$14,440 00 1,000 00 3. Fertilizers 4. Buildings-Dwelling, $3,500; 6 laborers' cottages, $1,200; 2 dwellings for foremen, $800; barn, $200; stables for 10 horses or mules, race-track style, $500; wagon and implement shed, $200; packing house, $1,000; fumigating house, $250 5. Water-tank and tower, $250; gasoline engine, pump, piping, etc., $500. 6. Fumigating-barrel pump, $40; bucket pump, $4; cyanide of potassium, sulfuric acid, lime, copper sulfate, sulfur, $100 . 7. Implements-4 two-horse wagons, $280; 1 two-horse wagon, $40; cart, $30; harness for above, $100; 4 two-horse plows, $32; 10 one-horse plows, $45; 10 cultivators, $40; 2 harrows, different, $50; cutaway harrow, $20; seed drill, $75; mowing machine, $45; horse-rake, $20; tree-digger, $40; hand tools, $60; repairs, $100; pruning and carpenter's tools, $50.. 8. Seeds, trees, seedlings, etc. This item may be estimated as high as $15,000, but minimum is. 7,650 00 750 00 144 00 1,027 00 5,000 00 500 00 1,000 00 3,386 00 $34,897 00 EQUIPMENT FOR A GENERAL TRUCKFARM By John W. Lloyd The capital required for starting a truck-farm will depend on its size and location and the particular crops to be grown. This article will consider a truck-farm in southern Illinois. In the principal trucking region of southern Illinois, the leading vegetable crops are tomatoes, cucumbers, gem melons, sweet-potatoes, asparagus and rhubarb, with string beans, spinach and winter onions holding places of minor importance. Although the accompanying estimate of the cost of equipping a truckfarm has reference to a particular region, it is applicable, in a general way, to other regions where the same crops are produced and similar methods of culture are practiced. In the region under consideration, an eighty-acre farm with modest buildings, located on a good road, within three miles of a shipping point, can be purchased for about sixty dollars per acre. Probably twenty-five acres of the land would be suitable only for timber and pasture. Another ten acres might be left in meadow. This would leave fortyfive acres to be plowed and cropped. The first year, twenty-five acres would be sufficient land to devote to the distinctively truck crops. The other twenty acres could be planted to corn and cowpeas. The twenty-five acres devoted to truck crops might be divided as follows: 5 acres tomatoes, 2 acres melons, 2 acres cucumbers, 10 acres sweetpotatoes, 2 acres asparagus, 2 acres rhubarb, 1 acre string beans. One acre of winter onions and 11 acres of spinach could be planted in the fall on the land occupied by melons earlier in the season. For starting the tomato, melon, cucumber and sweet-potato plants, two fire hotbeds, each one hundred feet long by six feet wide, would be needed. This is assuming that the tomato plants are to be shifted to cold frames when the hotbeds are needed for starting the melons and cucumbers, and that the bedding of the sweet-potatoes is to be deferred until after the melons and cucumbers are transplanted into the field. Otherwise, more beds would be needed. The two beds will hold approximately ninety-six hundred tomato plants set four inches apart each way. This number will be sufficient to plant the five acres, and allow 10 per cent extra for replanting, provided the plants are placed five feet apart each way in the field. Forty-eight hundred hills of melons can be started in "dirt bands," or bottomless boxes, in one bed, and the same number of cucumbers in the other. This again allows 10 per cent for replanting. Fifty bushels of sweetpotatoes can be bedded in the two beds, and will furnish enough plants at the first pulling to set the ten acres. For carrying the tomato plants after they are shifted from the hotbeds, four coldframes, each one hundred feet long and six feet wide, would be needed. This would allow the tomato plants to be set nearly six inches apart each way. The cost of materials for the hotbeds and coldframes would be as follows: 3,000 feet lumber, $75; 8 loads flag-stones, $8; 66 hotbed sash, $165; 267 yards canvas, $21.36; 10,000 dirt bands for melons and cucumbers, $10; total, $279.36. To cultivate properly the area under consideration and to haul the products to the shipping point, two teams of horses or mules would be required. It would pay to invest about $500 in the two teams. For hauling the manure, preparing the land, planting and caring for the crops, and transporting the products to the railroad station, the following equipment would be needed: 2 wagons, $120; 2 sets bolster springs, $14; 2 wagon covers, $12; set double harness, $34; set double harness (chain), $16; 2 twelve-inch breaking plows, $24; one-horse turning plow, $6.50; sweep, $3.50; disc harrow, $22; spike-tooth smoothing harrow, $11; doubleshovel cultivator, $3.50; 2 five-shovel cultivators, $6.50; spike-tooth cultivator, $3.75; two-horse cultivator, $18; one-horse corn drill, $12; planker, $2; "boat," $1; 2 short single-trees, $1; 4 hoes, $1.60; 2 manure forks, $1.70; 2 shovels, $1.30; 4 spades, $2.60. Total expense for implements, $317.95. The cost of the planker and "boat" refers merely to the material used in their construction, since it is assumed that these will be made on the place. For making these implements and for constructing the hotbeds and coldframes, as well as for other general use, a few carpenter's tools would be needed. These, including axes, saws, hammers, bits, and the like, may be roughly estimated at ten dollars. For planting the forty-five acres with the crops and in the way specified, the following list of seeds and plants would be needed: 5 ounces tomato seed, $1; 2 pounds melon seed, $2; 2 pounds cucumber seed, $2; 50 bushels seed sweet-potatoes, $25; 11,000 asparagus roots, $44; 5,500 rhubarb roots, $44; 1 bushel seed beans, $7; 2 bushels seed corn, $3; 10 bushels cowpeas, $15. Total cost of seeds and plants, $143. For manuring the melons and cucumbers in the hill, one full car-load (thirty tons) of manure would be required. Unless the land is fairly rich, the tomatoes also should be manured or fertilized in the hill; and the land on which the asparagus and rhubarb are to be planted should receive a dressing of manure. In all, no less than three car-loads should be used. This would have to be shipped in from St. Louis or Chicago, for the section under consideration, and would cost, including freight, approximately twenty dollars per car. For handling properly the tomatoes, melons, cucumbers and beans at harvest time, at least two packing sheds would need to be constructed. These might be very rough, temporary affairs like the one shown in Fig. 219, or perhaps slightly more elabo This would cost about $10, making the cost of the two sheds $20. The labor would be a large item of expense on a place of the kind under consideration. Four men would be required to handle the work properly after the season opened in March, and additional help would be needed at the time of transplanting the various crops in the field and at the height of the picking season. Assuming that possession was secured in the fall, one man's time would be fully employed during the remainder of the autumn in the construction of hotbeds and hauling manure, and additional help would be needed in the latter operation because of the necessity of unloading cars promptly. Early in February the planting and care of the hotbeds would begin, so that it would be fair to figure on one man's being employed practically all the time from November 1 to March 1. At the price of labor ruling in the locality under consideration, the expense for labor from November 1 until July 1-after which time the receipts from the sale of products would meet the current expenses-would be about as follows: Other expenses will arise that it is impossible to foresee. A small estimate for these would be $69.69, making a total capital required of $7,000. No provision has been made for baskets and crates, as these are usually purchased at the local factories as needed, and are paid for after the products are sold. Neither has a storage house for sweet-potatoes been considered. It would be advisable, for the first season at least, to hire storage space in a commercial plant. CAPITAL REQUIRED FOR A MODERN INTENSIVE MARKET-GARDEN By Warren W. Rawson The first thing to consider is the location. This should not be over five miles from market. If the distance is more than five miles, only one trip a day can be made to market; whereas, if less, two trips can easily be made. Thus it would be cheaper to pay $500 per acre for a place within the above limit than to pay $100 per acre for a location further out. The saving in teaming and time of a man would more than pay the difference in interest and taxes. Anothor important consideration in the selection of a location is the soil. This should be of a sandy nature, with a subsoil of yellow loam over sand. This character of soil is especially adapted to quick-growing crops. If there is a clay subsoil, the land is likely to be cold and will not drain quickly enough to grow early crops in either a wet or a dry season. If possible the land should have a southern slope, thus assuring earliness of crops and better adaptability to irrigation. The location being chosen, the next thing is the necessary equipment to do a paying business. This article will consider a place of ten acres to cost $5,000 for the land and $5,000 more for the buildings, including house, stable and wash-shed. Then an additional $5,000 is required for three greenhouses, each to be 200 feet long and 30 feet wide. It would be impracticable to have less than three greenhouses because of the different temperatures required by the different crops. These crops may be limited to five, namely, cucumbers, radishes, and one-half-inch pipe, 2,000 feet of one and onefourth-inch pipe, 400 feet of one-inch hose, 300 feet of three-fourths-inch hose and 200 feet of two and one-half-inch hose. This quantity of pipe and hose with fittings connecting all departments would cost, all laid, about $1,000. Four horses would be required, at a cost of $200 each; one two-horse and one one-horse market-wagon, $400; two tipcarts and one manure wagon, $300. A complete collection of all necessary machines and implements, using only the most modern, should also be added, at a cost of about $500. Fertilizers and manure should be on hand early in the winter to be prepared for spring use. The manure should be turned over twice before the first of March, and the fertilizer should be mixed by that time in the proper proportion and be ready for use. If manure alone were used, it would take about twenty cords to the acre, which, at $5 per cord, would amount to $1,000. Also, if fertilizers alone were used the cost would be the same, as it would take about three tons to the acre, which at the average market price would be about $100 per acre. Fig. 220. A nest of hotbeds on a market-garden in Massachusetts. -Each row of beds is supplied with a windbreak fence. The greenhouses are shown beyond the hotbeds. (Warren W. Rawson.) lettuce, parsley and tomatoes. Taking into consideration the varied conditions that these crops require, it can readily be seen how little could be done with less glass area. In addition to the houses, more or less hotbed sash will be required in the spring. The grower will need at least 400 sashes, at a cost of $2.50 each. Then the fences, mats, planks and shutters will cost about $2.50 for every sash, making a total of $2,000. Under these sashes are grown many crops, and they are especially valuable for the hardening-off of plants which have been started in the houses, transplanted to these beds, and later to be planted in the field. It would be impossible to do this work in the houses; thus it is seen what an important part the sashes take in the growing of many of the crops. The irrigation outfit, one of the most important requirements, east as well as west, should be arranged to supply water to any part of the ten acres, including greenhouses, wash-shed, stable and dwelling-house. Of course, if the water could be supplied by the city or town in which the marketgardener is located, at a cost of not over ten cents per 1,000 gallons, it would be cheaper to have it thus supplied than to go to the expense of erecting tanks, windmill and steam pump, provided the water was naturally of easy access. But it would not be advisable for any one to buy a place where water is not easily accessible. The piping of the place for irrigation should be done systematically. The mistake of laying too few pipes should be avoided, for it is much cheaper to lay pipe than to supply hose. The main pipes should be at least two and one-half inches in diameter and the cross pipes one and one-fourth inches. One-inch hose should be used for outside surface irrigation and two and one-half-inch hose for irrigating furrows. For the ten-acre piece, using the sized pipe mentioned above, it would require 2,000 feet of two Taking into consideration the cost of all the necessary requirements for the proper fitting up of a modern market-garden, using a ten-acre plant as a basis, the total would be as follows: Land In the above figures incidentals are not included, but these may be saved in some of the estimates, which are all given in round numbers. Neither has Fig. 221. Market-gardener's greenhouse. (Rawson.) the cost of a driving horse and buggy or automobile for the owner been taken into consideration. He will have too much to do the first year or two to have time for either one of them. As to labor, it will require ten men in winter and twenty in summer to work a place of this size. Above all, to be successful, the man himself must know his business thoroughly, and be able to do any kind of work that is required on the place. It can readily be seen, from a survey of the above estimates, that the expenses will be large; therefore good crops and good crops only must be grown to make the business pay. The taxes and interest will amount to nearly $1,500 and the total running expenses to about $10,000. On this basis the place should produce about $15,000. If the place should comprise twenty or twenty-five acres, a much larger amount could be produced at a greater percentage of profit. Of course, more fertilizer and manure would be required, also an additional amount of pipe for irrigation, incurring an extra expense of $4,000 to $5,000, but the returns would be greater in proportion to the money spent than in the ten-acre piece. The writer has endeavored to make the estimates large enough in every case to cover all necessary requirements. It depends on the man himself whether this place can be run at a profit. If properly managed and equipped as above, a marketgarden of this size will net the owner as fair a return for the money invested as would be received in almost any other line of business. As to crops, three should be grown in the houses and two in the field. By growing the staple crops, such as lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, rhubarb, tomatoes and parsley, in the houses, and cabbage, beets, peas, beans, tomatoes, spinach and celery in the field, with abundance of manure or fertilizer and plenty of water, there should be no failure of any crop, and a full crop always brings a full return. The writer would recommend that no fruit or shade trees be on the place or around it. It will be much cheaper to buy fruit than to grow it unless there is a small orchard by itself, which is in good condition and does not interfere with the marketgarden. It is also not necessary to have any hay land, as it will cost more to grow the hay than to buy it unless a large quantity can be grown, which Fig. 222. Intensive market-gardening, New York city. The hotbeds and coldframes occupy a considerable area. The small areas of the different crops are seen in the foreground. of course would be impossible on a ten-acre farm. Then, it takes time to care for the hay, which always comes in the busy part of the vegetable season, when time is worth more expended taking care of the garden crops. Fig. 223. Cabbage grown by intensive methods. The writer has had an experience of forty years in the market-garden business, having begun with 30 acres and at the present time cultivating 100 acres. The young market-gardener of today has great advantage over the one of forty years ago. There are at present many agricultural colleges to educate young men for this special line of work, whereas forty years ago there were none. These colleges and experiment stations are also doing valuable work for the more experienced marketgardeners, in showing them how to combat successfully the many insects and fungi which now destroy the crops. These are rapidly on the increase, especially in the greenhouses, and the protection of the crops from these pests has become a very important part of the business. No matter how successful the market-gardener may be, there is always something for him to learn. Every place is different from others, some crops growing better on one man's land than on his neighbor's, and vice versa. By keeping account of the different crops, that is, the amount of yield and the return for the same, it can be easily ascertained which crops are the most profitable to grow on that particular place, and these crops should be adopted. EQUIPMENT AND CAPITAL REQUIRED FOR THE CUT-FLOWER INDUSTRY By Anne Dorrance The following advice applies to roses only, and is based on the experience of one establishment consisting of thirty-seven greenhouses. These houses are built in two "ranges" (Fig. 224), one range being heated with steam, the other with hot water, each range having its own heating plant and crosshouse. The individual houses vary in width from thirteen feet to twenty-three feet four inches, and are one hundred and fifty feet long. Cut-roses are the only product, each house being devoted to one variety of rose. Two small houses, ten by one hun used. Second-hand pipe makes as good purlin posts Range No.z. Heated by Hot Water ח m m m m L L K-K-K-K} Houses First built. L-L-L m-m-m n-n d X-1, Ր next Cross or connecting Fig. 224. A practical arrangement of greenhouses when there are a number devoted to different varieties of plants requiring different conditions.-The crosshouses run north and south, while the greenhouses proper run east and west; this allows the light to fall perpendicularly on the glass. (Dorrance.) has been suggested that a better method would be to deflect the whole range a little to the west, thus getting more sunlight during the short winter days. The houses should be sufficiently far apart that the ridge of one house may cast no shadow on the one immediately behind. The same consideration must be given to other buildings in the neighborhood, also to the proximity of factories or railroads using bituminous coal, as the smoke from this coal cuts off a large share of sunlight and makes a greasy, obscuring deposit on the glass. Aiming to eliminate all shadows possible, modern methods substitute iron whenever practicable for the heavier wooden construction. In this way, iron rafters, purlins, angle-irons and purlin posts are Tools. The tools needed will fall under three general heads. First come those of construction, if the proprietor be his own builder, the necessary carpenter's tools, a forge and tools for cutting iron and drilling it for the different bolts and screws used in construction. The second head is closely related to the first, and includes mainly the tools needed for repair. These should be on every place of any size, to repair quickly and thoroughly a break that might come on a bitter night, when a short delay would cost a year's labor. Such would be the pipe-working tools, wrenches, cutting and threading machines, rubber for packing valve pumps and unions, and some asbestos wick packing for the valve stems. To these must be added a supply of pipe of the various sizes, with fittings to match. All fittings should be malleable, with a bead. Lead and oil should be provided. The third head includes the tools belonging to the greenhouse work proper. Much of this work will require a team, although not for full time. Forks, spades, shovels and wheelbarrows for use at planting time must be supplied, spraying outfits, devices for |