Morning journal and courier., 1893-03-02
MARKET GARDENING.


MARKET GARDENING.
Paper by Hon. Theophilus Eaton
OF North Haven-Advice to Farmers
by One Who Knows How 1t Is
Aimself-How to Succeed In Mar
ket Gardening.
The following interesting and practical
paper on Market Gardening was read by
Hon. Theophilus Eaton of North Haven at
tho Farmers Institutes held Tuesday at
Milford and Wednesday at Cheshire:
Success in any line Of business depends
upon will, industry and adaptability.
This principle applies well to market gar
dening. AS a rule, a successful business
man attends to no other business but his
own. This theory holds true in farming.
| A farmer, to succeed in his business, must
be where his business IL, with life and en-
ergy enough about him to attend to it; and
this question presents itself to us: "What
kind of farming should we pursues" and
to our opportunities. With us we find
our soil and location best adapted to mar
ket gardening. I claim that every far
mer cannot be a market gardener; but
every market gardener must be far
mer, and of the very best kind. We
must study ourselves first, then our mar
kets, our roads, our soil, all our sur
roundings, and many things we do not
find in ordinary farming. 1t requires
brains, good gift of ''gab," plenty of
brass, ready at all times, and under all
circumstances, to tell the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth. and have
| disposition to receive the same with
good blessing; for good salesman is half
there is in being successful gardener.
do not claim to know everything about
market gardening; have worked at 1t all
/ my life and am just through my "a, B,
c." ready now to learn something, and am
learning something new every year by
practice and experience; and one thing I
| have found out; that economy, frugality
and perseverance will count on the right
| side. Experience has taught me to do a
little and try to do it well; getting better
prices than trying to do too much and
selling for less. The more you do, the
more help, the more fertilizer, and the
| more expense, without extra recompense.
Over-produotion Of worthless, inferior
| vegetables has done more injury to the
cause of market gardening than any one
thing Planting worthless seeds, planting
with little fertilizer, and growing without
| any cultivation, and ,as result, selling for
under price and killing the market. Mar
ket gardening in this section has assumed
enormous proportions; it occupies acres
around our cities and village=; and as our
cities are growing every year, it is destined
to be the leading branch of farming in the
future. Bat to make it successful neither
labor, money or fertilizer must be spared;
walton and liberal supply Of fertilizer Is
the great secret of success in any kind CT
farming, especially gardening. We can
not rob the soil and expect great revenues
| year after year. Tie successful gardener
is the one who has the best goods for the
best market, and we realizs this more and
more every year. The coarse, rough, IN
saleable vegetable is thing of the past,
not of the future. We need not fear over
The cheap rates of transportation that we
door; and there are not many vegetables
but what we can ship to other markets,
even as far as New York and Boston, as
one of my neighbor gardeners did the past
summer; competing with Jersey and Long
Island truckers aud receiving a better
price on account of the superior quality;
putting them on the boat at night, they
were received in New York in the morning
as fresh as in our own market. With all
the improved methods of farming, with the
fertilizers, etc., at our command at reason
able prices, the prospects are brighter for
the future than the past. One great draw
back has been, and Is, the failure to find
good reliable seedsmen who could sell
you good, honest, reliable seeds, and know
what they were selling. "Sell, no matter
what or how" has been their motto alto
gether too much. Why, I have known
gardeners to pick and sell all the cucum
bers, peas, corn, squash, melons, and
many other vegetables they could in mark
ct, and sell the eeeds from the refuse to
the scotsman. I remember few years
: ago, mot many either" I was standing in
a certains store in New Haven, when an
other gardener drove up, approached me
and said, "did you leave those melons
here9" I answered, emo, ;" and asking why,
he said "because they look like my lac,
years scrubs; could not sell the melons,
, so I sold the seeds to so and so,'" calling
the frm by name. I haye often heard
that remark. I sometimes think If there
, was a law regarding the buying and sell
ing of seeds, compelling the ssedsmen to
guarantee that their seeds were true to
name and quality and were grown by them,
or under their supervision, that the first
crop had not been gathered and sold. that
they will not take moro than five kinds out
of one bin, that they will not tell any
more lies than person can conveniently
believe, that they would not talk faster
or tree agent, and If we could do this, the
: cry of abandoned farms or runaway boys
in New England never would be heard Of
, again; and would have this law apply tc
} ! the farmers, aud compel them to sell, il
| they have seeds to SELL nothing but what
is pure and Of the first quality; because
the "honest old farmsr" sometimes strays
from the path of rectituds and virtue, when
he IS es a chance to grasp Zig silver dol
lar that is offered by the seedsman, and
, neither one cares whit who the man i;
that gets "stuck," as long as they get theil
money.
, to realize the necessity of giving our farm
ers and gardeners better and pur
er seeds and grains. I b-lievt
! it ia best as far ss practicable
to save your own seeds, provided you gel
good thing to save from; you are not Tia
BILE to get as good the 81 cond time; it is Q
: lottery: you have struck luck, keep it; but
do not tell your neighbor; that is one Of
the patents on agriculture; they FAY
''there is Iuo patent on agrieulture;" thai
Is q mistake, but the inventor never gives
his patent away. Yet We frequently hea,
some one say, "Thst was my idea," or
'That was my plan" but the man who car
ried 1t out received the benefit. We all
: try to be the first one there, realizing the
old proverbl to be true with us, "The early
bird catches the worm"
I do not wish to be understood that good
, good crop or good market gardener; nc
, matter how good the seeds may be for some,
they would never have good crops. The