FLAVOR— UNMINED GOLD FOR 

 THE MARKET GARDENER* 



THERE are very few market gardeners 

 who appreciate their greatest asset, the 

 surpassing flavor of a well-grown, 

 quickly handled, and finely prepared vege- 

 table. Flavor has been largely lost sight of by 

 the commercial grower and is almost unknown 

 to the public, except that fortunate part of it 

 which has been able to maintain home gardens. 

 Truck farming in a broad sense has been in 

 shoal water for the past five years. Regardless 

 of heroic efforts on the part of the best men 

 in the business, it is likely to remain there 

 unless more attention is paid to the matter of 

 freshness, a feature which can only be accom- 

 pHshed through direct contact with the 

 customer. Market gardening, as differentiated 

 from truck farming, is in a much stronger 

 position to capitahze on Flavor. 



Some day an enterprising group of market 

 gardeners will handle their vegetables as the 

 products of the dairies and bakeries are now 

 handled. Produce will come to the dinner table 

 as fresh and far more alluring than the morn- 

 ing paper comes to the breakfast table. My 

 own ideal for this problem is for an association 

 having its own packing-house in a central 

 point to organize a fleet of clean, white- 

 painted trucks offering fresh vegetables at the 

 housewife's door of an excellence never before 

 dreamed of. 



It takes a very keen grower to make money 

 on the wholesale market. GeneraHy speaking, 

 the grower receives only one-third of the 

 ultimate sales price. A further and perhaps 

 stronger reason why market gardeners should 

 make direct contacts with the consumer is the 

 necessity of identification of their fresh- 

 gathered, stringless, full-of-the-flavor-of-the- 

 soil vegetables. 



The great oil companies found it was not 

 beneath their dignity to make direct contacts 

 with their customers. On the other hand, 

 thousands of vegetable growers regularly haul 



their loads to the great city markets, dump 

 them mountain high on the curbstones, and 

 at the end of the week wonder why their 

 returns are so low. They consistently fail to 

 appreciate the necessity of completing the 

 cycle through their own agencies. Instead 

 they leave it to an army of push cart men who 

 have not brought honor to the industry. Their 

 margin of profit is out of all proportion to the 

 service rendered. 



In bringing out these points, I do not mean 

 to imply that every grower should become a 

 huckster, for his time is far too valuable, and 

 no one man can ordinarily furnish a complete 

 service. On the other hand, a few by co- 

 ordinating their service (as for instance the 

 Monroe County, Pa., Vegetable Growers As- 

 sociation has, in serving the Pocono Mountain 

 trade) can offer a complete service at a mini- 

 mum expense, and at the same time control 

 the evils of both over and under-production. 



The great success of the roadside market 

 has plainly shown the value of direct contacts. 

 It must be remembered, however, that every- 

 body does not motor to the country every day, 

 and that the enthusiasm of those who have 

 has cooled a bit by having to pay city prices 

 for often very flavorless products. The success 

 of the whole roadside effort has been severely 

 tested by the great preponderance of hot-dog 

 and pop stands which have largely taken away 

 the beauty of the open road. The fact that the 

 legitimate roadside marketer has not only 

 survived but is emerging stronger than ever 

 is very significant. 



You may serve a large city, a series of sub- 

 urban towns, or a summer resort, but the same 

 principle applies to every one. The original 

 flavor in a fresh-gathered vegetable is your 

 greatest asset. Concentrate your energies on 

 it, and fight to save it. Make it your business 

 to see that the town-dweller renews his ac- 

 quaintance with it, by a regular and thoroughly 

 dependable service. 



"^From an address delivered by Francis C. Stokes at the Annual Field Day Meeting at the Market Garden Field 

 Station, Waltham, Mass., August 5, 1925. 



PAGE 



Asparagus 4, 5 



Beans 6 



Beet 7, 8 



Bonny Best Tomato 31, 36, 37 



Brussels Sprouts 19 



Cabbage 9, 10, 11 



Carrot 12 



Cauliflower . 13 



Celery 14, 15 



Celeriac 15 



Chicory . 1 9 



Corn 16, 17 



Cucumber 18, 19 



INDEX 



PAGE 



Dandelion 19 



Dill 20 



Eggplant 20 



Endive 20 



Kale 19 



Kohlrabi 20 



Leek 20 



Lettuce 21 



Mangel Beet 8 



Muskmelon 22, 23 



Okra 20 



Onion 24, 25 



Parsley 26 



PAGE 



Parsnip 26 



Peas 28, 29 



Pepper 27 



Pumpkin 25 



Radish 30 



Rutabaga 39 



Salsify 25 



Spinach 38 



Squash 25 



Thyme 20 



Tomato 31-37 



Turnip 39 



Watermelon 40 



J. Horace McFarland Company, Horticultural Printers, Harrisburg, Pa. 



