THE VEGETABLE FORCING BUSINESS 



175 



place and does not care to move, for building greenhouses, 

 if he can thereby increase his earnings. 



The houses must be built in a way that will be economical, 

 and that will involve the least expenditure of labor in the 

 growing of the crops. The modern greenhouse has large 

 doors, so that you can drive in with a wagon, a plow, a har- 

 row, or any kind of implement. It is supplied with an over- 

 head system of irrigation, so that the watering may be done 

 at the least cost. Everything must be arranged in the house so 

 as to involve the least labor in the performance of the daily 

 work. 



Crops. 



As to crops, there are really only three of paramount im- 

 portance, namely, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Other 

 crops are grown, but I w^ould not advocate their culture on a 

 large scale until a market for them has been developed. The 

 tomato is usually regarded more difficult to grow than lettuce. 

 Personally, I do not think this is true, but I doubt whether 

 it is possible to utilize a greenhouse plant to the best advan- 

 tage without growing both lettuce and tomatoes, or perhaps 

 lettuce and cucumbers. I have yet to hear of the first man 

 who is willing to make the statement that there is any prof- 

 it in growing either tomatoes or cucumbers at midwinter, 

 and very few are willing to admit that there is money in 

 lettuce at midwinter. There must be rotation of crops in 

 order to realize the largest profits. We must plan our houses 

 and equipment so that they will be in use practically the year 

 around. I believe that a rotation something like this is the 

 most satisfactory in many sections : A crop of tomatoes in 

 the fall, the last tomatoes picked sometime in January ; then 

 a crop of lettuce, or perhaps two crops of lettuce if you grow 

 the plants properly; followed by a crop of cucumbers or 

 tomatoes in the spring. This will keep your house busy 

 eleven months, and you will need the twelfth for house clean- 

 ing and soil sterilization. 



At State College, we have managed to harvest a crop of 

 tomatoes in the fall, two crops of lettuce in the winter, and 

 usually a crop of cucumbers in the spring. If you figure on 

 taking off two crops of lettuce in midwinter, you will have 



