Ideals in VegetahU- Gardening 



3 



ture and horticulture is an arbitrary line. The boun- 

 dary is determined almost wholly by custom. It is 

 scarcely worth while to attempt to trace it. 



1. THE IDEALS IN VEGETABLE - GARDENING 



The success of any business depends largely on 

 the clearness with which its promoter conceives of the 

 aims and purposes which he is to attain. Many persons 

 grow crops because their fathers grew them, because 

 they know how to grow them, or because the land and 

 locality are adapted to them. This is well; but it is 

 better if the grower can also picture to himself the des- 

 tination of the crops which he is to raise. That is, he 

 should grow a crop for a distinct purpose. Good farm- 

 ing, like any other business, is primarily a matter of 

 ideals. 



There are two great types of vegetable -growing, — 

 growing for home use, and growing for market or com- 

 mercial profit. Leaving aside for the instant the special 

 subject of home -gardening, we may observe that mar- 

 ket-gardening is itself of two categories, — that which 

 grows products for the common and general markets, 

 and that which grows them for particular or special 

 markets. In the former, the products compete with 

 other like products in the open market ; they take their 

 chances. In the latter, the products are taken to some 

 special customer, and are thereby removed from general 

 competition. In the former business, — which is gener- 

 ally known as market-gardening proper, — by far the 

 greater effort is devoted to the growing of the crops 



