6 
VEGETABLE GARDENING 
9. Capital required. — The capital required to the acre 
to equip and operate a vegetable garden or a farm de- 
pends upon the following factors: (1) The size of the 
farm. Small places require relatively more capital than 
larger ones. (2) The amount of glass desired. (3) The 
type of gardening to be followed. Market gardening re- 
quires much more capital to the acre than truck farming, 
and general truck farming requires more capital than 
special farming, as the growing of celery, onions, toma- 
toes and cabbage. The more intensive the business, the 
greater the capital needed. (4) The fertility of the land. 
Impoverished land requires heavy expenditures for 
manure and fertilizers to secure satisfactory crops. (5) 
Distance from market if produce is to be transported by 
wagon or truck. 
The estimates of capital required range from $20 to 
$500 an acre. Bailey states that the average in various 
sections is as follows: Florida, $95; Texas, $45; Illinois, 
$70; Norfolk, Va., $75 to $125; east end of Long Island, 
$75 ; west end of Long Island, $150; 10 miles out of Phil- 
adelphia, $200 to $300 aii acre. Peter Henderson suggests 
$300 an acre for a 10-acre place, while Rawson claims that 
$500 an acre is not too great an expenditure for a 10-acre 
place under intensive cultivation. The reader should bear 
in mind that Rawson has always used a large amount 
of glass. To start on as comprehensive a scale as the 
gardener referred to at Cleveland, O., (7) would require 
much more capital an acre than the largest sum men- 
tioned. The above figures may be somewhat low under 
present conditions. 
However, it is possible to start on a few acres and 
succeed with very little capital. Progress is much 
slower under such conditions, but it is better than to 
borrow money and to make heavy investments without 
certainty of financial success. Anyone who knows the 
value of horses, tools, wagons, trucks, sash, manure 
