PREPARATION OF THE LAND 



13 



the wet," then the practise may, perhaps, have the 

 shadow of an excuse — but 'twould be much better to 

 underdrain ground which is so wet. 



The AIarket Garden. — The capital and equip- 

 ment required for a successful commercial venture in 

 trucking, vary according to localities and circum- 

 stances, but the average is much higher than most 

 people suppose. The late Peter Henderson, a very 

 successful gardener, estimated that three hundred 

 dollars per acre was needed for equipment (tools, im- 

 plements, horses, w^agons, glass, frames, etc.) and 

 for working capital (rent, labor, manure, fertilizer, 

 marketing expenses, etc.). This would not include 

 the purchase of land or buildings, and the estimate 

 is based on an area of ten acres or less. 



W. W. Rawson, in Market Gardening, says : ''The 

 amount of capital required varies with the amount 

 of land cultivated, but not in proportion. While it 

 might require about three thousand dollars, with the 

 labor of three men and two horses, properly to han- 

 dle two acres, I estimate that there would be needed 

 about five thousand dollars, six men and three 

 horses, for ten acres." 



The foregoing estimates are based on the best, 

 most intensive, culture, with many hotbeds and cold- 

 frames, near New York and Boston, where the rent 

 or cost of land is high. On cheaper land in some 

 other localities, or on land farther away from cit- 

 ies, the capital requirements should be less. Un- 

 der such conditions, perhaps five hundred dollars 

 capital would suffice, if a careful, experienced man 

 had five acres of good land paid for. Or even con- 

 siderably less than this amount, if he had a general 

 farm and raised a few acres of truck merely as a 

 side issue. 



