Vol. LXI No. 2740. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 2, 1902. 
II PER YEAR 
MARKET CARDEN I NO IN SMALL TOWNS. 
AN IOWA STOREKEEPER'S SUCCESS. 
Value of the Home Market. 
In order properly to comprehend the methods I 
use a general presentation of conditions is pertinent. 
I live in a town of 1,100, surrounded by a good farm¬ 
ing community. Almost every family has its home 
garden, the surplus products of which are sold to 
neighbors, peddled or sold through the five general 
stores of the town. These five stores, as well as two 
restaurants, formerly shipped in vege¬ 
tables more or less throughout the sea¬ 
son, to round out the supplies received 
from town gardens and from farmers. 
I have had no experience as gardener, 
except in the home garden, until under¬ 
taking the present venture; was raised 
in the city and have been almost con¬ 
stantly employed in the store room; 
worked two years in a hardware store 
at this place. Principally on account of 
a desire for outdoor work and a fancy 
for flowers, plants and nature in gen¬ 
eral, as well as to give my hoys proper 
training and employment in some use¬ 
ful avocation, I entered upon the work 
here described, which has proven suc¬ 
cessful. A gardener has been at work 
here for a number of years, and had 
given up the year before I commenced. 
He warned me that the stores would not 
handle his products at a profit to him, 
and complained that they would ship 
stuff from the markets against which he 
could not compete. 
In March, 1901, I left store work, rent¬ 
ed six or seven acres of ground in and 
near town, and hung a sign up in front 
ot my house, “Vegetables and Seeds.” 
My aim is to keep constantly on hand a 
good stock or vegetables, and to sell 
them directly to the consumer. My first 
intention is to produce these myself. 
When this is not accomplished I buy 
here or ship from Chicago or near mar¬ 
kets. From whatever source they are 
to be had I keep a good supply of the 
best the market affords. This more 
than met my competitors with the 
cheap market stuff that hurt my pre¬ 
decessor. For some time, as I had 
neither store room nor house, I kept my 
goods in my home cellar, going daily 
from house to house carrying with me 
baskets ot green vegetables for sale, and 
soliciting orders for heavier vegetables 
to be delivered afterward. Later 1 
bought a wagon with which I make the 
rounds with a load. 
The effect of pushing this one line in 
this way has been that the general 
stores have almost entirely dropped it. 
Vegetables from other markets do not 
come into competition with mine. In January, 1902, 1 
built the store building shown in the picture, Fig. 209, 
on the corner of my residence lot, one block from the 
business square. Here I display my goods and serve 
the country trade as well as my town customers. I 
have added fruits and nuts to former stock. I employ 
a clerk constantly, as most of my time is spent either 
in the field or in soliciting business. 1 have my hot¬ 
beds and cold frames near the store, and did a good 
business last Spring in early vegetables and flower 
plants. The home garden, consisting of about one- 
half acre, is constantly very full. 
This year I have 10 acres and employ one field man 
constantly, and additional help as needed. My crop 
consists of lettuce, radishes, spinach, onions, aspara¬ 
gus, rhubarb, peas, beans, parsley, beets, carrots, 
parsnips, salsify, sweet corn, pop corn, peppers, egg 
plant, cabbage, turnips, potatoes, celery, tomatoes, 
cucumbers, melons, squashes, etc., and is planted to 
supply a succession. Last year I had a surplus of 
beets, carrots, onions and parsnips, and shipped them 
to Cedar Rapids and Ottumwa. This year I have 
about six acres in potatoes, 1% acre in cabbage, and 
VEGETABLE STORE IN AN IOWA TOWN. Fig. 209. 
1% acre in onions. I have more onions, onion sets 
and perhaps potatoes, cabbage and other items than 
I can use at home, but I can dispose of them to the 
same parties from whom I am shipping fruits and 
vegetables. Onions seem well adapted to soil and 
weather conditions, and my crop from both sets and 
seed is fine. Fig. 210 presents a scene in field, culti¬ 
vating seed onions with potatoes in background. Next 
year I shall require more ground and increased facili¬ 
ties. I find the work pleasant, healthful and profit¬ 
able. CHAS. W. CORBETT. 
Iowa. 
MR. CLARK AND HIS GRASS CROP. 
A GOOD CROP IN A BAD SEASON. 
His Arguments Stronger than Ever. 
Last week we printed some notes from readers who 
have tried the “Clark” method of seeding to grass. Now 
we print what Geo. M. Clark has to say about his own 
crop. These notes are taken from a recent letter. 
The early Spring was cold and dry, so that the use 
of fertilizers was not as effective as it would other¬ 
wise have been. In fact, while later on we had plenty 
of rain, it was so cold that the grass crop of the en¬ 
tire eastern and northern sections is, as 
a whole, rather light. Some changes in 
my field gave me 14% acres, on which 
I used $208 worth of fertilizer. The 
total hay crop was 128,874 pounds. Five 
acres of the field were badly washed by 
a cloudburst the last of August. This 
was seeded September 10, which gave 
out little time for cultivation. This por¬ 
tion of the field produced but z% tons 
to the acre, and one acre, in a shady or¬ 
chard, produced but little over two tons; 
1% acre produced 10,947 pounds; 414 
acres 46,134 pounds; 2% acres, new 
sown, 27,107 pounds, and seven-eighths 
of an acre yielded 11,850 pounds, or at 
the rate of 13,331 pounds to tne acre. 
This latter piece has been seeded 13 
years, and 13 first crops and 12 second 
crops, a total of 102 tons, taken from 
one seeding. On one section of five- 
eighths of an acre the yield was 8,545 
pounds, or at the rate of 13,672 pounds 
to the acre. These two sections, seven- 
eighths and five-eighths, or a total of 
1% acre, gave over 10 tons to the first 
crop, and for the second crop I hope for 
from four to five tons more. These two 
sections are natural grass land with 
clay gravel hardpan soil, just grade 
enough to carry the water off the sur¬ 
face; moist, not under-drained, no vege¬ 
table matter, cold, wet, unproductive. 
The cost of producing a ton of hay on 
this kind of land is less than $2, or less 
than $4 per ton in the barn. 
As above stated, the total yield from 
the 14% acres was 128,874 pounds of 
well-cured hay. I have the exact cost 
of a ton of dry hay, including fertilizer, 
spreading, cutting, curing and putting 
in the barn, which is $4.95. 1 call it $5 
per ton. Seven acres of this was seeded 
from September 10 to 15, 1901, when it 
should have been seeded September 1, 
1901, and would have given a better 
crop. The total yield of the seven acres 
of newly seeded ground was 46,677 
pounds, or an average of 7,778 pounds, 
which is 212 pounds less than four 
tons to the acre nine months from 
the period of seeding. This is con¬ 
clusive evidence to me that if we want 
to grow grass we would better sow grass, and if 
wheat, rye or other grain, or any other crop, we 
would better sow them by themselves, for it is cer¬ 
tain that a proper grass stand cannot be obtained 
with any other crop. My grass crop this year con¬ 
firms, more fully if possible, three things—that grass 
should always be sown by itself; that Timothy and 
Red-top in equal parts are correct, and that intense 
cultivation is absolutely necessary to succeed. The 
outlook this year for a second crop is good. I am now 
sowing the fertilizer for that crop. I fertilize for 
every crop and use one-third each of bone, muriate of 
WHERE THE VEGETABLES ARE GROWN. Fig. 210. 
