HORTICULTURAL ADVANTAGES AND POSSIBILITIES IN 



NEW ENGLAND. 



1 



VEGETABLES UTILIZATION OF WASTE PRODUCTS CROPS AND MARKETS. 



readily seen that unless the crop sells at a 



HAVE intended for sometime to 

 call attention to certain possible 

 directions in which our farmers 

 and gardeners on the sterile and 

 abandoned farms of New England 

 can materially add to their in- 

 comes ; and, too, from usually neglected sources. 

 In some way our New England gardeners have 

 seemed to be placed at a disadvantage as compared 

 with their friends in the southern states, but as the 

 years go by conditions are getting more nearly 

 equal, and after a number of years experience both 

 in New England and in the garden spot of the south, 

 I would prefer to take my chances at making a 

 living and a competence at gardening in New Eng- 

 land in preference to the south. The great increase 

 of acreage in gardening as well as the opening up 

 of new regions further south, has so increased 

 competition, that for a number of years, market 

 gardening has been very unprofitable in the south, 

 especially in the older sections. The expenses of 

 southern gardeners are always necessarily higher 

 than New England growers, for several reasons. 

 The item of freight is always a large one. The further 

 item of package is larger, and both of these, in the 

 main, are avoided by the New England grower, as 

 his markets are at his door, so that there are no 

 freight bills, and in the case of bulky vegetables 

 like potatoes, cabbage, etc., the barrel or box is 

 always returned the day delivered, or at least next 

 trip. In the case of berries, the packages are us- 

 ually returned next day. So that enough crates 

 and baskets for two or three days picking is amply 

 sufficient, while the southern grower is obliged to 

 have on hand enough packages for the whole sea- 

 son's crop, as the distance of shipment, and reship- 

 ment by commission merchants consume so much 

 time that rarely are any packages returned early 

 enough to be used to any extent in the same season. 

 Further than this, a large portion of packages are 

 scattered and never returned, and many that do get 

 back, are so broken as to seriously reduce their 

 value. The distance from market is so great that 

 often in damp or hot weather, entire shipments are 

 totally spoilt, that the New England grower by 

 his nearness to markets could have marketed safely. 

 When to these items we add commissions, it is 



;ood 



round price for a large part of the season, these 

 expenses will s\\-amp all profits : and in many cases 

 these items of expenses and losses alone, would be 

 a sufficient amount to return the New England 

 grower, with small expense in these directions, a liv- 

 ing profit. 



There are many other directions in which the horti- 

 culturist of New England has the advantage over com- 

 petitors in the southern states. It is a settled fact that 

 a large number of our choicest fruits and vegetables at- 

 tain their highest perfection only in the northern states. 

 Not only is the product superior in quality, but the 

 average yield per acre is far greater. The cool, moist 

 subsoil of the northern states, which is kept so in a 

 great measure by the very gradual thawing out of the 

 deeply frozen soil, has a very decided effect on the health, 

 vigor and productiveness of all vegetable products indig- 

 enous to that climate and latitude. This effect has 

 been noticed for years, and it has long been the custom 

 to procure seed oats, wheat, potatoes from northern 

 sections, because it was found that they reached a higher 

 development in these cooler latitudes. One advantage 

 lies in the fact, that in warmer climates the ground is 

 frozen so little, if at all, that there is but little check 

 to the increase of insect enemies, while in a climate 

 where the ground freezes four or five feet, this element 

 acts as a serious check to increase of insect life, and at 

 same time is favorable to production of fruit. Another 

 advantage that is thought to be clearly proven is that in 

 such deeply frozen soil, growth starts as soon as a few 

 inches of soil are thawed and warmed up, and the 

 lower down this process of thawing gets, the slower it 

 becomes, especially after the upper soil is covered with 

 a mulch of growing vegetation to shade the soil, or even 

 a mulch of loose cultivated soil. So even if we should 

 have a drought in the earlier part of the season, this 

 slowly thawing soil is steadily sending up moisture to 

 freshen and sustain the plant above, and even on com- 

 paratively thin, poor soil produces heavier crops than is 

 possible on far deeper and more fertile soil farther south, 

 having very similar amount of rainfall. 



This effect I have been noticing for years, and have 

 repeatedly proved to my satisfaction, as on a deeper, 

 stronger soil in the south, with more fertilizer, both 

 animal and chemical, and quite as complete cultivation, 

 I have not been able to get as heavy yields as I have on 

 my farm north. Some crops, even, cannot be cultivated 

 profitably in southern latitudes that are exceptionally 

 profitable in the north. For instance, south of Wash- 

 ington it is rare to find any genuine sweet corn, on 



