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Aii Arlington Market Garden. 
A correspondent of the Boston Herald 
has lately been visiting the vegetable and 
seed farm of Mr. W. W. Rawson 
at Arlington, and was very greatly im- 
piessed by what he saw there, as any one 
would be, even of our most experienced 
farmer readers, many of whom have no 
idea of the scale on which operations are 
carried in this kind of farming, and but 
little conception of the methods employed. 
The Herald correspondent’s letter is so 
interesting that we copy it entire. He 
says:— 
The writer one day last week posted out 
to Arlington, and, after a little inquiry, 
was directed to the gardens of the largest 
producer of vegetables in New England. 
He. has in Arlington forty acres of land 
which he owns, some of which is 
worth $2000 an acre, and some of which 
cost him $4000 an acre. In addition to this, 
he has on lease sixty acres in Medford, 
about a mile distant, on the shores of Mys¬ 
tic lake. The establishment in Arlington 
is the most elaborate. Here are the hot¬ 
houses and hot frames, where vegetables 
are raised all the year round. At this place 
there are ten acres under glass, which will 
give some idea of the extensive character of 
the business done. A portion of this glass- 
covered space consists of hot-houses, where 
artificial heat is used, steam pipes convey¬ 
ing the heat throughout the buildings. To 
produce this heat, 200 tons of coal are 
consumed in the season. Another portion 
of the glass-covered area depends for its 
heat upon the decomposition or heating of 
stable manure. Two thousand cords of 
stable manure are used on the farm annual¬ 
ly, a portion of which goes under the frames. 
This manure is obtained from the stables 
of Boston principally, and three large teams 
one of them a four horse team—are em¬ 
ployed all the time in this work. 
In seven of the hot-houses, at the time of 
the visit in question, there were 1000 hills 
of cucumbers, some of which were about 
running out, having yielded their utmost, 
while others were in full yield, and still 
others just coming into bearing. Cucumbers 
are planted so as to come in about the mid¬ 
dle of April, and from that time forward 
until the time the plants in the open air 
mature the hot-houses furnish the supply. 
In this case, from 4000 to 6000 cucumbers 
are picked from the vines every day. Let¬ 
tuce is a perpetual crop, so to speak; that 
is, is matured all the year round, and to 
do this it has to be sown from time to time 
throughout the year. 
There is also under glass half an acre of 
Canada melons, a new and rare variety, 
which has only been introduced into our 
market quite recently. Under glass there 
are from four to five crops raised each year, 
while in the open air from two to three 
crops in the season are secured. Here is 
the way that three crops are secured. Beets 
are sown quite thickly in drills, the same 
being a considerable distance apart. The 
ground being rich, the beets come up luxu¬ 
riantly, making large leaves. These are 
pulled at the proper time, leaving enough 
beets behind to mature into large roots, and 
using the beets pulled for greens. Then 
between the rows of beets are planted rows 
of celery. All the vegetables are planted 
in long, narrow beds, between which are 
trenches or furrows that answer a double 
purpose—they enable the men to thin out, 
weed or plant, as the case may be, and they 
serve also for irrigation purposes. 
The system of irrigation used is most com¬ 
plete and elaborate. There are, in two dif¬ 
ferent places, two water towers containing 
large tanks, into which the water is pumped 
from driven wells. The pumping in one of 
the stations is done both by wind power 
and steam, and in the other by wind power 
alone, the windmill having a capacity of 
raising 100 gallons a minute. In addition 
to this, there are a steam pump and boiler, 
which are on wheels, and can be moved 
from place to place with horses. This is 
moved along the river or the lake, as re¬ 
quited, and water drawn and sent through 
lines of hose to any distance required, and 
in this way the fields in dry times are kept 
well watered. The water is not sprinkled 
upon the growing vegetables, but is let into 
the furiows alongside the beds, and soaks 
in, giving moisture to the roots. Salt wa¬ 
ter is used as well as fresh, the former being 
preferred. At one of the pumping stations 
