Growing vegetables under glass gives smaller returns than flowers;
as, for instance, a head of lettuce brings much less than a plant of
carnations, and suffers more from the competition of southern crops.
Nevertheless, the greenhouse-grown vegetables have come into
prominence lately because they can be raised in houses that are not
good enough for flowers. Lettuce and tomatoes are the principal
crops; some growers raise thousands of dollars' worth each year. The
greenhouse is also used for forcing plants which are afterwards
transplanted to the open air. This develops them at a time when they
could not grow outdoors and gives them such a start that they are
very early on the market, thereby realizing the highest prices.
"Nearness to market is the most important feature in a greenhouse.
In large cities, manure, which is the chief fertilizer, can be had
in most cases for the hauling. The short haul is an important item,
and, most important of all, the gardener who is near the market can
take advantage of high prices, if the grower is near enough to the
city to make two or three trips; in such a fluctuating market as New
York, it is to his advantage."
Some kind of a greenhouse is necessary, but one large enough to
produce a living would cost a very large sum. Vegetable raising
under glass has been made profitable in special localities where
nearly the whole community gives its time to building up the
industry, but complete success can be attained only by having
absolute control of all the conditions entering into production, and
giving assiduous and undivided attention to detail.
Leonard Barron, in the _Garden Magazine,_ says: "The best type of
greenhouse for all-round purposes is unquestionably what is known as
the even span--that is, a house in which the roof is in the form of
an inverted V, so as to be exposed as much as possible to sunlight,
and having the ridge-pole in the center. All other types of houses
are modifications from the simplest form, and are designed in some
way or other to fit some special requirements. These requirements
may be: the cultural necessities for some particular crop; a desire
to have the atmospheric conditions inside more or less abnormal at
given seasons (as in a forcing house); or an adaptation to some
peculiarity of the situation, as when a greenhouse is built as an
adjunct to other buildings."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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