a considerable beneficial effect, upon the 
crop, for we all know the subsequent good 
attained by the rapid vigorous growth of 
the plant at the beginning. 
Either market gardeners do not always 
understand the advantage of preparing 
their products nicely for market, or else 
they are very negligent of their own in¬ 
terests. They would do well to take a les¬ 
son of the fruit dealers at the street cor¬ 
ners of our cities, who wipe the apples and 
other fruits clean, and then polish them till 
you can see your face reflected from the 
glistening surfaces. The mass of buyers 
consider only the outside. Large, smooth, 
highly colored apples sell best, no matter 
what their quality. I went through a city 
market not long since, and noticed one 
dealer who had a large lot of deep red, and 
very clean radishes shown against the 
green background of their own leaves. He 
had a shrewd business eye for beauty, and 
knew how to put colors into juxtaposition 
to produce a good effect. I passed that way 
again an hour afterward, and as i had ex¬ 
pected, he had sold every radish. It will 
pay to sacrifice quality a little to make the 
article more attractive. The eye buys—and 
if the palate suffers it is too late. 
But notwithstanding this, it will not do to 
actively deceive buyers. It will not do to 
sell them things, the quality of which is pos¬ 
itively bad; a fortiori if you represent 
that the article is good. They will resent 
such deception and you will lose their cus¬ 
tom. Neither is it fair, or in the end profit 
able, to materially change the nature of a 
product, in order to enhance its appearance. 
But it is not dishonest to put red radishes 
near the complementary color; nor to place 
netting of a complementary color over 
fruit, or to put fruit or vegetables in neat, 
clean baskets or boxes. This will sell the 
product more readily than to put the nicest 
on top; and it is not dishonest and will not 
incur the displeasure of buyers, while the 
latter is and will. Pack honestly, but do 
not neglect to display to the best advantage, 
A few hints about preparing vegetables 
for market may not be amiss. Wash all 
roots clean. Form into convenient bunches 
all that are sold with the tops attached, 
and tie securely about the necks. Cut let¬ 
tuce with a portion of the root attached, 
pick out all decaying leaves, wash clean 
and pack neatly, so it will show its full 
size when taken out. Do not wash toma¬ 
toes; rub them off carefully with a dry 
cloth. Rub egg-plant and all other smooth 
fruits with a dry cloth, to polish them. A 
flannel or w r oolen cloth is much better than 
a cotton one. Rinse peas or beans free of 
dirt and grit. Take the superfluous leaves 
from cabbage and cauliflower, but use a 
sparing hand when you take the leaves 
from kohl rabi. Use your own pleasure 
about removing a part of t! e husk from 
green corn, but it is useless to leave long 
shanks, and is better to break the butt 
rather close to the ear. Cucumbers and 
other fruits that are covered by a bloom, 
should be cleansed, if cleansed at all, by 
sprinkling, in order that the bloom be lett 
intact as much as possible. 
The days of market gardening on land 
not underdrained, unless it has the very 
best of natural drainage, are about number¬ 
ed. This w r as demonstrated with more than 
the usual force this spring, when the season 
w 7 as unusually late in nearly every locality. 
Even on land well drained naturally, it is 
apparent that it would pay to underdrain. 
Underd raining lengthens the season by 
making it longer at both ends. Vegetables 
are safe from frost on underdrained land, 
from tw r o wrecks to a month before they are 
on land not drained; and thoroughly un¬ 
derdrained land can be put in condition for 
the seed from two to five weeks before un¬ 
derdrained land can be decently worked.. 
This earlier start is valuable, for the earliest 
man in the market gets ihe highest price, 
and early started vegetables nearly invaria¬ 
bly yield the best. But the advantages of 
underdraining do not stop here. The ground 
is in better condition all through the season, 
and more equable in temperature and uni¬ 
form in moisture. Hence, plants do better 
upon it. Also underdraining deepens the 
soil, and to a great extent, insures realizing 
the full value of manure applied to the land. 
Quincy, HI. 
“Do to-day’s duty. Look not on 
Work while there’s strength and light. 
The day’s toil is enough to bear, 
And then there cometh night.” 
