1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
183 
than give. As selling means business, the question 
then is, how to best begin the business to make it 
pay. My advice to all such inquirers is, to keep 
away from large cities, unless they have a large 
capital and a thorough practical knowledge of the 
business. The beginner with limited means and 
more limited knowledge of the business, would be 
quite unable to compete with those who have been 
long established, and such are to be found in nearly 
all cities of 100,000 inhabitants, or over. On the 
other hand, in cities of 5,000, 10,000, 15,000, or 
20,000 inhabitants, the business may be begun, and 
profitably carried on with but little capital and a 
moderate amount of knowledge at starting. How 
to start is the all important question. In my works 
on commercial gardening—“ Gardening for Profit,” 
and “ Practical Floriculture,”—I have separately, 
in the departments of market and flower garden¬ 
ing, given advice on the culture of vegetables and 
flowers as separate and distinct branches of busi¬ 
ness. Further experience has led me to believe 
that it would often be of great advantage to the 
beginner in small towns, to undertake the cultiva¬ 
tion of small fruits, flowers, and vegetables com¬ 
bined. In a town of say 5,000 inhabitants, the 
profits from the sale of flowers alone, would hardly 
be enough to warrant a beginning, while an acre 
or two of well grown fruits or vegetables in addi¬ 
tion, would make quite a respectable business. We 
will suppose then that a frugal man, able and will¬ 
ing to work hard, has a capital of $1,500 to $2,000; 
let him select not more than two acres, either on a 
lease of say 10 years, or by purchase, as near to the 
business part of the town as practicable. The soil 
should be of a quality that has borne good crops of 
hay, corn, potatoes, or other farm produce. Do not 
be induced to go far from the business center of 
the town, because land is cheap there ; it is bet¬ 
ter to pay $100 rent per acre for, say two acres, a 
mile from the center of a town^than to buy land at 
that price three or four miles distant for such a 
purpose. It is a fact beyond all question, that 
whenever fine specimens of fruit, flowers, or vege¬ 
tables are offered for sale, a demand is created that 
did not before exist, and would not then have ex¬ 
isted unless these articles were placed before the 
eyes of the people. Presuming then that the one 
or two acres is secured, if a dwelling-house, stable, 
or other buildings are to be erected, let them be 
placed, if practicable, on the north-east corner, so 
that the part of the land to be cultivated, or where 
greenhouses are to be erected, be not shaded. If 
flowers are to be grown, of course a greenhouse is 
indispensable, and the proper construction of that 
is a matter of importance. Perhaps the most appro¬ 
priate size for a beginner is one 20 feet wide by 50 
feet in length, which may be heated either by smoke- 
flue or liot-water circulating in iron pipes. At 
present prices the house would cost, if heated by 
flue, about $10 per running foot; if by liot-water 
$15 per running foot. For details of construction, 
reference may be made to our work on the subject, 
as it would be useless to repeat them here even if 
space would admit. This greenhouse, having an 
area of 1,000 square feet, should produce a crop of 
flowers and plants, when once properly stocked, 
which should sell for at least $1,000 each year. 
The stock of plants to begin with, purchased from 
any wholesale florist would cost from $100 to $200, 
according to kinds. The annual cost of fuel, labor, 
etc., after it is in running order, should not exceed 
$300 per year. It will be seen that the profit on 
the investment is good, if the work is mainly done 
by the owner; but a glass structure of this size 
would not pay to hire a man to work it, though it 
would be large enough at first for the wants of an 
ordinary population of 5,000. But such a popula¬ 
tion will buy far larger amounts in fruits and vege¬ 
tables, and will probably buy ten times the amount 
and give more for these if fresh and home grown, 
than for those that are packed and shipped from a 
distance. In fruits, strawberries hold the most 
prominent place, and a quarter of an acre will con¬ 
tain at two feet apart each way, about 2,50c -Rants. 
If these are planted by August 1st, from plants 
layered in pots in July, the ground having been 
properly prepared, at least 1,000 quarts can be 
gathered a3 the first crop; this is a low estimate ; 
the best cultivators claim to gather one quart per 
hill of the large fruiting kinds. Next in import¬ 
ance in small fruits come raspberries, blackberries, 
grapes, and currants, with which another quarter 
of an acre might be stocked. This would leave, if 
there were two acres at the start, an acre and a 
half to be devoted to vegetables. Of this one- 
eighth of an acre might be devoted to asparagus, 
and the same amount to rhubarb, beets and onions, 
cabbage and cauliflower, and lettuce, and to celery; 
cucumbers and melons, tomatoes and beans, may 
each have a quarter of an acre, while one-eighth of 
an acre may be devoted to other things not pro¬ 
vided for. The cultivation of this quantity of land 
with such crops, together with the care of green¬ 
house, would require the labor of two active men 
during the summer months, and probably at some 
part of the time three, but in winter one man could 
easily do it all. One horse would be sufficient for 
cultivating and carting manure, etc., but the first 
plowing of the land in spring should be done by 
two horses, so that the work may be done deep and 
thoroughly. As to the cultivation of fruits and 
vegetables, it is not my object hr this article to give 
detailed directions “how to do it,” for these re¬ 
ference may be made to the works on such subjects, 
my object is to endeavor to show that the combined 
culture of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, can be 
more profitably carried on in small towns than the 
culture of either by itself. My first attempt at com¬ 
mercial gardening was a combination of the busi¬ 
ness of market gardener and florist, and even for 
the great market of New York, I believe it was 
more profitably conducted than if each had been 
run separately, for in wet or stormy days when it 
was unfit to work in the open vegetable grounds, 
the men were turned into the greenhouses, where 
their labor was just as profitable and valuable as in 
the open field. But while arguing for the benefits 
to be derived from this combination of the several 
departments of a kindred business, let me be dis¬ 
tinctly understood that it must be done at one place , 
so that all can be under the eye of the owner. 
Twenty years ago, after the successful culture of 
a garden of some ten acres, combined with quite 
an extensive greenhouse business, my ambition led 
me to think that if I made $3,000 a year from ten 
acres, I might as readily make $9,000 from thirty 
acres, so I undertook the cultivation of two other 
places, each of about ten acres in extent, but about 
a mile apart. A trial of three years showed me that 
I had made a serious mistake, for I found that I 
was actually making less from my thirty acres than 
I had done from the original ten, and yet I had ex¬ 
perience, capital, and I believe as much energy and 
business capacity as the average of mankind. Had 
the thirty acres been in one spot, the result might 
have been different, but it is probable that the 
profits would not have been in the same proportion, 
as if ten acres only had been cultivated. This les¬ 
son was to me a salutary one, and I never hesi¬ 
tate to state my own case to any one who informs 
me of his intention of attempting to carry on gar¬ 
dening in two or more different places at once. 
- ■« o< «■ - 
Tree-Planting in the Older States. 
A few suggestions on tree-planting have been re¬ 
cently published by Prof. Sargent, the director of 
the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, in a 
pamphlet of 35 pages. It is a separate issue from 
the Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Ag¬ 
riculture for 1875, just published. It extends and 
supplements the remarks of the veteran Mr. Emer¬ 
son (whose book on Trees and Shrubs we lately 
noticed), and follows them up with practical de¬ 
tails. Prof. Sargent sums up the current testimony 
and current opinion about the influence of forest on 
climate and summer rain, upon which we have al¬ 
ready had our say, and from which Prof. Sargent’s 
own expectations appear to be moderate ; he cites 
the estimate that, in order to maintain normal 
physical conditions, and to supply the material so 
essential to every branch of industry, forests should 
be allowed to cover about a quarter of the surface 
of a country; and he shows that this proportion of 
the surface of Massachusetts might be used for 
this purpose, without trenching much on improved 
or cultivated land. He goes on to show, indeed, 
by estimates, that in the long run this is the most 
profitable use that is likely to be made of about 
that proportion of the soil of his state. We do not 
expect the individual owners of the soil to pay 
much attention to the matter in regard to any pos¬ 
sible amelioration of the climate ; but they may be 
influenced by the prospect of pecuniary advantage, 
to themselves and their children, so they should 
look over the Professor’s “ Estimated profits of a 
plantation of European Larch, of ten acres, to last 
fifty years.” This gives them back about 13 per 
cent per annum and the original capital. He sup¬ 
poses that there are 2,000,000 acres in his state 
which might advantageously be planted with larch, 
and prudently reducing the estimated yield one- 
lialf, or to six per cent on the capital invested, 
points to the goodly total of $402,830,000 of weilth 
to be realized from these 2,000,000 acres of poor 
land. Next to Larch the White Ash is thought the 
best tree to plant, but this, we suppose, would 
need a better soil. The European Elm and Scotch 
Pine appear to stand next in the list. 
tusie swraiom 
For other Household Items see “ Basket ” pages. 
“ Home Topics.” —We regret that Faith Roches¬ 
ter is obliged, on account of ill-health, to omit her 
usual contribution. Many hundreds of housekeep¬ 
ers will unite with us in the wish that the cause 
may be of short duration. 
Apportioning our Time. 
BY MRS. P. T., ONEIDA COUNTY, N. Y. 
Some time ago in reading Dr. Todd’s “ Student’s 
Manual,” I was not a little troubled at not finding 
some of that work addressed especially to young 
women as well as to young men, as he appeared to 
quite ignore the feminine student. However, I 
found many ideas that were of benefit to me in 
scliool-girl days, and some still cling to me, though 
no longer a student, but engaged in that more 
practical division of life, the housekeeper’s depart¬ 
ment. One of the items that still holds its original 
force, is that we should form the habit of dividing 
up our time for the following day, and of looking 
back at night to see where it has gone. 
“ How shall I make the most of my time,” is a 
question which many an honest and thoughtful 
woman asks herself, as she rises in the morning, 
with work enough for three women, and with only 
just one pair of hands to do it all. If she plunges 
into her work without forethought or plan, she 
will at night find herself weary, discouraged, and 
heartsick, being cross herself, the children will be 
fretful, and the whole family out of sorts. To use 
the forcible colloquial, “I tell you,” it is hard, un¬ 
remitting drudgery, day after day, and week after 
week, that brings out the crossness, the coarseness, 
and the peevishness of a woman’s nature, if there 
is the least vestige of it in her composition. And 
if she, who stands head of the household, is ill- 
tempered, the whole family is in the same unhappy 
condition. So surely as the glowing sunset reflects 
its beauty and glory on the earth, or the dark clouds 
cast everything into shadow and gloom, so will the 
mother’s heart and life make her household either 
dwell in a light of joy and love, or in a perpetual 
shadow of peevishness and discontent. 
How may the light prevail and the darkness re¬ 
cede? are questions which we housekeepers must 
meet. In the first place, let us have help when we 
need it and can obtain it. What if the year’s ex¬ 
penditures do amount to a little more? “ Is not 
the life more than meat, the body more than rai¬ 
ment ? ” The subject of overworked women has 
received attention in some of our periodicals of 
late. The wail of hard-worked, disconsolate women 
is making itself heard, and must be heeded, and it 
will be well if its discussion will contribute to the 
alleviation of their hard, unremitting toil. 
Whatever may come of a general discussion of 
