Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-03-28
The Garden of a Farmers Dauqhter.

l am a farmers daughter. and for
two summers have had a garden of my
own. By some chance my garden did
not suffer badly from last summers
early drouth and later cool weather.
Possibly early piowing, plenty of ma
llure and continual digging had some-
thing to do with it.
l did all the work except the plowing
and narrowing, and sold vegetables to
the following amounts: Peas S12.I5,
radishes p cents, beets 1921, cucumberS
$1.95, cabbage s5.9G, string beans, s6.56,
shell beans $3.50, tomatoes S6,23, lettuce
$15.i6, sweet corn S2.39, bunch onions 5S
cents. ripe onions Sis, turnips 80 cents,
peppers 20 cents, celery $3.50. parsnips
80 cents. caulifiower % cents, parsley
% cents; total, $10.32.
The seeds cost $50, manure SlJ, new
tools $2.95. gardening books and papers
$40. This left si1.S5 for work and
profit. The total number of hours Of
labor was $50. ] estimate two-tifths of
this time was spent preparing the veg
etabies Tor market and in delivering
them. NJ 10 cents per hour. the cost
would be $lJ.2H. The horse hire for de-
| liVering would be worth about $40.
Total cost Of marketing $3.50. The
family. however. ate at least so worth
of vegetables. which would leave this
| sum free to be counted as profit.
The produce was sold to one market
and four private families. by study
| ing books and papers about marketing.
and looking hard At vegetables on sale
! in cities visited. / learned how Vegeta-
blcs should be put up. The vegetables
were gathered early in the morn
| ing. washed clean enough to be cooked
without further handling. and delivered
| in time 10 be used for dinner. At the
time Of delivery orders were taken for
the next day. and the customers We're
told the other kinds Of vegetables that
| would soon be ready. Fresh veSeta-
| hlcs. honest measure and good quality.
WAS the aim. Quality was not sacri-
| feed to eariness. My customers want
ed wrinklcd peas, sweet corn and
smooth tomatoes.
| When l had as much as n peck or a
dozen of anything it was taken to the
market, whose chief supply came from
the city. AS my stuff came on q little
earlier than other peoples, and as
tried to have it as neatly sorted and
put up like that from the city, it was
given the preference. All unsightly
vegetables were saved for home use.
Those not fit for the table were gladly
deyoured by the hens in the yard near
the garden, or thrown on the compost
lneap. Although higher prices were re-
eeived from the retail trade, the extra
time in doing up small packages and
in delivering them hardly made it more
profitable than the market sales. This
year | plan to have more Of the garden
in early vegetables to sell at the mar
ket The later ones are difficult TO sell
and the price is low.
| Having found the kinds preferred,
they are the kinds I intend to plant.
, For instance, at home we considered
New York lettuce the best in flavor and
, the most crisp of the eight kinds tried
: At the market it was condemned as
coarse looking and easy willing. Sala-
mander was pronounced good looking
| and good keeper, SO Salamander il
Will be next year.
! For certain vegetables, such as rad
ishcs. bunch onions and peppers. there
s little demand in our town. 1t will
not be worth while to raise many OF
: thatn. The root maggots attacked the
3 tturnins ana spoiled their looks in every
place | pianted them. Their space viii
n he filled by something else. 1t is beS
: to sell root vegetables. such as onions
. ANA h"ets. from the field, if possible
4 1T is Il good deal of work to put then
: in thr cellar. and the increased price
later hardly makes up for the waste
: Eesidc the vegetables sold last summer
| put = lot into the cellar. which vii
9 probably bring in no money. but will b,
used ly the family.-NcW England
o homestead.