plants we have to deal with is a probable excuse for the manipulations we cause through improper cultivation. Root structure and root action being entirely beyond the limited knowledge of the average cultivator, he plows and hoes indiscriminately all crops alike, and at the time best suited to his convenience, irrespective to the varying stages of growth and root extension. The medium in which roots grow has been described by Nobbe, and his experiments have established the fact beyond doubt "that where fertilizers were placed, whether in horizontal or vertical layers, at one inch in depth, at the center or bottom of glass cylinders, at that point a mat of the finest fibers were found." With this understanding of the natural adaptations of roots to material which could furnish them with food, we should apply our manures at such depths and places as we would wish the development of these fibers or feeding roots, that we may cultivate deep and sufficiently to retain moisture without injuring them; at the same time supply sufficient quantities of available food to induce the roots to form and remain as near the plant as possible. In this we see the necessity of rich soil for close planting. The farther the roots have to penetrate the soil the fewer they number, and while a plant may flourish with a great extent of roots, another may equally as well with but short roots; by their being more numerous, the aggregate absorbing surface would be nearly the same in both. Therefore, the quantity of root is influenced by the richness of our soils. The more abundant the food, the better they are nourished, and the growth of the plant stimulated accordingly. Those which find no food remain undeveloped or perish, and through this lack of root we suffer more or less by the drought we encounter. With a rich soil properly prepared, with intelligent cultivation and sufficient root development, we can contend with drought for a long time without serious loss, and secure our crops for the market, in the advent of which comes the test of our abilities for the proper arrangement of our products that they may be attractive and irresistible to the purchasing public, in order to successfully compete in a crowded market. If, in the preparation for market, a vegetable requires washing, wash it, not puddle it; all dead or yellow leaves should be removed and care taken to have each bunch to compare one with another. The arrangement should be such as to show the vegetables to the best advantage. Radishes, beets, onions and celery and vegetables of that class sell only on the appearance they make. If clean, neatly arranged in the bunch, firmly tied and in a fresh condition, mark them sold. If dirty, rolled up and drawn together, dingy with muddy water, bruised through careless handling, means left every time. We see such conditions in our markets every day, and yet growers fail to profit by it. There is also a reputation to establish for honesty. Honest packing is the key-note to permanent success. The man who wishes to establish a trade, and at the same time make money, will have every basket, barrel or package as good at the bottom and in the middle as at the top. When you adopt this plan of packing, you will secure a permanent purchasing trade of which no competitor can rob you. Market gardening means vegetables all the year round. Therefore, another and perhaps most important necessity in marketing is to have a succession of crops and to grow all the leading vegetables, that you may hold your place in the market, and keep your products constantly before the people. An intermission of but a few weeks is always detrimental to your interests, and during which time you will find inroads made among your trade by your more enterprising neighbor, who is ever on the alert for the favorable opportunity. Promptness in your engagements and a faithful fulfillment of the same is obligatory, therefore should be done with alacrity. Respect others' judgment and criticisms on your vegetables with pleasant words and cheerful courtesies. In speaking of your competitors have but little to say, lest your words multiply through transmission. A still tongue makes a wise head, and remember the good will is preferable to the ill will, even of a dog. As an illustration of the amount of produce and profit in gardening (trusting you will not consider me egotistical), I have selected two acres of my own garden which has been cropped for eleven successive years by alternating crops each year. It is only justice to the business and the soil that I should refer to the proceeds and say it is the smallest return I have ever received. The drought commenced early in the spring and continued the entire season 1884, and was altogether the severest I have ever experienced. The total rainfall from May 1st to October 30th, being only 9.79 inches, a period of six months of growing season. The soil is a sandy loam, with reddish clay subsoil, and lays nearly level. Was plowed eight inches deep October, 1883, and fifty loads of barnyard manure applied after plowing, broadcast per acre. March, 1884, it was plowed again, turning under the manure, and In lifting subsoil plow following in each furrow, mellowing six inches deeper, in all about fourteen inches deep. There was then applied one ton home-made fertilizer per acre, and mixed with the soil by an Acme harrow, set to run five inches deep, going over the plat four times. The scratch harrow and planker were then used to bring the soil smooth and free from all clods. March 24th, 7,000 cabbage were set, and one-half ton fertilizer applied in the rows. March 25th, lettuce was set among the cabbage in the same rows, and the same day sixty-four square rods were drilled to radishes, rows fourteen inches apart, adjoining the cabbage. March 26th, set thirtytwo rods to horse-radish six inches below the surface, the ground then leveled again, and on the 27th sowed with spinach, broadcast and harrowed in. Applied as a top dressing ten cart-loads of compost and firmed the soil with a planker. March 28th, drilled beets on ridges two feet nine inches apart, and sowed spinach between the rows broadcast, and harrowed in. July 11th, white wax beans were drilled between the beet rows, where the spinach had grown. July 25th, lettuce was set where radishes had grown, for fall use. The first week in July the cabbages were all off, and the ground immediately plowed for celery. Cultivation by Acme harrow kept up until July 20th, when deep furrows were opened, five feet apart, by using Darnell's furrower, opening a furrow two feet wide and six inches deep. The hoe-harrow, closed, was then run in the furrow until the soil became fine and mellow and filling the furrow to within about three inches of the level; in this slight furrow, celery was set, July 28th, without any manure. April 12th, one hundred and fifty pounds of nitrate of soda was applied to the cabbage on the row, and fifty pounds to the radish plat. April 20th, seventy-five pounds of soda was applied to the beets and spinach. July 31st, one hundred pounds of kainit and twenty-five pounds of nitrate of soda was applied to the string beans. In summing up we find we have used 100 loads of manure, at $2 per load......... 2 tons of fertilizer, at $25 per ton...... 300 pounds nitrate of soda.......... ......... 10 cart loads of compost, at 75 cents....... Cost of seed...................... Interest on land, 2 acres........ $200 00 62 50 9 00 7 50 50 27 00 16 20 $322 70 Making a total of $322.70, exclusive of labor, for the two acres, cost or debtor. Which represents labor and profit. All the vegetables were wholesaled in a home market, and there was no freight nor commission to be deducted. The crops most affected by the drought, and returning the least percentage of profit, were the ones which should have returned the greatest. Early cabbage and celery both failed to return but half a crop, while the labor was increased; especially so with the celery, as it required three stools to give the same weight which one should, thereby necessitating three times the amount of labor in handling for a given amount of receipts. The profit in all crops is realized from the excess over the medium, the labor being nearly the same in both instances. There has been a constant inquiry during the past few years by farmers in New Jersey about the methods and profit in gardening, and many are annually starting in the business but to be disappointed. Do not let the success of others induce you to leave your business which you understand to engage in one you know nothing about; and I have no hesitancy in saying that a man who has spent years of his life on the farm in the production of the cereals would be as useless at the head of a market garden as he would be in the cab of a locomotive. Another class are those who desire to engage in the business through a man as foreman. To all such I would say: "The man who would through gardening thrive, must either hold the plow himself or drive." Men who by their knowledge and ability could fill such positions soon find land of their own to work, leaving you at sea without so much as a straw to cling to. Competition is increasing each year, through Southern gardeners, who have the superior advantages of climate, enabling them to place upon our markets vegetables of all varieties long before we can. Through the same agency, the railroads and steamers, our business is as much cut and interfered with by the South as is the grain farmer's by the great competition of the West with their cheap transportation rates. Southern products have caused no little alarm among gardeners who depend upon New York and Philadelphia for their markets, but as yet I see no need of great uneasiness. Their crops are, as a rule, about ended when ours commence, and though the keen appetites of consumers have been appeased they are willing to pay a price for the fresh and every way superior products of home growth that will enable us to continue to grow them profitably even for those markets. And without those markets we have hundreds of cities and towns, whose inhabitants number from 3,000 to 10,000, where market gardening will pay, and it is these cities and towns that should be catered to. We have towns bordering the greater cities, through which, every day, load after load of vegetables pass as through a wilderness, unmindful that these thousands of souls are fed by the same provisions they are loaded with. The grocer and retailer of these towns are obliged to make a trip to the city market, pay the commission men a profit, cart or pay drayage charges on the return trip. These extra expenses must be added to the products as cost, thereby bringing the article beyond the reach of many of the workingmen of the factories, who are the greatest consumers of such products, consequently lessens the demand and consumption. There are to-day hundreds of families, and even among farmers, who are ignorant of and have never tasted many of the tempting, healthful and invigorating vegetables of the garden, all of which have their functions to perform in nature, to keep the system of man in a healthy condition. The Germans, as a class, are as healthy as any people on the globe, and none enjoy and are better acquainted with the many vegetables and greens of the garden than they. |