20 The Principles of Vegetable- Oar dening 



than it is worth, and make it pay. Some of our most 

 successful farmers are men who were not raised on 

 the farm. 



"The small amount of capital required to begin 

 farming operations creates great misconception of what 

 is necessary for commercial gardening/^ writes Peter 

 Henderson,^ "for, judging from the small number of 

 acres wanted for commencing a garden, many suppose 

 that a few hundred dollars is all sufficient for a mar- 

 ket-gardener. For want of information on this subject, 

 hundreds have failed, after years of toil and privation. 

 At present prices (1886) no one would be safe to start 

 the business of vegetable market -gardening, in the 

 manner it is carried on in the neighborhood of New 

 York, with a capital of less than $300 per acre, for 

 anything less than ten acres ; if on a larger scale, it 

 might not require quite so much. The first season 

 rarely pays more than current expenses, and the capital 

 of $300 per acre is all absorbed in horses, wagons, 

 glass, manures, etc.^' 



Rawson treats the question as f ollows : t "Among 

 gardeners, opinions vary as to the area that an indi- 

 vidual may wisely include in his plans. Many have an 

 idea that five acres of land will be enough ; others put 

 it at ten ; while it is known that some cultivate a 

 hundred acres or more at a profit. The amount of 

 capital required varies, to some extent, with the amount 

 of land cultivated, but not in proportion. While it 

 might require about $3,000, with the labor of three men 



* Gardening for Profit, new ed. 17. 

 t Success in Market-Gardening, 68. 



