216 The Principles of Vegetable- Oardening 



was a most profitable business in and around New 

 York. Thirty years ago the New Jersey market- 

 gardeners, mainly located in Hudson county, grew bet- 

 ter vegetables than the Long Island men, but their 

 limited area of land becoming less and less annually, 

 in consequence of the inroads made for building pur- 

 poses, the Long Islanders forged ahead. The Long 

 Island men, however, have not had it all their own 

 way, for of late years a formidable competitor has 

 been met by them in the large truck -gardens of the 

 South. While this competitive factor has certainly 

 lessened their profits, even at the lower prices that pre- 

 vail to-day there is still a fair profit in the business 

 for them, certainly more than in ordinary farm crops." 

 Such changes in conditions are reasons enough for a 

 change in business methods of disposing of the crop. 



Packing and sorting of a crop should begin in the 

 field. The better the crop is grown, the fewer will be 

 the culls and the less the labor of sorting and grad- 

 ing. In crops which are not to be carefully sorted into 

 sizes and packed by hand, as potatoes and many of the 

 root crops, the vegetables may be placed directly in 

 the package in which the product is to be taken to the 

 market. Nothing is better for the handliug of heavy 

 products than a bushel box (Fig. 49). Formerly bas- 

 kets of various sizes were used for this purpose, but 

 the bushel box is much better because it is cheaper, 

 more durable and it stows better on the wagon or in the 

 storehouse. One tier of boxes may be piled on another, 

 but this is impossible with baskets unless one resorts to 

 expensive staging. 



