantity. This opened a new 

 line of trade and the next 

 year the restaurants took all 

 the sweet corn I could pro- 

 duce. 



In 1908 I raised some flow- 

 ers. A neighbor ordered one 

 hundred aster plants. 



I wanted my garden for 1909 

 to be the best ever! This was 

 the last year I could exhibit in 

 Boston, for I was fifteen years 

 old, so I increased my garden 

 to 5,ooosq.ft. Sweet peas, nar- 

 cissus and asters were sold to a 

 florist, marigolds for medicine 

 and cut flowers for bouquets. 

 My seeds were given me until I was 

 twelve years old. Then I wanted a larger 

 variety to exhibit so bought more and 

 more each year until last year I paid out 

 four dollars for seeds. This is the record 

 of my eight years' gardening: 



Year 



Veg. 

 Sales 



Flower 

 Sales 



Flower 

 Prizes 



Veg. 

 Prizes 



2nd 

 Prize 

 Essay 



Total 



Age 



1902 



$2.5° 











$2.50 



8 



1903 





I have 



no reco 



rd this 



year 









1904 



9. 00 







$1.00 





10.00 



10 



1 9°S 



11. IS 







0.15 





17.30 



11 



1906 



22.48 







8.00 





30.48 



12 



1907 



3158 





$4.10 



7.40 





43.08 



13 



1908 



70. 22 



$1.93 



11.00 



4- 50 



$5.00 



92.65 



'4 



1909 



57-zi 



7.00 



7-So 



450 





76 21 



15 



1910 



32.01 



22.95 

 $31.88 



2.50 







57 46 

 $320.68 



ib 





$236.15 



$25.10 



$31-55 



$5.00 





The young market gardener at work among his crops 



Which he marketed successfully in a" dog cart ' 



167 



