, 1886-10-14
Garden Truck.



on recent dav number of men and
women were observed hard at work IN a
patch of gar!en Just beyond Camp
Washington The weary Traveller ven
turrd upon the premises. and curiosity, as
wei aS serving q business purpose, led
hm To ;..s ...ycS'i-alIou of the affairs
about the place. and the manner in which
they were conducted Any views that
might have lrgu entertained Of entering
the life of a gardener were entirely dis
PEELED before the scene was left Most ot
the workers seemed too busy 10 talk, and
The ma ority Were unable to understand
the English language. After several
fruiIlcSS efforts 10 pry into the business
Il fairs Of these people, the uavci2r up-
preached 4 man and woman who ap-
reared to bc more at leisure than the rest,
and who aftCrWaTd turned out 10 be hu5-
band ana wife.
They were side by side on their knees
and bending over hot bed. The two
were engaged in planting lettuce and
radishcs Slowly and carefully the work
was performed, as though the citys pro
visions for the next six months depended
upon the coming crop" of the small
hot bed iualiy the work of one bed
was finished and that of au adjoining one
begun.
%When will that be ready for markets" ="
About the 1st of May dryly replied
the man, in broken English and without
stopping his work.
wv hat 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 a sigh, and the
woman added: we never have a chance
TO save a cent If we live we are doin g
we'll. The landlord charges us $50 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 4
baSketful of lettuce on 4 good crop, and
will be worth 30 cents next spring. Here
Sre twenty large beds Of lettuce that oc-
cupy great deal Of ground We arc
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 $40. The radishes
Will be about the same "
What else do you raise?"
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 baSkctfuly"
The two laughed again, and the man
said i wish it did. If we get five from
each we Will think it 4 big crop. About
three to each bod is the average They
sell for cents apiece, or two for !. ac-
coTding 10 the size. So you see there is
not much profit, there neither When
the cucumbers are ripe the beds are taken
up and piled i'll 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?"
The greatest expense is the rent,
which is $50 per acre per Year. 1t takes
four OF i've acres 10 make a common-sized
garden. The land all around here brings
about the same rent, and further cut 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 contentcd at al times Most
gardeners attend market three times a
week during the early vegetable season,
anu. while 4 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-do per-
sons OF that class to-day are those who re-
allied high prUn.s 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 occup ed by these pcople. US 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
oyersupply the market and maintain a
very low price for tie goods.