The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-05-22
"GARDEN TRUCK"
RAW WcTUALs, AND HOW THEY ARE
CULTIVATED.
Ups and Downs of Gardeners Life-Why
He Never Grows Rich-AH Work
and No Play for
Bare Living.
cincinnati ENQUIRER. I

On a recent day number Of men and
women were observed hard at work in a
patch of garden just beyond Camp
Washington. The weary traveller ven
tured upon the premises, and curiosity as
well as serving a business purpose, led
him to an investigation of the affairs
about the place, and the manner in which
they were conducted Any views that
might have been entertained of entering
the life of a gardener were entirely dis
PEELED before the scene was left. Most of
the workers seemed too busy to talk, and
the majority were unable to understand
the English language. After several
truitless efforts to pry into the business
affairs of these people, the traveller ap-
preached a man and woman who ap-
peared to be more at leisure than the rest,
and who afterward turned out to be hus-
band and wife.
They were side by side on their knees
and bending over hOt-bed. The two
were engaged in planting lettuce and
radishes. Slowly and carefully the work
was performed, as though the city's pro-
visions for the next six months depended
upon the coming crop" of the small
hot-bed. Finally the work of one bed
was finished and that of an adjoining one
begun; s-,.o,
about the 1st of May, dryly replied
the man, in broken English and without
stopping his work.
"What if the floods come again?"
"Then the whole business will be ruined
and all you see around you now will be
destroyed, " said he, with sigh, and the
woman added: we never have chance
to save a cent If we live we are doing
we'll The landlord charges us 800 per
year for each acre of ground, and that is
almost as much as we get from good
crop This bed you see will yield a
basketful of lettuce on a good crop. and
will be worth 80 cents next spring. Here
are twenty large beds of lettuce that &C.
cupy a great deal of ground We are
working them now, will watch them all
winter, and next spring the lettuce must
be taken from the ground, washed and
prepared for market. Then we must
drive to the city and look for buyers.
For all this we get so. The Tadishes
will be about the same.
what else do you raiser"
In the hot beds? Well, that one will
contain Cucumbers, which will be ready
by the 1st of June.
How many cucumbers will each bed
hold-a basketful2"
The two laughed again, and the man
said: Il wish it did. If we get five from
each we win think it a big crop. About
three to each bed is the average. They
cording to the size So you see there is
not much profit, there, neither. When
the cucumbers are ripe the beds are taken
up and piled in some corner until fall
Then we plant cabbage and turnips, which
are ready for sale in the fall When the
cabbage and turnips are sold out we ar.
range the hot-beds again, and do the work
we are doing now.
Are expenses heavy?"
iC
which is 800 per acre per year. 1t takes
four or five acres to make a common-siZed
garden. The land all around here brings
about the same rent and further out from
here rent is cheaper.
The gardeners who grow wealthy in the
present day are few and far between.
They probably have more ups and downs
to contend with than any other class, but
yet seem contented at all times. Most
gardeners attend market three times a
week during the early vegetable season,
and, while q heavy load and an empty
purse are taken to the city, an empty load
and an only partially-filled purse are
brought home. During the war the small
number of gardeners then in the vicinity
of Cincinnati made money, most of them
growing wealthy and the well-to per.
sons of that class to-day are those who re-
allied high profits on their produce before
and during the late rebellion. Produce
was then high, and raised by gardeners in
abundance. Since that time the number
has rapidly increased, until nearly every
available tract within easy access to the
city is occupied by these people, as the
city grows and the population increases
, the demand for every commodity of life,
including garden truck, " becomes
greater, but the increase of the product of
| the gardener exceeds the increased de.
mand for the same, having tendency to
oversupply the market and maintain 8
very low price for the goods.