Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-05-07
MARKET GARDENING
AN Opportunity for the Young Farmers
About Augusta
TO MAKE LOTS OF MONEY

smartest business men in Maine 20
nal Yesterday, IF you knew what prediction,
4uan'ities OF early vegetables are imnor,.a
INTO augusta and other Maine cities ev.r
year from out the State. Here are vo,na
men going West; farmers compla;n;na Tho.
'heir land Is run cut, and that farming doesn't
pay Why, there's no business in the world
'hat IS so sure and yields such large return
LOT the capital invested. But farming a. :,
Is usually conducted. is simply an assault and
battery on nature
Inc journal thought of the fertile farms
up and down the Kennebec, of the virgin soil
OF Aroostook, and of the Sandy river valley
ana was little disposed to take exceptions
"Of course there are good farmers in
Maine," said the business man ..wb.,
mean to say is, that they do no, make half
the money out Of their land that thev ought
to do. They spend too much money for cron.
they should raise themselves. Look at the
enormous quantities Of corn, grain and flour
that are brought into Maine every wear"
Should you recommend farmers to raise
everything they consumer"
mot at all. But don't like to see onr
young men follow in the ruts marked out bv
their fathers. and let the smart fellows ont
side the State shove their early fruits and
vegetables into our cities. and get fancy prices
for them. There are some market gardeners
In cape Elizabeth who are supplying the
Portland market and growing rich: but there
are no gardeners worth the name around
Lewiston, Bath. Augusta or Bangor. farm
er will plant an acre to potatoes, and net per-
haps SIS from the piece. Potatoes sap the
land fearfully. OFF the same acre, I will
venture to say the farmer might make profit
of at least S2OC.''
GLOW can he do it,
| Easy as rolling off a log. Go into mar
ket gardening. Raise cabbage by the Fourth
Of July"
| "What, in this latitude?'
Eyes; I've done it many time You want
to plant your seed as early as the first of
September, and winter the tender plants in
cold frames. As soon as possible, trans
plant them, and then attend them carefully.
You will get at least three months the start
of your neighbor who tries the old way.
For these cabbages any dealer in Augusta will
bor's eyes stick out.
Take lettuce, which usually sells at
Wholesale in Boston through the summer at
10 cents dozen. Lettuce should be in
every farmers garden, ready for the table
from June LIST to October. 1t needs only
small patch Of land to grow it, but it must be
very rich, and the first lot will come from
! plants raised in hot bed, which can be had
of any market gardener for less than cent
a piece. The method of cultivation IS simply
to sow the seed in drills. IA inches apart,
cultivate with the scutfie hoe. and thin the
plants to six eight inches apart in the
rows they will head in about eight weeks
from seed in summer. The black seeded
Tennisball is the best variety for out of door
growth it is very tender, and will head in
hot weather if kept moist, otherwise it will
run TO seed without heading.
.'Why,a boy can make more money raising
Strawberries than his father can make in hay
and potatoes. Currants, gooseberries, and
other small fruits are very profitable. One
man in Gardiner is getting rich out of his
garden. He raises about ton of horseradish
which sells faster than he can pull it.
''IIow about Onions?'
"Onions are the most profitable crop
man can raise, if he understands it. Go over
to the Insane Hospital, if you want to see an
onion bed. Captain Lakin raises 800 bushels
on a half acre every time. There is money IN
onion seed, too. at "a pound. Seedsmen
are writing all over the State for it. and will
pay any price for it, most.
The season is backward this year, and
great many folks haven't made their gardens
vet. will give you few hints for readers
of the Journal. The early crops that like
light. sandy loan, are peas and beans, lettuce,
onion sets. green's beets. and if very heavily
MANFRED. early cabbages and celery. Rad
ishes can only be grown smooth in very fine
sand. well enriched with very fine manure
All the roots such as carrots. parsnips, tur-
nips beets, etc, grow very quickly ana
smoothly in sandy loan, and are much nicer
for table use than the coarser and larger roots
produced on stiff soil. They also do best
where the land was MANFRED in the fall previ-
Gus to planting.
The crops that do best on rather stiff SOIL
are potatoes onions, celery, late cabbages,
late beans, Hubbard squashes. and fruits OF
all kinds. When well drained, such soil VIII
often produce also. excellent early cabbages'
but not quite so early as those grown OH
lighter land To produce good crop OF ear
IL cabbage. or of good early cabbage green's
requires a state of fertility that can only be
attained bv several years of previous hea'y
manuring. 1t is hardly possible to work ih'o
the soil enough manure in one or two years
70 grow these crops in perfection; perhaps
tho use of some of the ntrates might DO IT,
for am satisfied that notification IN the son
i needed to produce rapid growth OF eao-
bace this takes place naturally and reau'is
enough during the sutry weather of August