Capital Required 



19 



Bushels Value 



Beans and peas 83,677 $130,469 



Onions 52,298 38,103 



Potatoes 105,452 80,160 



Vegetables, canned 99,464 



All others, including pickles and sauces 28,327 



Total $376,523 



4. EQUIPMENT AND CAPITAL 



The estimates for the equipment of a vegetable 

 garden range from $25 to several hundred dollars an 

 acre. This range represents the great variety of con- 

 ditions in wl\ich market- gardening is undertaken. The 

 amount of capital required to stock and to run a 

 market- garden is determined primarily by four consid- 

 erations : (1) the general type of business, whether 

 intensive or extensive, near to market or far away; 



(2) the kinds of crops to be grown, whether requiring 

 highly enriched land, much glass, or high-priced labor; 



(3) the general condition of the farm, whether it is 

 in good tillage or run down, drained or undrained, 

 heavy or light soil ; (4) the man. 



The best known estimate is Peter Henderson's, — 

 $300 per acre. This amount is astonishingly large to 

 the general farmer ; but market-gardening, when at its 

 best, is an intensive business, and to half do it is to 

 fail. As a rule, farmers do not put sufficient capital 

 into their business to make it pay. They are afraid 

 to risk anything. They work short-handed and at a 

 disadvantage. A business man will buy a farm which 

 will scarcely pay the taxes, put more money into it 



