The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
309 
Glassed in Farms in New England 
October to April about 3,000 c 
market every day from the gla 
Poston. These figures are ei 
the industry is a big one. 
forcing houses around Best 
quarters span type, 40 ft. wit] 
feet long. Iiov 
houses 50 ft. w 
and seem to be 
bers come next 
tuee. and a lot ol 
SjSjV; v - grooving them. 
Vv^,' ^ are probably paj 
crops grown und 
crop has to in 
Florida and Vir 
competition is < 
local growers i 
A> I i much, as the S 
competition, it has been somewhat apa¬ 
thetic of late, in fact, there lias been 
more or less discouragement expressed, 
especially since the entrance of Cali¬ 
fornia lettuce, which is shipped Fast in 
immense quantities each season. As a 
result, hut few new houses have been 
pul up. Now. however, the growers are 
getting themselves in hand again. They g 
see light ahead in spite of the many 
difficulties, and confidence is being ex¬ 
pressed that, with some necessary re¬ 
adjustments the industry will take a 
new lease of life. To a large extent 
tlie Market Garden Field Station, un¬ 
der the direction of Prof. Harold F. 
Tompson, which is maintained by the 
State College at Lexington, is responsi¬ 
ble for (he improved outlook. Experi¬ 
ments which are being made there are 
helping the market gardeners to learn 
what their mistakes are and how to 
correct them. 
TjETTFCE PRICES.—Particular at¬ 
tention has been given of late to let¬ 
tuce has always been more or less of a 
Boston, and I lie one which is feeling 
competition most keenly. Growing let¬ 
tuce has always boon more of less of a 
gamble, for while it has sold on oc¬ 
casion for $3 a bushel box. it has like¬ 
wise gone down to 10 or 15 cents a box, 
at which time it was grown, of course, 
at a heavy loss. There may he a big 
drop in price almost over night, and 
if it gets too low it is not marketed at 
all. but thrown on the dump heap. Dur¬ 
ing December, this season, lettuce was 
bringing $1 a box. By the middle of 
January it was selling at 50 cents a 
•box. At the first price it paid a fair 
profit. When the price was cut in half I 
it went at a loss. Before the season is 
over, however, prices will probably 
•stiffen materially, and the growers 
make money again. ' 
C A E I F ORNTA COMPETITION.— 
However, better lettuce must lie grown r— 
and marketing methods must he im¬ 
proved if tlie industry is to hold its 
own. In the past tlie lettuce has been 
grown too fast. There was too much \c> 
effort to get tlie maximum number of 
crops, even though the quality suf¬ 
fered. Customers bad to take soft. ** 
puffy heads, so long as no other kind *- 
could be bad. Then California Iceberg 
g 
lettuce, with its hard, round beads, be¬ 
gan to appear, and the public started 
buying it. being willing to pay more for 
it. apparently, than for the native ar¬ 
ticle'. As it happens, much of the Cali¬ 
fornia lettuce has been coming in poor 
this season, owing t<> unfavorable grow¬ 
ing conditions, but this is only tempor¬ 
ary. Competition must lie mot by 
growing better, firmer, harder heads, 
VARIETIES.—May King has been Jj 
used in the past very largely. It does 
very well for a Fall and Spring crop, 
but invariably gets soft in midwinter. 
On the other hand, it is resistant to 
disease and makes quick growth, so 
that the greenhouse men like it. Bel¬ 
mont lettuce, however, gives far better result 
speet to quality. It has a tendency to mile 
he sure, but mildew can be controlled withou 
difficulty under normal weather conditions 
Greenhouse Cucumbers Trained on Strings. Fig. 188 
( t LTT RE.—Seeds are started in 
. hotbeds or Bats, and the seedlings 
transplanted to pots, which are set 
close together in the greenhouse. When 
tlie plants begin to run. they are set in 
their permanent locations. A foot of 
fresh horse manure is often used in the 
trenches, and heavy feeding is always 
given. Growers often plant radishes 
or some other quick-growing vegetable 
ap.' B-' between the rows of cucumber plants to 
get an ?xtra crop from the house. 
Around Mansfield and in some houses 
V '■% north of Boston the A trellis system 
is used for training the plants. Strips 
* MraS** furring are fastened together. A- 
shaped. with a 45-degree slant. Heavy 
wires are stretched across the strips 
HMjHfej of wood. The newer system, and the 
one most commonly used around Rel- 
mont and Arlington, does away with 
the wooden strips, the encumbers being 
trained on strings fastened to wires 
across tlie house. Rows are made 4 ft. 
apart, and the plants set 15 in. apart 
in the rows. The vines have to be 
started to climb, and tlie laterals are 
carefully cut off with a sharp knife just beyond tlie 
first joint. 
GATHERING THE FRUIT.—'The cucumbers are 
picked four times a week in a good season, for if 
allowed to get too long they become larger than the 
Boston market likes. The right size is when the 
thumb and middle finger will reach around them. 
Each plant should set 30 to 40 “pickles.” 
E. I. FARRINGTON". 
rieties are being tested. Tn fact, there are 54 differ¬ 
ent varieties and strains growing in rows side by 
side, and accurate data are being kept, not only on 
tlie behavior and cropping of each kind, but also on 
different strains of the same kind. 
GREENHOUSE CULTURE.—It should not be un¬ 
derstood from anything I have said that tlie lettuce 
industry has been going down hill. It simply has 
been marking time, with its future uncertain. From 
