178 



THE VEGETABLE FORCING BUSINESS 



sides of the house and on top there is space for the sash, which 

 is removed and stacked when the house is not in use. 



At Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, mushrooms are grown 

 more largely than in any other section of the country. A 

 very inexpensive type of house is used, though some new 

 houses have been built recently that cost three or four thou- 

 sand dollars or more. The mushroom industry is regarded 

 by the growers as about the most uncertain business a man 

 can undertake. 



Mr. Pomeroy : Can they grow mushrooms in those houses 

 better than they can in the caves at Akron? 



Professor Watts: I do not know. Are they uniformly 

 successful there? 



Mr. Pomeroy: I understand there is one firm there that 

 always gets a crop. 



Professor Watts : That may not be due to the caves. It 

 may be he has mastered all the details of mushroom culture. 



Mr. Pomeroy: I understand that the temperature in this 

 cave does not change two degrees. 



Professor Watts: I should think that would be an im- 

 portant factor. 



Near Boston, cucumbers are grown largely in cold frames, 

 transplanting them from the greenhouses. It will interest 

 you to know that on the fifth of July they were still using 

 glass over the frames. I believe this system of frame cul- 

 ture could be extended very profitably in Pennsylvania and 

 other states, because cucumbers nearly always bring good 

 prices. 



Searles Brothers, at Toledo, Ohio, use a sterilizing system 

 which has given them very good results. It consists of per- 

 forated pipe pegs as shown in the illustration. Some use the 

 pan system and have had very good results. I do not think 

 it matters much about the system. The soil must be thor- 

 oughly cooked, and held at a temperature of about two hun- 

 dred degrees for an hour. 



In the tomato industry at State College, we have not found 

 any variety that has been giving better results as far as 



