Mill! 
 
ERKEIEY 
 
 BRARY 
 
 Date 
 
 PERSONAL LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 JOHN WM. GREGG 
 
 Valut 
 
TRUCK-FARMING 
 
 AT THK 
 
 SOUTH. 
 
 A Guide to the Raising of Vegetables for 
 Northern Markets. 
 
 BY 
 
 DR. A. OEMLER, 
 
 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE CHATHAM CO., GEORGIA, FBUIT AND VEGETABLE GROWERS 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 
 NEW AND REVISED EDITION. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHANGE JUDD COMPANY, 
 62 & 54 LAFAYETTE PLACE. 
 
 1910 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888, by the 
 
 O. JUDD CO., 
 In the Office of the Librarian oi Congress, at Washington. 
 
 Add to ITibV 
 
 GSfft 
 
 PBINTED IN U. S. A. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Preface 5 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Labor 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Soil and its Preparation 10 
 
 CHAPTMR III. 
 Manures, their Kinds and Uses 15 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The notation of Crops , 54 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Weeds 59 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Seed and Seed Sowing t 62 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Hot-Beds, Cold Frames and Weather 71 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Transplanting 82 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Water and Watering 87 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Packing and Markets 90 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Insects and their Remedies 96 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Asparagus 119 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Beans, Bush or Snap 130 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Beet 134 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Cabbage 187 
 
 < 3 > 822 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Cauliflower 163 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Cucumber . , 169 
 
 CHAPTER XVin. 
 Egg Plant or Guinea Squash 175 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Kale, Borecole or Sprouts 178 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Lettuce 180 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Onions : 181 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Pea 191 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Potato 195 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Radish 207 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 Spinach ..208 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Squash 209 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 Sweet Potato 213 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 Tomato 220 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 Watermelon 229 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 Strawberry 236 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Analyses and Values of Fertilizers 252 
 
 Economy in Fertilization 257 
 
 Formula for Composts -259 
 
 Useful Tables... 262 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THIS work is written in the hope that it may be useful 
 to my fellow farmers who are engaged in growing vege- 
 tables for the Northern markets. The instructions giv- 
 en, and facts presented, are mainly such as are not to be 
 found in the few works extant on Southern gardening, 
 and are those resulting from a long experience. When I 
 commenced to produce vegetables for shipment, about 
 twenty-six years ago, there were few or none following 
 the pursuit as an exclusive business on a large scale. 
 The consignments at that time consisted mainly of the 
 mere surplus crops of the local market gardeners. The 
 business has gradually developed to astonishing propor- 
 tions, principally in the vicinity of the larger seaport 
 cities of the South. One of the results has been that 
 land within three miles of Savannah, for instance, has 
 risen in value one hundred and fifty per cent, within the 
 last twelve years. While the crops of the whole area 
 tributary to Savannah, were by no means satisfactory 
 during the past season, the aggregate quantity of pro- 
 duce was large. The following statement shows the pro- 
 duce forwarded to the Northern markets direct from the 
 port of Savannah by the steamships alone. 
 
 EXPORTS (BY STEAMERS) OF VEGETABLES (AND ORANGES FROM FLORIDA), 
 
 FOR THE SEASON ENDING AUGUST Slst, 1882. 
 
 PORT. 
 
 VEGET 
 
 Crates. 
 
 ABLES. 
 
 Barrels. 
 
 OKA! 
 
 Boxes. 
 
 (IKS. 
 
 Barrels. 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 PACKAGES. 
 
 New York 
 
 105,739 
 50,787 
 34,472 
 4,132 
 
 27,572 
 12,696 
 7,956 
 630 
 
 69,379 
 2,723 
 13,033 
 9,837 
 
 2,519 
 907 
 445 
 174 
 
 205,209 
 67,113 
 45,906 
 14,773 
 
 Baltimore 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 Boston 
 
 
 185,130 
 
 48,854 
 
 94,972 
 
 4,045 
 
 333,001 
 
 The season's shipment of melons to New York aggre- 
 gated 175,000. 
 
 (5) 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 Of course, failures will occur in this, as in every other 
 pursuit; but where favorable conditions of soil, situation, 
 etc., exist, sober, economical, industrious, and intelligent 
 farmers who attend closely to their business, can make 
 this a most profitable branch of agriculture. As an in- 
 stance of successful truck-farming, I may cite a case 
 within my knowledge. Among the prosperous gardeners 
 near Savannah, are three brothers, plain farmers from 
 Effingham County, Georgia. They were without any 
 special advantages as educated horticulturists, but under 
 favorable contingencies, and possessing in themselves the 
 above named desirable characteristics, they commenced to 
 farm on their own account seven years ago. They had a 
 borrowed capital of one thousand dollars wherewith to 
 operate their first small crop, and make a payment on ac- 
 count of their purchase of land. They were not only able 
 to pay for the land in full, from the proceeds of their 
 crops, but have acquired in the aggregate two hundred and 
 seventy-five acres, making at various intervals cash pay- 
 ments ranging from one thousand five hundred dollars to 
 nine thousand one hundred dollars. Besides this, they 
 have expended various amounts in buildings, and other 
 improvements, and have cash on hand and a bank account. 
 One of the brothers has also invested in railroad stock, 
 and the elder of them has lately purchased a house and 
 lot in town, for four thousand five hundred dollars, while 
 there is not a mortgage, or lien, of any kind, on any of 
 the property of the brothers. 
 
 A. 0. 
 
TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 LABOR. 
 
 Owing to the perishable nature of the products, the 
 areas at the South devoted to truck-farming must remain 
 confined to certain limits. These will be near the larger 
 cities and along the routes of railroads, by which products 
 can be safely and expeditiously dispatched to market. 
 Although truck-farming can employ but a comparatively 
 small proportion of the labor of the South, it must be 
 followed according to the same principles and system 
 that govern general agriculture. 
 
 The negro must be accepted as the only practical 
 solution of the labor question, and, notwithstanding 
 his instability, he is the best for many reasons. It 
 would be impolitic, even were it possible, to trust to 
 more intelligent and energetic laborers from abroad, and 
 mix the two races as field laborers. No dependence could 
 be placed upon retaining the foreign help, as his greater 
 energy and a praiseworthy desire for self-elevation would 
 soon prompt the emigrant, or white laborer, to change 
 his status and better his condition. 
 
 Accepting the negro as the God-given instrument for 
 the development of the agricultural resources of the 
 South, while profiting by his general wastefulness and 
 improvidence for his own good and our own, it should 
 be the constant aim of every employer, who has the wel- 
 fare of southern agriculture at heart, to elevate the labor- 
 er. The employer can, by strict justice, fairness and 
 
 (7) 
 
8 
 
 TRTJCK-FAKMItfG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 even kindness, render him satisfied with his lot, to the 
 end, that, instead of being an irritating element of the 
 body politic, he may become a contented and useful mem- 
 ber thereof. Exceptional instances of self-elevation and 
 independence should be correctly appreciated and encour- 
 aged as a spur to others. 
 
 The death of slavery was, so to speak, the birth of 
 truck-farming on an extensive scale in the South- Atlantic 
 and Gulf States; indeed it would otherwise have been im- 
 possible. I was probably the largest slave-owner, engaged 
 in vegetable culture, in this section*, but of forty-five 
 grown negroes, twenty-six only were available as field 
 laborers, the others being mechanics, house-servants, etc. ; 
 and at no time could I have controlled more than that 
 number of hands, and few, or none, could have been 
 hired. At the present time there are in the vicinity of 
 Savannah many truck-farmers who employ one hundred 
 to two hundred laborers during the picking season. 
 
 Ex-Governor Hammond's prediction : that the negro, 
 in case of emancipation would "seek the towns, and rap- 
 idly accumulate in groups upon their outskirts," has cer- 
 tainly been verified. It is the better class of this popula- 
 tion, those who are willing to do some work, which sup- 
 plies the truck-farmer with sufficient labor during the 
 pressing season of gathering his crops. The table below 
 gives the usual average rate of wages, without board, 
 paid by truck-farmers in the vicinity of Savannah. 
 
 For men 
 For women . 
 
 60 c. |1 24-15 c 
 50 c. i!2i-15c 
 
 20 c. $1.00 
 20 c. 
 
 n 1 
 
 ~$o!75~ 
 
 He. 
 He. 
 
 * 
 I 
 
 Ic. 
 Ic. 
 
 Three baskets fill four crates. When boys and girls 
 are hired the pay is at half rate per day. 
 
LABOR. $ 
 
 A few of the most efficient and trustworthy hands, 
 who are particularly useful during the marketing season, 
 and receive an increased pay, are selected to care for 
 stock. Some farmers pay selected hands five cents per 
 basket and one cent per crate additional for packing 
 cucumbers and tomatoes; while others use the gang of 
 day laborers for the purpose, depending upon their per- 
 sonal supervision to prevent injudicious gathering. Foi 
 cutting hay with scythes, men are allowed one-third the 
 cured hay, to be bought (at option of the hand or not, 
 as may be agreed upon), by the employer at four dollan 
 per rack-load of about eight hundred pounds. 
 
 The hours of labor are from sunrise to sunset, with 
 variable allowances for meals during the different seasons 
 of the year. 
 
 During the shipping season there is no fixed time for 
 breaking off work; but extra pay is generally allowed in 
 case of much night work. 
 
 If the hands are made to bestir themselves properly 
 during their work, it is not unreasonable they should ex- 
 pect that the employer will not delay, or hesitate, in 
 delivering compensation. Apart from considerations of 
 justice, it is considered his policy to pay promptly after 
 breaking off work on Saturday and before the stores are 
 closed. Hands of the better order, and these are to be 
 encouraged, may be depended upon to present themselves 
 on Monday morning, whether in funds or not; but by 
 far the greater majority will require time on Monday to 
 get rid of their money, if they have had no opportunity 
 of so doing Saturday evening and night, and will be ab- 
 sent at roll-call. 
 
 According to the report of the Agricultural Depart- 
 ment of 1879, the latest authority at command, the 
 average rate of wages paid, without board, in the interior 
 of Georgia, was ten dollars and seventy-three cents per 
 month. 
 
10 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION. 
 
 The requisites the truck-farmer must have in view in 
 selecting a location, are cheap, safe, and expeditious 
 transportation of produce to market, convenience for 
 procuring manure, a soil adapted to the crops he wishes 
 to grow, and sanitary surroundings. Other conditions 
 being the same, water carriage is preferable to that by 
 wagon. If in the selection of the land, one is confined 
 to a single soil, he should select one consisting of a mix- 
 ture of organic and inorganic matter; a light, deep, sandy 
 loam, with plenty of humus, or vegetable matter. Ex- 
 perience has shown that, without this, crops will not 
 yield as well in proportion to the quantity of manure 
 applied. Locations in the immediate vicinitv of the 
 larger coast cities, offering the best facilities in the way 
 of transportation and manure, are in the possession of 
 market gardeners, and such lands are generally highly 
 fertile. The truck-farmer requiring a larger area is com- 
 pelled to locate several miles beyond the corporate limits, 
 on the line of a railroad, or on the banks of a navigable 
 stream. The farm will often be one, the fertility of which 
 has been shipped off to Europe, or the North, in the 
 shape of cotton, by some planter, whose measure of suc- 
 cess was gauged by the rapidity with which he could ex- 
 haust his soil. The renovation of the land will be the 
 first desideratum. To that end, and the consequent pro- 
 duction of remunerative crops, the plowing under of 
 green manures, the application of fertilizers, proper 
 preparation, careful tillage, and deep plowing,' will be 
 necessary. With every additional inch of depth in 
 plowing in the first eighteen inches of the surface, 
 the farmer gains six million two hundred and seventy- 
 
SOIL AHD ITS PREPARATION. 11 
 
 two thousand six hundred and forty cubic inches per 
 acre of available soil, with its mineral ingredients, and 
 constantly increasing capacity of gathering, retaining, 
 and supplying plant food. The conditions of quality of 
 soil and climate being the same, the productiveness of 
 soils must be in proportion to its mass. Sir J. B. Lawes 
 found five thousand seven hundred pounds of nitrogen 
 per acre in the first nine inches of his soil. The Russian 
 black lands, which are held to be the richest in the 
 world, have, according to Prof. Schmidt, within three feet 
 of the surface, from forty thousand to forty-four thousand 
 pounds of nitrogen. Several analyses of Boussingault 
 showed from twenty-five thousand to thirty-two thousand 
 pounds per acre beneath the surface, and a soil analyzed 
 by Prof. Voelcker, in 1868, showed eight thousand four 
 hundred and twenty-five pounds per acre. The practice 
 of deep plowing will depend upon circumstances; a good, 
 though shallow mould, or other soil, resting upon a 
 sticky, clay subsoil, would not be benefited by being at once 
 broken up deeply, bringing large, hard lumps of unfertile 
 clay to the surface, and deteriorating the physical quality 
 of the top-soil. 
 
 DRAINAGE. 
 
 Drainage, more especially under drain age, renders a 
 clay subsoil, when moved by the plow, more suscepti- 
 ble to pulverization, and in such case a thorough 
 drainage would have to precede deep plowing. Under- 
 drainage prevents the drowning out of crops after heavy 
 rainfalls. It increases the fertility and pulverization of 
 the soil by admitting air. It keeps the ground moister 
 in a dry season. It prevents the washing away of the 
 soil and its fertilizing materials. It permits the farmer 
 to work his land sooner after heavy rain, and earlier in 
 the spring, and it prevents the land from becoming sour 
 
12 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 in wet seasons. The total absence of water would be de- 
 structive to vegetation, for it is itself necessary to plant 
 life; but undrained land is not merely wet, it becomes 
 water-logged, and through absence of air, the plants are 
 drowned out. When, however, water passes through, and 
 away from the laud, air takes its place, and also passes 
 through the drains, and finds its way into the overlying 
 soil, increasing its fertility and pulverizing it. The rea- 
 son why drained land gains heat, and the temperature of 
 water-logged land decreases, is the lack of heat-conducting 
 power in water, or the fact that air can not be transmitted 
 downwards through water. When land is saturated with 
 water, the heat is expended in evaporating the moisture, 
 instead of warming the land, and during this evapora- 
 tion the temperature is reduced. Undrained land be- 
 comes sour in wet weather, and the formation of sub- 
 stances injurious to vegetation is encouraged. The ab- 
 sorbing power of soil is so great that ammonia and other 
 fertilizing agents of water and air are arrested in their 
 passage through it, thus enriching the soil; while the 
 water on undrained land washes over the surface, carry- 
 ing off into the water courses the fertility that might be 
 saved. In undrained land, the passage of moisture, en- 
 couraged by evaporation from the surface, is upwards, 
 whereas in drained land, the current is downwards 
 to the level of the drains, supplying the roots with 
 aerated moisture in condition to be taken up by them. 
 An excess of water in the soil produces such a saturated 
 state of the atmosphere, as to prevent a healthy perspira- 
 tory action of the leaves of plants growing upon it, and 
 growth is retarded. 
 
 PREPARING THE SOIL. 
 
 Efficient drainage being provided, the land should be 
 broken up and pulverized as deeply as possible. A mass 
 
SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION. 13 
 
 of sticky clay will absorb a slight amount of moisture, 
 but when it is reduced to a powdered condition, its ab- 
 sorbing power will be very much increased. One hundred 
 grains of fine clay left for twelve hours in contact with 
 a solution of caustic potash, the latter not filtered through 
 it, absorbed one thousand and fifty grains of potash. 
 
 Soils have the power of separating ammonia, and other 
 bases from their solutions, and of separating alkaline 
 bases from the acids with which they were combined. 
 
 Soils possessing the greatest amount of capillary poros- 
 ity, most friable and mellow, or, in other words, such as 
 are in the best agricultural condition, will condense the 
 greatest amount of fertilizing material; and the more 
 they are pulverized, the better will they resist the leach- 
 ing action of water. Soil in an improper physical con- 
 dition may hold fertilizing materials in sufficient quanti- 
 ties for a full crop. It will, however, yield only a small 
 percentage to the vegetation upon it, until it is made 
 friable, and so becomes conducive to growth. Carbonic 
 acid is one of the chief agents in this process; and in 
 order that this acid may be formed, the carbonaceous 
 matter in the soil must be brought in direct contact with 
 the atmosphere. As long as the soil is in a compact con- 
 dition, or is saturated with water, carbonic acid is not 
 formed. During the recent severe drouths it has been 
 observed that crops growing on deeply-plowed land have 
 suffered the least, for the reason that the greater the 
 mass of fine soil, the greater must have been the amount 
 of moisture absorbed. Heat is evolved during the de- 
 composition of vegetable matter; and the darker the, soil 
 is from decomposing vegetable matter, the warmer will it 
 become. The warmth of light-colored sands is attribut- 
 able to their conductive power. Half the crop depends 
 sometimes upon the previous preparation of the land. 
 Owing to the absence of a covering of snow and of suc- 
 cessive freezings and thawings, fall plowing, so useful at 
 
14 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 the North, is destructive of fertility at the South and is 
 not advisable. 
 
 CULTIVATION". 
 
 The land having been properly prepared by plow- 
 ing, and sufficiently manured, and the crop planted 
 with regard to the capacity of the soil, the most im- 
 portant matter to the farmer is, thorough culture, or 
 keeping the earth fine and mellow among the plants. 
 Stirring the soil can scarcely be repeated too often during 
 the earlier periods of growth, or until there is danger of 
 injury to the roots or to the tops of growing plants by 
 the cultivator. The ground may be too wet, but never 
 too dry, for stirring; because the more frequently it is 
 broken up, fined and aerated, the more moisture will the 
 soil absorb from the atmosphere. This is an operation 
 that should be performed after every rain, sufficient 
 to cause incrustation or baking, which would prevent a 
 free admission of air into the soil. The most obvious 
 benefit of stirring the soil is, the destruction of weeds; 
 for no crop can become remunerative, if crowded by 
 weeds which deprive it of air, light, moisture, and even 
 a part of the fertility of the soil. A war of extermination 
 should be waged against weeds, although at times they 
 become a necessary evil to the farmer who only cultivates 
 the soil between the rows. Breaking the lumps gives 
 free scope to the finer roots to secure all the available 
 nutriment within the extent of their ramifications, as 
 these finer roots are not capable of penetrating large 
 clods, and thus may be debarred from reaching a large 
 part of the food contained in the soil. Thorough and 
 frequent culture of the soil admits air to the rootlets of 
 the growing plant; it increases the capillary attraction 
 of the soil, by which its humidity is rendered more uni- 
 form; by presenting a larger number of points of radia- 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 15 
 
 tion, the deposit of dew, so beneficial in dry weather, is 
 augmented; the temperature of the soil is increased by 
 the freer admission of warm rain and air, and by the 
 chemical processes thereby facilitated; and finally the 
 fertility of the soil is augmented through the ammonia, 
 nitric acid, etc., which are introduced with the air. The 
 plow, horse-hoe, and cultivator are to be used, whenever 
 available; but the hand-hoe must always be relied on for 
 the finer and more careful work, when, particularly in 
 the later stages of the crop, only superficial stirring is 
 advisable. When plants are grown in a crowded state, 
 darkness and want of air elongate the stems and leaves, 
 at the expense of the roots and of a general healthy con- 
 dition. The operations of thinning and hand-weeding 
 are performed in connection with hoeing, to admit a free 
 circulation of air around the remaining plants, and the 
 sun is permitted to have an immediate influence upon each, 
 developing the desired form, bulk, and other qualities. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 
 
 Almost any soil may be so altered in its character by 
 judicious and plentiful manuring, as to be made fertile 
 enough to produce good and remunerative crops. Manure 
 is the most indispensable factor for success in market- 
 gardening, and must be applied in much larger quantities 
 than in any other branch of agriculture. The gardener 
 should never be restricted by a short supply to an inad- 
 equate application of manure, as the superior quality and 
 quantity of his crops will generally justify an apparently 
 lavish use. Knowledge of his soil, the peculiar requisites 
 
16 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 of his crops, a judicious rotation, and his general ex 
 perience will teach him, where and when he may econ- 
 omize with profit. He must not, however, gorge his 
 land with manure, without rest or rotation, but seek to 
 make it just rich enough to produce the most profitable 
 crops. Should too much manure be applied, which, 
 however, is rarely the case in vegetable culture, there 
 will be loss of the most costly manurial ingredient 
 nitrogen. Location, or want of facilities and means, 
 frequently confines the gardener to forced limits. Those 
 who are neither conveniently located for the purchase of 
 stable manure, nor own sufficient stock to secure from 
 their droppings a sufficiency of barn-yard manure, must 
 have recourse to manurial agents to be named hereafter. 
 Astonishing results are frequently seen in gardens near 
 large cities, from the readiness such localities offer for 
 procuring the best manures. 
 
 Agriculture being the foundation of the prosperity of 
 every people, and successful agriculture being impossible 
 in the present condition of the earth's surface without 
 fertilizers, it has properly been said, that "manure, even 
 more than money, forms an integral part of a nation's 
 wealth." 
 
 When civilized nations properly appreciate the value 
 of all manurial substances (as they will when their 
 territory becomes as densely populated as China), none 
 of these, as at present, will be allowed to go to waste, 
 and the productiveness of the earth, and with it the 
 wealth of nations, will be enormously increased. Prog- 
 ress in this direction is being made. Scientific men have 
 pointed out the sanitary and economical necessity of deal- 
 ing properly with excrementitious manurial substances. 
 If, during the past century, the night-soil of many of 
 our cities had been incorporated in the surface soil of 
 the surrounding country, instead of being buried under 
 the houses of their citizens, what would be the fertility 
 
MAHUBES, THEIR KItfDS AKD USES. 17 
 
 of the soil, and what the probable be nefit to the sanitary 
 condition of the cities? 
 
 Manures are either organic or inorganic, according as 
 they may owe their composition to the animate or in- 
 animate world, or are derived from vegetable and animal 
 matters of all kinds, or from minerals. 
 
 Every kind of matter which, when added to the soil, 
 promotes the growth of a plant, whether by being itself 
 directly taken up by its roots, or by chemically altering 
 any heretofore existing constituent of the soil, so that it 
 may be made available, or by physically altering its tex- 
 ture, may be considered a manure or fertilizer. Every 
 plant consists principally of the gaseous elements, ni- 
 trogen, oxygen, and hydrogen, and of carbon in vary- 
 ing proportions, and smaller quantities of alkalies, earths, 
 silica, sulphur, and phosphorus. Chemical analysis has 
 enabled us to learn the exact proportions of the constit- 
 uents of plants, as well as the composition of soils. If 
 chemical forces were the only forces of nature concerned 
 in the growth of plants, then by supplying the soil with 
 exactly the constituents in definite quantities, which 
 chemical analysis has shown it to lack for the full matu- 
 rity of any given agricultural crop, rules and formulas 
 could be devised, so as to insure regularly the maximum 
 yields of all crops. But the changes, not yet fully un- 
 derstood, constantly going on within the soil and upon 
 its surface in contact with the atmosphere; the mutual 
 chemical reactions of the various soils and fertilizing ma- 
 terials, and the vital actions of plants, with their influence 
 upon the soil in which they grow, perhaps even upon 
 the surrounding air, still more inexplicable and wonder- 
 ful, together with the contingencies of weather, render 
 it impossible to formulate any such rules. Exclusive of 
 the crushing effects of glaciers and other agencies, under 
 the gradual influence of water and the atmosphere, the 
 surface of the rocks have become sufficiently pulverized 
 
18 TKUCK-F ARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 and comminuted to support lichens and other of the 
 lowest forms of vegetation, which, by their decay in- 
 creased the film of soil. These were followed hy plants 
 of a higher organization, successive generations pre- 
 paring for those which followed them. Thus organic 
 constituents accumulated, until, in time, every arable 
 soil contained in varying proportions every element 
 of plant food. The variations are such, however, that a 
 soil in its natural or original condition may be more or 
 less deficient in one or other constituent, and therefore 
 be better adapted for one crop than another. Finding 
 from experience or analysis, which of the principal con- 
 stituents is absent in a soil, we may supply it by the ap- 
 plication of a special fertilizer for the production of a 
 particular crop. 
 
 Humus, or vegetable matter undergoing decay, which 
 gives the dark color to fertile soils, disintegrates miner- 
 al substances, supplies large quantities of carbonic acid, 
 ammonia, and nitrates, and is indispensable to fertility; 
 and yet the direct absorption of humic matters into 
 plants is by no means so well established, as not to be a 
 mooted question between the best chemical authorities 
 and vegetable physiologists. 
 
 Ammonia and nitric acid have been shown to be pres- 
 ent in the air; but it is generally held that the soil must 
 absorb these, or they must be conveyed to it in rain water, 
 before they can be generally appropriated by plants. 
 Yet Peters and Sachs proved, experimentally, that a bean 
 plant grew and flourished by direct absorption of am- 
 monia through its foliage alone; but they failed with 
 every plant but the bean, which, like our cow pea, is a 
 leguminous plant. Chemical analysis shows that the le- 
 guminosae are richer in nitrogenous matter than any other 
 family of plants, and yet we know that our cow pea will 
 grow on the poorest soil, deriving its nourishment in 
 part from the atmosphere. Ozone, or active oxygen, is 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 19 
 
 emitted by plants, and the more abundant the foliage, 
 the greater the quantity. By the action of this ozone, 
 the nitrogen of the air may be converted into nitric acid. 
 Perhaps the cow pea, the clover, etc., are more active in 
 this respect than any other plants. 
 
 These preliminary observations bring me to the first 
 and most simple and cheapest manner of conveying fer- 
 tility to the soil. 
 
 GREEN MANURING. 
 
 As soon as life is extinct, all organic substances begin to 
 decay, and the richer these substances are in albuminoids, 
 or such as contain nitrogen, the better are they adapted for 
 fertilizing, and the more rapid will be the process of de- 
 cay. Under like circumstances, albuminoids of animal 
 origin will decompose more rapidly than those of vege- 
 table origin. All green succulent plants containing 
 saccharine and mucilaginous matters and woody fibre, fer- 
 ment readily, hence the advantage of plowing in green 
 crops, whether of natural growth, or sown for the pur- 
 pose. No plant is better adapted to be used at the South 
 for restoring fertility by green manuring than our cow 
 pea. The analyses here given show it to be rich in 
 albuminoids; it makes in our climate a heavier growth 
 than clover in any part of the world, and grows on soil 
 much too poor for a fair crop of the latter, answering 
 thus both the demands of quality and quantity. When 
 plants are in flower, they contain the largest quantity of 
 soluble matter; it is, therefore, when plowed under at 
 this season, under ordinary circumstances, that they will 
 afford the greatest amount of soluble nutritive matter. 
 
 In heavy, impervious soils, especially, they should not 
 be turned under too deeply, or else the absence of air will 
 retard decomposition. No applications of commercial 
 fertilizers will continuously prove beneficial without the 
 presence, in the soil, of decaying .vegetable matter, or feu- 
 
20 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 mus, and green manuring is the most efficacious and 
 cheapest manner of supplying the land with large quan- 
 tities of this necessary ingredient. 
 
 It should be practised by gardeners, irrespective of the 
 supply of stable manure they may be able to command. 
 But for those located at a distance from cities, and there- 
 fore not able to secure a sufficiency of barn-yard manure, 
 green manuring becomes an absolute necessity. 
 
 It has been estimated that after the removal of a crop 
 of clover and other plants, there remained in the soil, as 
 shown in the following tables, a large amount of roots: 
 
 TABLE SHOWING THE QUANTITY OP ROOTS LEFT IN THE GROUND AFTER 
 HARVESTING THE CROPS ALSO THE AMOUNT OF NITROGES AND ASH. 
 
 
 HI 
 
 |Ii 
 
 i^ ^| 
 
 Lucerne . 
 
 9,678.1 
 
 136.4 
 
 1,201 6 
 
 Red clover . 
 
 8,921.6 
 
 191.6 
 
 1,919 9 
 
 Rye 
 
 5,264.6 
 
 65.3 
 
 1,747 8 
 
 Swedish clover 
 
 5,004.3 
 
 102.3 
 
 9746 
 
 Oats 
 
 3,331.9 
 
 26.6 
 
 1,444.7 
 
 Lupine 
 
 3,520.9 
 
 62.2 
 
 550 
 
 Wheat 
 
 3,476 
 
 23.5 
 
 1,089 8 
 
 
 3,222.5 
 
 55,6 
 
 670.7 
 
 Serradella 
 
 3,120.1 
 
 64.8 
 
 545.6 
 
 Barley 
 
 1,991.4 
 
 22.8 
 
 391.1 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE ASH OF THE ROOTS IN THE FOREGOING TABLE. 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 |l 
 
 c 
 
 
 197 7 
 
 24.2 
 
 36 7 
 
 26 4 
 
 18 7 
 
 38 5 
 
 Red clover 
 
 262 9 
 
 48 4 
 
 58 3 
 
 20 
 
 26 1 
 
 74 8 
 
 Rye 
 
 73 2 
 
 14 3 
 
 31 2 
 
 43 3 
 
 11 8 
 
 24 4 
 
 Swedish clover 
 Oats 
 
 136.1 
 85 5 
 
 17.6 
 11.2 
 
 25.9 
 24 8 
 
 5.7 
 
 18 
 
 13.2 
 8 8 
 
 24.2 
 29 
 
 Lupine 
 
 80 5 
 
 11.2 
 
 16 5 
 
 3 5 
 
 
 13 8 
 
 Wheat 
 
 76 7 
 
 10.1 
 
 28 4 
 
 11 
 
 7 4 
 
 11 8 
 
 English peas 
 
 71 7 
 
 11 
 
 11 2 
 
 7 
 
 9 4 
 
 14 3 
 
 Serradella 
 
 79.8 
 
 13 4 
 
 8 8 
 
 4 8 
 
 9 
 
 18 4 
 
 Barley 
 
 43.2 
 
 5 5 
 
 9.5 
 
 3.5 
 
 5.5 
 
 11.2 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 21 
 
 It will be seen by these two tables that the leguminous 
 plants are especially rich in the three most important 
 items: nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid. 
 
 These roots bring up from the subsoil plant food, and 
 in decaying, tend to deepen the soil along their course. 
 A crop of cow peas would probably have nearly as great 
 a weight of roots as clover, and in the neighborhood of 
 twenty tons of tops. The latter alone would contain 
 one hundred and sixteen pounds of nitrogen, principally 
 obtained from the atmosphere; or as much as is contained 
 in twelve and nine-tenths tons of barn-yard manure, and 
 directly applied to the soil. Seven pecks to two bushels of 
 peas would cost from two dollars to three dollars, and the 
 barn -yard manure, if at all attainable, nineteen dollars 
 and thirty-five cents, applied to the land at one dollar 
 and fifty cents per ton. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF GREEN COW PEA VINES. 
 
 This and the following two analyses were made by 
 Prof. A. E. Le Doux, chemist to the State Board of 
 Agriculture, of North Carolina. 
 
 Water 72.87 per cent. 
 
 Ash 2.00 
 
 Albuminoids.... 1.85 
 
 Cellulose 15.27 
 
 Fat 0.21 
 
 Carbohydrates.. 7.86 
 
 containing ammonia, 0.35 ; nitrogen, 0.38 
 
 ANALTSIS OF THE ASH OF COW PEA VINES. 
 
 Ash 2.00 per cent. 
 
 Potash 14.80 
 
 Soda 23.29 
 
 Magnesia 6.74 
 
 Lime 22.57 
 
 Phosphoric acid 9.28 
 
 Sulphuric acid 2.35 
 
 Silica 1.08 
 
 Chlorine 0.19 
 
 Oxide of iron a trace 
 
 Carbonic acid 19.70 
 
AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 containing ammonia, 7.12 Ibi. 
 
 By reducing the analyses to weights and measures it is 
 found that 
 
 ONE TON OF FRESH COW PEA VINES CONTAIN 
 
 Water 1456.20 Ibs. 
 
 Potash 5.92 
 
 Boda 9.32 
 
 Magnesia 2.70 
 
 Lime 9.02 
 
 Phosphoric acid 3.72 
 
 Sulphuric acid 0.94 
 
 Silica 0.42 
 
 Chlorine 0.08 
 
 Carbonic acid 7.88 
 
 Albuminoids 37.00 
 
 Cellulose 305.40 
 
 Fat 4.20 
 
 Carbohydrates 156.20 
 
 2000.00 Ibs. 
 
 Boussingault found that snow, which had lain for 
 thirty-six hours on the soil of a garden, contained ten 
 times as much ammonia as the snow of the same fall 
 from a contiguous stone terrace immediately after falling, 
 the mulch of snow having interrupted the ammoniacal 
 emanations from the soil. The ammonia of the soil is 
 constantly undergoing change, and fluctuating in quantity. 
 This most important article of plant food, and most ex- 
 pensive, when applied artificially, is most abundantly ab- 
 sorbed by the soil in summer from the atmosphere, and 
 being conveyed to it by rains and dews, and continually 
 being taken up by vegetation, it is volatilized, evaporated 
 with water, washed away and lost. Later and more 
 exact chemical experiments have shown that the soil 
 contains less ready-formed ammonia than was formerly 
 
 held to be the case. Ammonia in dry soil. 
 
 Very light sandy soil from birch forest 0.00077 per cent. 
 
 Rich lime soil from beech forest 0.00087 
 
 Sandy loam, forest soil 0.00012 
 
 Forest soil 0.00080 
 
 Meadow soil, red sandy loam 0.00027 
 
 Average 0.00056 
 
 It should be remembered that ammonia is only half as 
 as air. 
 
MAOTRES, TSEIR KltfDS AtfD USES. 23 
 
 Rich, alluvial soils with decaying vegetable matter con- 
 tain ten times as much, and fertilized field soils still 
 more. Ammonia is only found in the surface soil, and 
 generally at a depth of six feet there is no trace of it. 
 
 Sir J. B. Lawes found that in one year the drain water 
 took nitrogen from a field bare of vegetation at the 
 rate of forty pounds per acre; from a field of wheat, 
 which after the harvest contained no weeds, twenty-five 
 pounds, and from a field upon which grass seed had been 
 sown with the wheat, and continued to grow on the stub- 
 ble field, only five pounds. 
 
 POUNDS OF NITROGEN WASHED AWAY PER ACRE. 
 
 From soil without vegetation 40 pounds. 
 
 From soil with wheat, 15 pounds retained by crop. .. 25 " 
 From soil and grasses, 15 pounds retained by wheat. 
 
 35 pounds retained by grasses 5 " 
 
 He found that the drain water was much richer in am- 
 monia than the rain water which fell upon the field. He 
 also found another fact of importance to our subject of 
 green-manuring, that the drain water carried away more 
 ammonia in the fall than in any other part of the year. 
 It is therefore exactly at this season that the soil of the 
 truck-farmer should be covered by a dense growth of 
 vines. It has been shown that even a perfectly inert 
 body, like a board, lying upon the surface will improve 
 the fertility of the soil, by preventing evaporation. 
 
 Now the mulch of pea vines acts like the covering of 
 snow. It shades the soil from the rays of the sun, by 
 which the volatile elements of fertility are exhausted with 
 the vaporized water; it keeps the soil moist, mellow, and 
 of even temperature; and as a secondary matter prevents 
 the growth of troublesome weeds. The friable, unbaked 
 condition of the surface, as has been before stated, is an 
 element of fertility, by facilitating the absorption of fer- 
 tilizing gases from the atmosphere. Under this dense 
 covering, so retentive of moisture, the carbonic acid dis- 
 integrates particles of the soil and prepares it for plant 
 
24 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 food; while in the darkness and under the shelter from 
 winds, nitrates are formed and absorbed. It will be seen 
 that the increase of fertility is greater than could be ex- 
 pected from all the manurial agents in the pea vines. 
 
 Clay soils, being more retentive of moisture and pos- 
 sessed of greater power of absorption, are less benefited 
 by the mulch than those of a sandy character. 
 
 Like the questions of deep, and shallow plowing and 
 deep and surface manuring, that of plowing under the 
 green vines, or allowing them to dry and partly rot upon 
 the surface, will depend upon circumstances. They will 
 contain and convey to the soil in the green state a greater 
 quantity of fertilizing material and will decompose more 
 rapidly. If intended to benefit a crop to be put in soon 
 after they have reached a proper stage of growth, they 
 must, of course, be plowed under green. Four weeks 
 should elapse between turning under the vines and sow- 
 ing or planting the crop, in order to allow a sufficient 
 time for the most active decomposition to have passed, 
 lest the heat evolved by the great mass of decaying green 
 vegetable matter might be detrimental. For a spring 
 crop, however, the vines should be left to die, and mulch the 
 soil throughout the winter, unless indeed a second green 
 crop, as of rye, is contemplated; because a bare fallow 
 would be wasteful of the fertility supplied by the pea 
 vines. It is an error that the bare soil deteriorates dur- 
 ing summer only, for it is a common experience that a 
 field of light soil, left bare after a late crop of sweet 
 potatoes, shows a want of fertility the ensuing spring. 
 
 Two crops of pea vines may be grown in a season; but 
 after an interval of three or four weeks. To turn under 
 a heavy growth properly, it must first be pressed down by 
 a field roller or by dragging over it a heavy harrow with 
 the teeth turned up; and it requires a good two-horse 
 plow with a large sharp revolving coulter attached. To 
 draw the vines into the furrows, a heavy chain with suf- 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 25 
 
 ficient slack should be attached to the whiffletree and 
 plow-beam. Capt. J. W. Me Alpine has devised an iron hook 
 " horn/' which is attached to the plow-beam, as in figure 
 
 Fl. 1. IBON HOOK OB " HORN " ATTACHED TO PLOW. 
 
 1. It works just in advance of the plow point; and on 
 the surface its curvature corresponds to that of the mould- 
 board, and draws the vines into the furrow. The same 
 person has also invented a roller, which has a set of five 
 projecting knives, with which to cut the vines when the 
 growth is very luxuriant. By driving twice over the 
 field at right angles the vines are cut in ten-inch lengths, 
 and can be turned under effectively. The roller is fixed 
 to shafts or a tongue, and as it is too light, a weighted 
 
 Fig. 2. ROLLER FOB CUTTING COW PEA VINES. 
 
 box is attached above the axle. The roller, figure 2, is 
 fourteen inches in diameter, the knives five inches wide 
 and ten inches apart. As neither of these inventions is 
 patented, any one can use them. 
 
 STABLE MANURE. 
 
 Stable manure is a complete fertilizer, and is of all 
 the most to be relied upon by the market-gardener, as it 
 
 i 
 
26 TfctTCK-FARMIKG AT THE SOUTS. 
 
 contains all the elements of fertility in available con- 
 dition. No other is so well adapted to alter the physical 
 condition of heavy soils, nor, when well rotted, better 
 suits those of a sandy nature; nor is any other more apt 
 to render the constituents of the soil available as plant 
 food. Gardeners in the vicinity of cities may procure a 
 sufficient supply and require no other manure, unless for 
 a special purpose they desire to supplement it with a 
 commercial fertilizer more rich in nitrogenous matter, 
 such as Peruvian guano, fish scrap, etc. Those who are 
 not so fortunately situated must utilize their smaller 
 stock, by letting it form the basis of compost heaps to 
 bring about and sustain the fermentation so necessary to 
 break down the crude vegetable materials of which such 
 heaps partly consist. Manures, to be promptly effica- 
 cious, should be in a state of at least partial decompo- 
 sition, so that the elements of which they consist may be 
 in a fit state to form new combinations, or act at once as 
 plant food. To bring about this condition without waste 
 of material and expense of time and labor, is one of the 
 problems of the horticulturist. Once placed within 
 reach of the absorptive power of the soil, there is no fur- 
 ther loss by evaporation. If the manure pile could be 
 merely kept sufficiently moist by rains, to prevent a too 
 rapid fermentation, it might be advisable not to keep it 
 under cover; but the rains in our climate are too often 
 heavy enough to leach out valuable soluble parts of the 
 largest heaps. The difference in the composition of cov- 
 ered and uncovered barn-yard manure is here shown. 
 
 Barn-yard manure. 
 Nitrogen equal to ammonia, per cent 
 Organic matter soluble in water 
 
 Covered. 
 2.37 
 642 
 
 Uncovered. 
 1.7 
 
 1 82 
 
 Phosphoric acid 
 
 030 
 
 026 
 
 Alkalies 
 
 2.00 
 
 0.80 
 
 Exposed to the weather, piled, turned and handled, 
 without proper judgment and close attention, there is 
 
, TflEIE KttffcS AKD tTSES. 
 
 danger of loss, besides the expense of time and labor. 
 The general agriculturist, particularly on heavy soils, 
 whose crops are of Blower growth, may apply manure 
 green or fresh from the stables, when its effects are often 
 so permanent as to be perceptible for many years ; but the 
 market-gardener's aim is to produce early crops of veg- 
 etables, and his manures must be in a readily available 
 condition. He wants no permanent manures. Perma- 
 nence and insolubility are, in this case, synonymous. 
 Luxuriant growth is an indication of the solubility of his 
 fertilizers. He wants his manure pile to undergo such 
 an amount of slow fermentation, as to break down the 
 coarse fibrous vegetable matter it contains, so as to admit 
 its being readily cut with a spade, and thus also to reduce 
 its bulk. 
 
 COMPOSITION OF FRESH AND DECOMPOSED STABLE MANURE. 
 
 
 Water. 
 
 Organic 
 Matter. 
 
 l . INGBBDIEXTS OF ASH. 
 
 ll }3 1 
 
 |* f| | 
 
 i 
 
 v 
 1 
 
 Magnesia 
 
 5 
 
 r 
 
 Silicate and 
 Sand. 
 
 Chlorine and 
 Fluorine. 
 
 Stable Manure 
 
 71024644.14.55.21.5 
 75019258.05.06.31.9 
 79014565.05.85.01.3 
 
 5.71.42.11.2 
 7.01.82.61.6 
 8.81.83.011.3 
 
 12.5 
 16.8 
 17.0 
 
 1.5 
 1.9 
 1.6 
 
 do. moderately rotted., 
 do. thoroughly rotted.. 
 
 If piled so loosely as to admit air freely and be suffi- 
 ciently moist, it will undergo fermentation so rapidly as 
 to heat or firefang, and large quantities of the valuable, 
 volatile carbonate of ammonia will evaporate, and the 
 manure be rendered comparatively valueless. To avoid 
 this too rapid fermentation, the pile may be broken 
 down and turned whenever it begins to heat, until the 
 process ceases to be too active. The escape of ammonia 
 may be checked by mixing land plaster (sulphate of 
 lime) with each load, so as to fix the ammonia as a sul- 
 phate (which is not volatile). The gardener near the 
 
28 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 city, whose large pile daily receives considerable acces- 
 sions, may resort to packing it so tightly as to limit the 
 access of air, and consequently the rapidity of fermenta- 
 tion, until near planting time, or, if possible and bet- 
 ter still, he may keep it too moist for rapid decay by 
 adding night-soil from the city, which will at the same 
 time improve its quality. 
 
 Gardeners near cities who accumulate a large stock of 
 stable manure, do not generally place it under shelter, 
 notwithstanding the accruing loss, but deposit it in 
 suitable quantities for each field in a single pile, upon 
 the headland convenient for use, and compact it by mere- 
 ly driving across the pile at each delivery. Never more 
 than four hundred wagon loads are deposited in a pile. 
 If, when finished, the heaps were covered completely with 
 soil to the thickness of two or three inches, the escaping 
 ammonia would be absorbed and fermentation retarded. 
 It must be borne in mind, that even in winter we must 
 limit the process of fermentation, and not encourage it, 
 as is sometimes necessary in the Northern States; and 
 we must also avoid leaching. 
 
 The fermentation of stable manure may be retarded 
 by the admixture of substances not liable to rapid fer- 
 mentation. The gardener in the country may resort to 
 composting it with muck, woods-earth, or even good 
 garden soil, dry and pulverized salt-mud, or the same 
 material in the shape of a soft mush in order to avoid 
 getting it in the form of large lumps into his manure, 
 and may also use green marsh-grass (Spar Una strict a), if 
 he be located on "the salts." Vegetable refuse of every 
 kind, with leaves from the woods, slops from the kitchen 
 and wash-house, with the dung of those domestic animals 
 which does not readily heat, as that of neat cattle and 
 swine, in short, everything available that will supply 
 plant food may be added to the heap. The dung of all 
 kinds of poultry, the urine and night-soil of the farm, 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 29 
 
 scraps of leather and woolen cloth and waste feathers 
 will heat; but they also should go into the compost -heap. 
 
 In the application of manure, the kind of crop, previ- 
 ous fertility of the soil and the quality of the manure 
 will govern the quantity. 
 
 The amount and manurial value of the excrement void- 
 ed by an animal depends upon the quality of its feed. The 
 manurial value of hulled cotton-seed meal is more than 
 twelve times that of wheat-straw, three times that of 
 clover-hay, twice that of wheat-bran, ten times that of 
 mangel wurzel, and thirty times that of common turnips. 
 Of all vegetable substances used as cattle feed, hulled 
 cotton-seed meal is the richest in nitrogen, phosphoric 
 acid and potash, the most essential requisites in the 
 growth of plants, and these will appear again most abun- 
 dantly in the dung. The money value of the manure 
 from different articles of food according to calculations 
 of Sir J. B. Lawes, based upon the value of nitrogen, 
 phosphoric acid and potash in leading commercial fertil- 
 izers, are: 
 
 VALUE OF A TON OF MANURE FROM DIFFKRENT KINDS OF FOOD. 
 
 Ptr ton. 
 
 Cotton-seed meal $27.86 
 
 Linseed cake 19.73 
 
 Beans 15.73 
 
 Wheat-bran 14.59 
 
 Clover-hay. 9.64 
 
 Indian meal 6.63 
 
 Oat-straw 2.90 
 
 Turnips 0.80 
 
 Block estimated that a horse fed on one hundred pounds 
 of hay will void one hundred and seventy-two pounds of 
 fresh dung; one hundred pounds of oats gave two hun- 
 dred and four pounds; and one hundred pounds of grass 
 gave forty-three pounds of dung. A horse furnishes, if 
 well fed, about twelve thousand pounds of solid dung 
 and three thousand pounds of urine annually. The ma- 
 nure from the street-car stables in New York was found 
 
30 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 by Johnson to contain 0.53 per cent, of nitrogen. 
 Reckoning two-thirds of the solid and fluid droppings 
 saved, we have ten thousand pounds, or five tons of 
 manure to each horse, containing fifty-three pounds of 
 nitrogen. 
 
 In his method of applying his manure the sensible 
 gardener will be governed by the nature of his soil and 
 manure, and by the kind of crop he wishes to grow. 
 
 Half an inch of rain, although amounting to fourteen 
 thousand gallons, or fifty-six tons to the acre, would not 
 penetrate deeply into a heavy soil, hence in such a soil 
 long, partly unfermented dung would not, if buried 
 deeply, find sufficient moisture and air to support fermen- 
 tation and dissolve out the manure for the benefit of the 
 crop. A sandy soil favors decomposition, being more 
 permeable to air and moisture, and as roots penetrate 
 more deeply in a light soil, unfermented dung might be 
 placed five or six inches deep in such a soil. Upon a 
 dry, hot, light soil, manure of that description would be 
 too heating if near the surface. At the rate of eight 
 tons of manure to the acre, half an inch of rain would 
 furnish nearly a gallon to every pound, and in the case of 
 well-rotted or soluble manure, placed near the surface of 
 either heavy or sandy land, would convey the ingredients 
 of plant food in a dissolved state to the roots of plants. 
 On either heavy or sandy soil, therefore, well-rotted ma- 
 nure should be intimately mixed with the soil to the 
 depth of three or four inches, when applied broadcast, 
 and the nearer the surface, the finer should the soil be 
 pulverized to increase its absorptive power. Unless un- 
 fermented long manure is buried in a light soil, it had 
 better be not incorporated, but applied upon the soil as 
 a mulch. Such manure commingled with a heavy soil 
 would benefit it physically by rendering it more open for 
 admission of air, and the heat evolved would accelerate 
 growth. The observations above apply to Ian4 well- 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 31 
 
 drained, especially under-drained. If badly drained and 
 presenting 'a slope in any direction, the washing surface- 
 water would carry off a large part of the soluble manure 
 from the surface. 
 
 Manure for close crops, whenever a large supply per- 
 mits, should be applied broadcast, by preference; but 
 generally economy and the desire for a vigorous start 
 will demand its application in the drill. Only in the case 
 of plants standing far apart, as melons, is manuring in 
 the hill practicable, unless only a part of the manure is 
 so applied. The great majority of the roots would soon 
 extend beyond its limits, and the plant would suffer in 
 the later stages of growth. 
 
 BARN-YARD MANURE. 
 
 This consists of the mixed droppings of such animals 
 as are allowed to run in an open lot, the surface of which 
 is strewn with more or less of absorbents. It may be re- 
 garded as a combination of the solid and fluid excrements 
 of the different animals, and is of variable quality, owing 
 to waste by leaching rains. If horses and mules alone 
 are enclosed, its value would be that of an inferior stable 
 manure. Notwithstanding its variable value, it is often 
 used as a standard. 
 
 COW MANURE. 
 
 Although the fresh, solid excrement of the horse is 
 richer in ammonia than that of neat cattle, the latter, 
 on the other hand, is not subject to loss by heating. It 
 contains more urea (supplying nitrogen) in the urine, and 
 there is a greater quantity both of solid and liquid excre- 
 ment voided; hence the manure of a cow must be con- 
 sidered more valuable than that of a horse, particularly 
 when the former has had nutritious food, 
 
32 TRUCK-FAKMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 A cow, fed upon twenty-four pounds of hay and twelve 
 and a half pounds of Irish potatoes, voided daily about 
 one bushel of solid excrement, containing two and a half 
 pounds of salts of ammonia, potash, soda and lime. 
 
 The annual product of a cow is thirty-one thousand 
 and twenty-five pounds of dung, of which four thousand 
 eight hundred pounds is organic matter, containing: 
 
 189 Ibs. ammonia, 
 71 Ibs. phosphate of lime, 
 37 Ibs. sulphate of lime, 
 77 Ibs. carbonate of lime, 
 24 Ibs. common salt, 
 15 Ibs. sulphate potash. 
 
 The yard manure of a full-grown ox is considered 
 equal to that of a horse and a half, or ten to fifteen sheep. 
 
 One cord fresh cow dung weighs 9,298 Ibs. 
 
 One cubic foot of old, well-rotted ox manure weighs. .. 58 " 
 " " " " fresh " " " ... 48 " 
 
 " " " " well-rotted stable manure " ... 39 " 
 " " fresh " " " ... 30 "* 
 
 The amount of urine voided annually by a cow is 
 from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand gallons. 
 In every hundred pounds: 
 
 Of cattle urine are 4.00 Ibs. of urea. 
 
 " horseurine 0.70 " " " 
 
 " human urine 236 " " " 
 
 " sheep urine 2-80 " " " 
 
 " hog urine 5.64 " " "f 
 
 The composition of urea ie, according to Dr. Prout, 
 carbon, 19.99; oxygen, 26.66; hydrogen, 6.66; nitrogen, 
 46.66. The nitrogen is equal to 56.66 parts of ammonia. 
 Owing to the non-heating character of cow manure, it is 
 well adapted to sandy land; and in consequence of the 
 smaller quantity of vegetable matter to undergo fermen- 
 tation, it has not the physically beneficial effects upon 
 heavy lands. The value of cow-penning land and its 
 permanent effects (sometimes noticeable for twenty or 
 
 * Dana's Muck Manual, 
 t Daua'8 Muck 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 33 
 
 more years) is probably owing to the fact that none of the 
 urine is lost. On light sandy land it is serviceable 
 through the treading and compacting of the soil. 
 
 The absence of cut-worms on land recently cow-penned 
 is probably attributable to the mulch of dung and the con- 
 sequent absence of vegetation in the late summer, and not 
 to the urine, as is generally supposed. When a gardener 
 owns a number of neat cattle, and is located conveniently 
 on the salt marshes, he can collect a quantity of good 
 manure, particularly well-suited to his sandy land, by 
 penning his stock upon alternate layers of salt-mud and 
 green marsh-grass. 
 
 ANALYSES OF MARSH-GRASS, OAT-STRAW AND MEADOW HAY. COMPARA- 
 TIVE MONEY VALUE ; HAY BEING ONE DOLLAR FOR THE SAME WEIGHT : 
 
 Salt marsh grass. . . 
 
 Oat straw 
 
 Meadow hay 
 
 ORGANIC 
 SUBSTANCE. 
 
 Total. 
 
 73.7 
 81.7 
 79.5 
 
 39.7 
 39.9 
 47.4 
 
 2.2 
 1.3 
 5.4 
 
 36.7 
 37.4 
 41.1 
 
 0.8 
 0.6 
 0.9 
 
 $0.68 
 0.63 
 1.00 
 
 Barn-yard manure taken as a standard of comparison, 
 the weights opposite the manures below show the num- 
 ber of pounds which would be equal in effect to one hun- 
 dred pounds of the former: 
 
 Barn-yard manure 100 
 
 Solid excrements of the cow 125 
 
 Solid 
 
 Liquid 
 
 Liquid 
 
 Mixed 
 
 Mixed 
 
 Mixed 
 
 Mixed 
 
 horse * 73 
 
 cow 91 
 
 horse 16 
 
 cow 98 
 
 horse 54 
 
 sheep 36 
 
 ho. 64 
 
 MANURE OF HOGS. 
 
 The urine of man and that of the hog contain phos- 
 phates, of which that of the ox ajid horse is destitute. 
 
34: TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 The pig voids a larger quantity of urine than any other 
 domestic animal The manure from fattening hogs is 
 very valuable, but it contains a peculiar volatile sub- 
 stance which gives to roots and bulbs to which it is ap- 
 plied a disagreeable taste. Hog-pens should be liberally 
 supplied with absorbents. 
 
 SHEEP MANURE 
 
 contains less vegetable fibre than that of cattle, and may 
 be classed with hog manure; but the nitrogenous matter 
 being more abundant, it is a heating manure when 
 piled and moistened. If penned, one sheep can ma- 
 nuiv ten and a half feet square in a night. It is too 
 rich in ammonia to be allowed to come in direct contact 
 with seeds or the roots of plants, and should be composted 
 or mixed with the soil. 
 
 POULTRY MANURE. 
 
 The dung of all domestic fowls and birds generally has 
 marked manurial properties on account of the large 
 amounts of ammonia and phosphate it contains. Like 
 sheep manure, Peruvian guano and all other fertilizers 
 rich in ammonia, it should not, in its fresh, undiluted 
 state, be permitted to come in immediate contact with 
 the roots of plants, nor with the seed. The floors of the 
 poultry-houses should be strown with finely powdered 
 muck or woods-earth and land plaster, to fix the ammonia 
 and to purify the atmosphere. Subsequently the manure 
 should be composted before being applied to the field. 
 
 PERUVIAN GUANO. 
 
 The Peruvian, the other South American and the Afri- 
 can guanos being the accumulated dung of sea-birds which 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 35 
 
 subsisted upon fish, contain considerable quantities of 
 phosphate of lime from the bones, and ammonia from 
 the flesh of the fish. According to the quantity of rain 
 in the climate whence they are obtained, the amount of 
 ammonia will vary. Their value depends principally 
 upon the quantity of ammonia, which already exists, or 
 may be formed by their further decomposition. Next to 
 ammonia, the soluble phosphoric acid is the most valuable 
 constituent, and after this potash is next in importance. 
 Guano from the Chincha Islands contained from fifteen 
 to twenty per cent, of ammonia; but notwithstanding 
 the exhaustion of the entire supply, and that the guanos 
 from other sources, as the Guanape, are poorer in am- 
 monia, and contain more of the less valuable constituents, 
 Peruvian guano retails at the former price. 
 
 Proprietors of city stables make no provision to save the 
 most valuable portion of the droppings of their stock the 
 urine and gardeners near cities supplement their stable 
 manure with strong, soluble commercial ammoniacal fertil- 
 izers, by which, in a measure, they do away with the neces- 
 sity of completely fermenting it. Track farmers in the 
 vicinity of Savannah now prefer the highly ammoniated 
 commercial fertilizers, to the inferior Peruvian guano 
 on the market, both for side dressing, and for supple- 
 menting their stable manure. Gardeners need not be 
 chemists, but they need to profit by the teachings of the 
 chemist, or be swindled by dishonest manipulators of the 
 article upon which their success depends. The gardener 
 who purchases an artificial fertilizer should know what 
 element his land or crop requires. The law enacts that 
 each package of a fertilizer shall be accompanied by a 
 chemical analysis of its contents. The Agricultural De- 
 partment of Georgia has published a tariff of values of 
 the important ingredients in fertilizers, by means of which 
 any one may calculate the approximate agricultural value 
 per ton of any such fertilizer. (See Appendix. ) These 
 
36 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 values are not exact. The result of their use depends 
 upon too many contingencies. These trade values are 
 based upon the value of the ingredients in a fertilizer 
 of assured merit. 
 
 COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 
 
 Appreciating the great importance to Southern agricul- 
 turists, that they should make no indiscriminate and 
 wasteful use of commercial fertilizers, nor be swindled 
 by the knavery of dishonest manipulators, I enumerate 
 below the conclusions, as advice, of one better able to 
 tender it than myself. 
 
 Prof. Atwater, of the Connecticut Experimental Station, 
 reaches the following conclusions with respect to the use 
 of artificial fertilizers: 
 
 First. Soils vary widely in their capacities for supply- 
 ing crops with food, and consequently in their demand 
 for fertilizers. 
 
 Second. Some soils will give good returns for manur- 
 ing; others, without previous amendment, by draining, 
 irrigation, tillage, or use of lime, marl, etc., will not. 
 
 Third. Farmers cannot afford to use commercial fertil- 
 izers at random, and it is time they understood the reason 
 why. 
 
 Fourth. The right materials in the right places, bring 
 large profits. Artificial fertilizers, rightly used, must 
 prove among the most potent means for the restoration 
 of our agriculture. 
 
 Fifth. The only way to find what a soil wants, is to 
 study it by careful observation and experiments. 
 
 Sixth. Success in farming, as in other business, re- 
 quires the use of brains. 
 
 The controversy between the advocates of home-made 
 manure and of artificial fertilizers may be reduced to the 
 following rules: 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 3? 
 
 First. No land will remain fertile for a long number 
 of years, if continuously manured with a special fertil- 
 izer alone, but will require a rotation of manures, as well 
 as of crops. 
 
 Second. Land, to respond properly to artificial fer- 
 tilizers, must be well stored with vegetable matter. 
 
 Third. After the gardener has accumulated as large a 
 pile of home-made manure as possible, by raking and scrap- 
 ing into his compost heap every article fit for plant-food 
 within his reach, let him supplement it with all the artific- 
 ial fertilizers of the best quality (for he cannot afford to 
 pay freight on sand and water, and other adulterations) 
 that it needs, and that he can use upon his crops with 
 profit. 
 
 COTTON SEED. 
 
 The chemical analysis of cotton seed shows it to be the 
 most concentrated and nutritious cattle-food known; and 
 experience has corroborated the fact. It is considered 
 injurious to hogs. Cattle eliminate from it very little 
 of the manurial elements, and their droppings, after the 
 use of cotton seed as a food, as shown by Sir J. B. 
 Lawes, form a manure of the best character. Their albu- 
 minoids are not as ready to undergo fermentation, and 
 therefore the ammonia is not so quickly available, as 
 those of animal substances; it is therefore necessary that 
 they shall have been fermented. If the truck-farmer be 
 at the same time a cotton planter, or be located where he 
 can conveniently procure cotton seed cheaply, he needs 
 no other strong supplement to his manure pile. Should 
 he desire to increase its efficacy for a special crop, an ad- 
 dition of forty or fifty pounds of a good potash salt, or 
 four hundred or five hundred pounds of an acid phos- 
 phate per ton of the compost, would answer the purpose, 
 if the cotton seed was about equal in weight to the for- 
 mer. It is too rich to feed alone, and should be consid- 
 
38 TRUC-FARMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 erably mixed with poorer food, as straw, shucks, etc.; 
 but if the vegetable-grower be a stock-owner, he should 
 feed as much cotton seed, or cotton-seed meal, as pos- 
 sible, and save the droppings of the cattle. The best 
 method of preparing cotton seed is to compost it with 
 stable-manure, and prevent a too rapid fermentation. 
 
 No country is so fortunate as the South in possessing 
 in its cotton seed, for a long number of years considered 
 a mere waste product, the best cattle- food and one of the 
 best fertilizers in the world. If correctly appreciated, 
 only the oil, which has no manurial value, would be ex- 
 ported. While the stores of guanos are being exhaust- 
 ed, the quantity of cotton seed grows with the increasing 
 cotton crops. 
 
 FISH SCRAP FISH GUAKO. 
 
 Moss-bunkers, or Menhaden (Alosa menhaden) are 
 caught along the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Virginia, 
 in immense numbers. The fish are boiled, and, after 
 the extraction of the oil by compression, the more or less 
 dried refuse, consisting of the flesh and bones, is sold 
 under the above names as an exceedingly rich fertilizer. 
 For the sandy coast lands, I have for years given it the 
 preference over the best Peruvian guano, or any other 
 commercial fertilizer. In a compost, it readily under- 
 goes decomposition, changing rapidly into those com- 
 pounds assimilable by plants. Placed alone in the soil, 
 particularly in a dry season, it does not become suffi- 
 ciently decomposed, to make the phosphoric acid of the 
 bones available. This article is so useful in supplying 
 the manufacturers and manipulators of artificial fertil- 
 izers with the most valuable ingredients of many of their 
 compounds, and is by them so well appreciated, that not- 
 withstanding the enormous quantities produced by the 
 fisheries, it has been difficult to procure it of late years. 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AKD USES. 
 
 39 
 
 Along the coast of Florida large quantities of fish offal 
 may be made available. 
 
 NIGHT-SOIL. 
 
 Like other animal manures, night-soil varies in efficacy 
 and composition in proportion to the richness of the food 
 from whence it was derived. It is more nutritive than the 
 dung of animals; but owing to the large quantity of water 
 with which it is diluted, and its offensiveness, it is diffi- 
 cult of transportation. 
 
 In so far as nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash are 
 concerned, human excrements compare with the average 
 of excrements of horses, cows, sheep, and swine, as 
 shown in the following table :* 
 
 ONE TON (2,000 POUNDS). 
 
 SOLIDS. 
 
 tTBINE. 
 
 1 
 
 fc 
 
 Ibs. 
 5.0 
 4.3 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 f 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Human 
 
 Ibs. 
 20.0 
 9.4 
 
 Ibs. 
 21.8 
 6.2 
 
 Ibs. 
 12.0 
 22.5 
 
 Ibs. 
 3.7 
 0.4 
 
 Ibs. 
 4.0 
 25.4 
 
 Mean of horse, cow, sheep, and swine 
 
 One ton of the fresh, solid excrement, contains more 
 than twice as much nitrogen as a ton of fresh mixed 
 animal dung; the urine of man contains nine times as 
 much phosphoric acid as that of horses, etc., and proba- 
 bly nearly all the nitrogen is in available condition. 
 
 Lawes and Gilbert found that an adult male voided in 
 the course of a year, fasces, ninety-five pounds; urine, 
 one thousand and forty-nine pounds, or one thousand 
 one hundred and forty-four pounds of excrement in the 
 pure state. 
 
 * Harris's Talks on Manures. 
 
40 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 These contain: 
 
 Dry substance faeces, 33* Ibs., urine, 34* Ibs.: total, 58J Ibs. 
 
 Mineral matter... " 2i 12 " 144 
 
 Mineral matter " ' 2* 
 
 Carbon " 10 " 
 
 Nitrogen " 1.3 " 
 
 Phosphoric acid " 0.7 " 
 
 Potash " 0.24" 
 
 12 
 12 " 
 10.8 " 
 1.93 " 
 2.01 " 
 
 14* 
 22 " 
 12 " 
 2.63 " 
 2.25 " 
 
 One hundred pounds of the dry substance of the faeces 
 contain five pounds of nitrogen and five and one- 
 half pounds of phosphates. One hundred pounds of 
 the dry matter of urine contains twenty-seven pounds of 
 nitrogen, and ten and three-fourths pounds of phos- 
 phates. City night-soil should be promptly incorporated 
 with stable manure upon its arrival, and that of the 
 farm should be mixed with dry, fine muck, woods-earth, 
 or garden soil, by which the ammonia will be absorbed 
 and its offensiveness avoided. This muck, or earth, 
 when dried, may be repeatedly used for the same purpose. 
 Should the quantity be deficient, a little plaster might be 
 added. 
 
 In the earth closets, the dry earth, before using, con- 
 tained in five tons, sixteen and seven-tenths pounds of 
 nitrogen; after being used 
 
 Once 5 tons of dry earth contained 24.0 Ibs. nitrogen 
 
 rpnrjs.a K. " Q 9 ' 
 
 Twice 5 
 
 Three times 5 
 Four times.. 5 
 Five times.. 5 
 Six times.... 5 
 
 36.3 
 
 44.6 " 
 
 54.0 " 
 
 61.4 " 
 
 71.6 " 
 
 Owing to its great solubility, night-soil is especially 
 adapted to growing early vegetables. The commercial 
 fertilizer, poudrette, is night-soil, which has been dried in 
 pans, and mixed with charred earth, peat, charcoal, or 
 ground peat and plaster. It is variable in quality in pro- 
 portion to the care with which the escape of ammonia 
 may have been prevented; the best, compared with cow- 
 
 *Dr. GUbert. 
 
MAHURES, THEIR KItfDS AtfD USES. 41 
 
 dung, in respect to the quantity of ammonia being rated 
 as four to one. 
 
 MUCK. 
 
 When successive generations of plants have grown 
 and, with the leaves from surrounding forest trees, have 
 decayed on the same low, swampy soil, the vegetable mat- 
 ter increases so rapidly that, with the exception of that 
 supplied by the decaying mass, very little mineral mat- 
 ter is mixed with it. The mud from the bottom of a 
 pond, in or around which no plants grow, consists merely 
 of the washings from the higher ground, and deposits 
 from the water, and must be of inferior quality. It is 
 evident that muck must be very variable in quality, ac- 
 cording to its origin. The best, besides imparting valua- 
 ble humus to the soil, contains four per cent., or even 
 more, of nitrogen. In some instances, on the sea coast, 
 a rich deposit may be subject to overflow at spring tides, 
 which, receding, leave marine animals that will fur- 
 ther enrich it. An application to plants of such muck 
 alone, imparts the dark green color to the leaves so in- 
 dicative of ammonia. It should be dug and be permitted 
 to dry out several months before being used, or it may 
 be mixed with lime at the rate of three or four bushels 
 to the ton of muck. There is no better absorbent for the 
 earth closet, the poultry house, the stable, the cow pen, 
 or the manure pile than salt-marsh muck. It may be 
 drilled in with any artificial fertilizer. Woods-earth, or 
 leaf mould, is still better as decayed vegetable matter, 
 and as a source of humus. 
 
 SUPERPHOSPHATE OR ACID PHOSPHATE OF LIME. 
 
 Phosphoric acid is, next to ammonia, or the nitrates, 
 the most important element of plant food, and it is also, 
 next to nitrogen, the earliest to become exhausted in 
 soil. It exists in all plants, in most soils, combined with 
 
4$ TRtJCK-FARMISTG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 vegetable matter, in all excrementitious matter, and in 
 the tissues and bones of animals. Bones consist ot 
 phosphate of lime, or bone earth and gelatine. 
 
 Phosphoric acid and lime unite in three different pro- 
 portions. In common bone earth there are three equiv- 
 alents of lime to one of phosphoric acid, and this salt of 
 lime is called the tricalcic phosphate, or three-lime phos- 
 phate. This is not soluble in pure rain water. Large 
 bones, as is well known, remain for ages buried in the 
 ground, and are only very slowly dissolved by the car- 
 bonic acid in the water. The next is the reverted, or 
 dicalcic, or two-lime phosphate, consisting of two equiv- 
 alents of lime to one of phosphoric acid, which is also 
 insoluble. The monocalcic, or one-lime phosphate, con- 
 sists of one equivalent of lime and one of phosphoric 
 acid, and is the acid-phosphate, or superphosphate of 
 lime of the agriculturist, and is soluble in water. 
 
 The manufacturer is enabled to present this valuable 
 soluble fertilizer to agriculture by treating bones, or the 
 South Carolina phosphates, the poor phosphatic guanos, 
 the coprolites, or any other mineral tricalcic phosphate 
 of lime, with sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol. This re- 
 moves two equivalents of lime (as plaster or sulphate of 
 lime), converting it into the one-lime, or superphosphate. 
 
 The surest source of phosphoric acid is finely-powdered 
 bone meal. One ton of this contains, in its gela- 
 tine, as much nitogen as eight and one-half tons of 
 fresh stable manure, and twenty-three per cent, of it is 
 phosphoric acid. Bone meal is slowly soluble in the soil 
 by the action of carbonic acid. For vegetable growing it 
 should be decomposed in the manure pile, and supplied 
 at the rate of five hundred pounds to the acre. 
 
 The manufacturer mixes finely-powdered fish-scrap, 
 nitrate of soda, or some other more or less nitrogenous 
 substance with his superphosphate, and produces his 
 "ammoniated superphosphate." This mere manipula- 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 43 
 
 tion the gardener may undertake more cheaply at home, 
 and with greater satisfaction. 
 
 Phosphatic fertilizers are especially beneficial to root 
 and bulb crops. 
 
 More or less of the insoluble phosphates may be mixed 
 with and sold in the superphosphate. These have little 
 practical value to the general agriculturist, and none to 
 the gardener. 
 
 During the fermentation of the bone meal in the- ma- 
 nure pile, which is accelerated by the gelatine, soluble 
 nitrogenous organic compounds and salts of ammonia 
 are produced. These act quickly and powerfully as fer- 
 tilizing agents, and render the phosphate more soluble. 
 
 POTASH. 
 
 No vegetable can grow without potash, for it is a con- 
 stituent of every plant. Its presence has been proved to be 
 necessary for the formation of starch in the leaves; and 
 the experiments of Lawes and Gilbert have pointed out 
 that it aids leguminous plants, like clover, in assimilat- 
 ing nitrogen, which they contain so largely. It results 
 in soils from the disintegration of minerals, and is less 
 apt to be absent, particularly in heavy soils, than either 
 nitrogen or phosphoric acid. 
 
 Neither the land of the truck-farmer near a city, nor 
 any other land, which has been, even only moderately, 
 enriched with the dung of domestic animals and accom- 
 panying vegetable matter, needs any special application of 
 potash. If a crop, even of potatoes, fails on such soils, it 
 will be owing either to a deficiency of the more important 
 elements of plant food, or to other unfavorable contingen- 
 cies, as of weather, tillage, drainage, etc,, rather than to 
 a lack of potash. But on light lands frequently manured 
 .with exclusively nitrogenous manures, like fish scrap, 
 Peruvian guano, etc., and cropped with potatoes, or some 
 
44 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 other vegetable exhaustive of potash, an application of a 
 salt of potash either alone, or of a fertilizer largely con- 
 taining it, becomes indispensable. All potash salts, be- 
 ing exceedingly soluble, are liable to be leached out of 
 sandy land. A crop of one hundred and fifty bushels of 
 Irish potatoes will remove from the soil, in the tubers, 51., 3 
 Ibs. of potash, 1.44 Ibs. of phosphoric acid, and 30. 6 Ibs. of 
 nitrogen. Formerly the ashes of hard-woods was nearly 
 the only, and limited source of potash; but recently the 
 kainit mines in North Germany, near Stassfurt and Leo- 
 pold shall, provide this element in enormous quantities. 
 The lower grades contain a constituent, the chloride of 
 magnesium, which is actually injurious to plant growth. 
 Years ago, like J. H. H. Gregory of Marblehead, Mass., I 
 had an experience which showed the detrimental effects 
 of this salt in the ruin of a potato crop. Mr. Gregory 
 mixed a compost of twenty-eight bbls. of hen manure, 
 twenty-eight bbls. of dry, rich soil, twelve bbls. of fine 
 ground bone with three bbls. of kainit. This was allowed 
 to heat twice before it was applied, at the rate of two quarts 
 to the hill, and according to his custom, cabbage seed 
 was sown in the field, on each hill. The seed sprouted; 
 bub the little seedlings were killed as soon as the first 
 rootlets reached the fertilizer. As large quantities of this 
 kainit are being introduced into the South, statements by 
 Prof. Atwater (American Agriculturist, Vol. XXXVI, 
 No. 11) are here given as a warning against the improper 
 or indiscriminate use of the lower grades of the'se potash 
 salts: "The mines at Stassfurt, Leopoldshall and Wes- 
 teregeln are from six hundred to one thousand two hun- 
 dred feet deep, and the area of deposit is calculated at 
 six hundred square miles. The salts, as taken from the 
 mines, contain only a small proportion of potassium com- 
 pounds, the bulk consisting of materials which have com- 
 paratively little agricultural value, and are sometimes 
 positively injurious. They are, therefore, subjected to 
 
MANUKES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 
 
 45 
 
 chemical treatment, by which the potash compounds are 
 more or less completely purified. As prepared for mar- 
 ket, the potash fertilizers contain potassium in the form 
 of either chloride of potassium, or sulphate of potash, 
 and, along with these, other compounds, as shown by the 
 following figures from circulars of the German manu- 
 facturers: 
 
 COMPOSITION OF THE GERMAN POTASH SALTS. 
 
 BBAND8 OP POTASH SALTS. 
 
 POTASSIUM AND OTHER COM- 
 POTJKDS. LBS. IN 100 LBS. 
 
 r 
 
 ^ s 
 
 1 
 
 Chloride of 
 Magnesium. 
 
 if 
 
 1 Crude kainit 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 17-26 
 18-22 
 24 
 29-33 
 
 70 
 
 90-95 
 54-57 
 
 Ibs. 
 80-85 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 10-12 
 16-20 
 16-18 
 17-22 
 1-2 
 5-10 
 3-6 
 34-38 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 14-17 
 2-4 
 2-4 
 3-5 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 32-40 
 35-50 
 3(M2 
 30-35 
 12-16 
 5-10 
 1-2 
 1-2 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 9-14 
 
 9-12 
 13 
 15-18 
 50-52 
 38 
 50-52 
 28-30 
 
 2. Crude sulphate of potash (dung salt) 
 3 Prepared kainit 
 
 4. Crude sulphate of potash magnesia 
 5. Five-fold concentrated salt (chloride) 
 \ Purified sulphate of potash 
 
 7. Purified sulphate of potash 
 
 8. Purified sulphate of potash magnesia.... 
 
 "All these brands contain other than potash compounds. 
 Of these the sulphate of magnesia may be valuable, since 
 it is useful as plant food, and further, aids in diffusing 
 the potash through the soil and thus bringing it within 
 reach of the roots of plants. The chloride of sodium, or 
 common salt, though not needed for plant food, is useful 
 in rendering other materials available, and hence is often 
 quite valuable as a fertilizer. For certain crops, how- 
 ever, like potatoes, sugar beets, and tobacco, it is apt to be 
 detrimental; probably on account of the chlorine which 
 it contains. The chloride of magnesium may be in- 
 jurious. Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, in the table, are low grade 
 articles, furnishing only nine to eighteen per cent, 
 of actual potash. The crude kainit, No. 1, is the ma- 
 
46 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 terial as dug from the mines and ground. The prepared 
 kainit, No. 3, is made by roasting the crude kainit. 
 The ' dung salt' No. 2, is a waste product, formed 
 in the manufacture of the high grade articles. Nos. 5, 
 6, 7, and 8, are high grade articles of two kinds, viz., 
 the chlorides or 'muriates.' In No. 5, the potas- 
 sium is combined with chlorine, as chloride of potas- 
 sium, or ' muriate of potash,' and in the sulphates, 
 Nos. 6, 7, 8, it is combined with sulphuric acid, as 
 sulphate of potash. Little of No. 8 is manufactured. 
 
 ' ' It is becoming customary to characterize these salts by 
 the percentages of sulphate or chloride of potassium they 
 furnish. Thus an ' eighty per cent, sulphate ' is one 
 that contains eighty Ibs. of sulphate of potash in one 
 hundred Ibs. of the salt. An ( eighty per cent, muriate ' 
 would contain eighty per cent, of chloride of potassium. 
 
 MOST DESIRABLE GRADES FOR OUR USE. 
 
 " It is clear that for this side of the Atlantic, the high 
 grades must be the most economical as potash fertilizers. 
 The sulphates are, on the whole, preferable; but the po- 
 tassium in these is more costly than in the chlorides. 
 The chlorides sometimes injure the burning quality of 
 the tobacco leaf, decrease the amount of sugar in sugar 
 beets, and of starch in potatoes, and make the latter less 
 ' mealy ' than is desirable. The sulphates, on the other 
 hand, are always safe. For buckwheat, corn, wheat, 
 oats, and other grains, for leguminous crops and grasses, 
 and for wet soils, the chlorides are preferable because 
 cheaper. Generally speaking, the most desirable grades 
 will probably be : 
 
 " For sulphates: the highest grades which contain from 
 seventy-five to ninety per cent, or more, of sulphate of 
 potash, corresponding to from forty to fifty per cent, of 
 actual potash. 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 47 
 
 "For chlorides: the ' muriate' with eighty to eighty-five 
 per cent, of chloride of potassium, corresponding to 
 fifty to fifty- three per cent, of potash. 
 
 "By the above table, the amount of actual potash in 
 the low grade salts, varies from nine to eighteen per cent. 
 Some of the salts sold in this country have yielded as low 
 as seven to eight per cent. The disadvantage in purchas- 
 ing these poorer articles is a double one. Not only do 
 they furnish very little potash, the bulk being made up 
 of other and inferior or injurious compounds; but the 
 purchaser has to pay the cost of freight and handling of 
 this extra material between the mines in Germany and 
 his farm. 
 
 " The method of applying potash salts is of great im- 
 portance. Cases are common, I have known several 
 myself, where crops were injured or destroyed." 
 
 Professor Atwater proceeds to recommend that the salt 
 be uniformly diffused through the soil, and not concen- 
 trated in single spots, that it be applied in the fall for the 
 next season's crop, so that the rains may have an oppor- 
 tunity to distribute it through the soil; or that it be com- 
 posted with muck, farm refuse, or earth. Doubtless the 
 chloride of magnesium could thus be rendered harmless. 
 
 In another volume of the "American Agriculturist," 
 Prof. Atwater says: "Analyses of potash salts by Prof. 
 Johnson, chemist of the Connecticut Board of Agricul- 
 ture, and by Prof. Goessmann, State Inspector of Fer- 
 tilizers in Massachusetts, agree entirely with Prof. Stor- 
 er's, and ours, in showing that a large amount of the 
 German potash salts imported into this country are of 
 the poorer grades. This is a ' serious evil, which needs 
 to be known and to be corrected.' . As long as farmers 
 will buy low-priced potash salts, and other fertilizers, 
 because they are 'cheap,' and pay no regard to the 
 actual quality, they must expect to get poor wares at dear 
 rates, and have poor success in using them." 
 
48 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 Ashes are the product of combustion, and in their ef- 
 fect are somewhat similar to that of decaying and mould- 
 ing vegetable matter. When the use of potash is indi- 
 cated, and ashes of hard- wood can be obtained, they are a 
 safer and much more satisfactory and effective fertilizer 
 than the German potash salts; for they contain all the min- 
 eral elements of plant food which the tree had derived from 
 the soil. They are, of course, void of nitrogen; but tend to 
 render nitrogen and other soil ingredients available. 
 They also amend the physical condition of heavy soils, 
 and are adapted to those of sandy character. Measures 
 should be devised to save the ashes of cities as manure. 
 A bushel of unleached ashes weighs about forty-eight 
 pounds; a "struck" bushel of leached ashes, fifty- 
 seven pounds, and one " heaped," about seventy-one 
 pounds. A dressing of fifty bushels of unleached ashes 
 to the acre, at forty-eight pounds to the bushel, would 
 give two hundred pounds of potash; seven hundred and 
 sixty-eight pounds of lime; one hundred and twenty 
 pounds of magnesia; forty-eight pounds of phosphoric 
 acid, and thirty-six pounds of sulphuric acid. 
 
 Wood Ashes, 
 100 Ibs. contain 
 on the average 
 
 Potash, Ms. 
 
 Lime, Ibs. 
 
 Magnesia, 
 Ibs. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid, Ibs. 
 
 Sulphuric 
 Ac:d. Ibs. 
 
 Unleached 
 
 7 to 10 
 
 32 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 IVa 
 
 Leached 
 
 1 to 2 
 
 25 
 
 ^1/2 
 
 IV. 
 
 Vi 
 
 QUICK-LIME. 
 
 Ammonia is not produced in organic matter until pu- 
 trefaction commences, when nitrogen and hydrogen com- 
 bine in the proportions of one to three to form it. 
 
 If quick-lime is added before the process begins, the 
 lime unites with the nitric acid, and forms nitrate of 
 lime, fixing or retaining the nitrogen; but when the lime 
 is added to stable manure in fermentation, or to Peruvian 
 guano, or to ground fish- scrap, or to any other substance 
 containing ammonia, the ammonia escapes into the air, 
 
MANUKES, THEIE KINDS AND USES. 49 
 
 and is lost. We may see this take place, if we heat de- 
 caying vegetable matter with lime, or witness it if we 
 mix guano and quick-lime together in the palm of the 
 hand, and smell the escaping ammoniacal gas. A good 
 soil may, without any recent manuring, contain three 
 thousand or more pounds of nitrogen per acre in the first 
 six inches of depth, or as much as is contained in three 
 hundred and thirty-three tons of fresh horse manure, and 
 yet require a fresh application of soluble nitrogenous 
 manure to bring a satisfactory crop to maturity. The rea- 
 son is, that the above large amount of nitrogen is locked 
 up in the soil, existing in unassimilable combinations, in 
 short, is unavailable. Professor Johnson found only 
 sixty-three pounds of available nitrogen in four thousand 
 six hundred and fifty-two pounds of a soil per acre, at 
 the depth of twelve inches. 
 
 Every arable soil contains a sufficiency of lime for the 
 direct needs, as plant food, of any crop; and while the 
 cereals, or grain plants, contain less of lime, both in 
 grain and straw, than any other crop, they especially re- 
 quire nitrogenous manure, and to these the general agri- 
 culturist applies it freely. Now, a simple dressing of 
 lime has been known to double the yield of grain on a 
 soil containing unavailable nitrogen. 
 
 It would require too much space to mention the chem- 
 ical changes lime undergoes from its condition as carbon- 
 ate of lime in rock or shells, until, as caustic lime, it 
 exerts its strange power, or to attempt an explanation of its 
 extraordinary effects, not yet fully understood, upon the 
 various constituents of the soil. 
 
 Suffice it to say: First. It renders stores of wealth in 
 the soil available to crops. Second. It neutralizes acids 
 in the soil which might be injurious to vegetation. 
 Third. It rapidly decomposes vegetable matter in the 
 soil, and renders its elements fit for plant food. Fourth. 
 It amends the physical texture both of heavy clays and 
 
50 TRUCK-FABMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 sandy land. Fifth. It aids and promotes the produc- 
 tion of nitric acid, and forms the soluble nitrate of lime. 
 Sixth. It hastens the maturity of crops. Seventh. It 
 is supposed to form combinations in the soil which at- 
 tract nitrogen from the atmosphere probably silicate 
 of lime. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these advantages the truck-farmer 
 will rarely have recourse to lime. Near the city his large 
 supply of manure will render its use unnecessary. Only 
 in case of an emergency, an unexpected lack of manure, 
 and on heavy land, would he be warranted in bringing 
 out the latent power of his soil by a heavy application. 
 Small quantities might be desirable occasionally. Its use 
 must impoverish the soil to the extent of its decomposi- 
 tion, and, if persisted in, the complete removal of organic 
 matter and of ammonia; and the gardener who farms 
 with less stable-dung, or near the coast, rarely gets a 
 sufficiency of vegetable matter incorporated with his 
 sandy soil. 
 
 " Lime and lime without manure 
 Will make both land and farmer poor." 
 
 Neither lime nor ashes should ever be mixed with dung, 
 Peruvian guano, poultry manure, or any other organic 
 fertilizer upon the soil, unless there be present sufficient 
 muck or earth to arrest and absorb the escaping am- 
 monia. 
 
 Lime is applied at the rate of from twenty-five to two 
 hundred bushels per acre. One hundred bushels would 
 add about one half of one per cent, to a soil six inches 
 deep. 
 
 COMMON SALT. 
 
 Chlorine and soda are more or less the constituents of 
 every plant. Salt (chloride of sodium) is a combination 
 of chlorine and the metal sodium. Soda is a compound of 
 oxygen and sodium. Common salt is the source of the 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 51 
 
 soda compounds. Every soil, and every animal and 
 vegetable manure, contain this salt, and generally in 
 sufficient quantity for the direct needs of most plants. 
 Storms may blow the salt-spray of the ocean fifty miles 
 inland. The coast lands, the Gulf and Atlantic shores, 
 of Florida, must be abundantly supplied with it to meet 
 the direct wants of a crop. 
 
 Plants which naturally live upon the sea shore, like 
 asparagus, generally abound in salt, while in others it may 
 exist as a mere trace. In beets it forms nearly one-third 
 of the ash; in potatoes seven, and in carrots six per 
 cent. In all roots it is generally a prominent constituent. 
 Plants will therefore respond differently to its applicar 
 tion. While an asparagus bed will bear a heavy dressing, 
 the same quantity would destroy most other cultivated 
 plants as effectually as it does the weeds among the 
 asparagus plants. It needs therefore to be used carefully, 
 five or six bushels to the acre being enough, to be applied 
 cither broadcast, if fine, or in compost, if coarse. It in- 
 creases the brightness and strength of the straw, and the 
 yield of grain in the cereals. Its effects on fertile soil, 
 already supplied with a sufficiency for the use of the crop, 
 demonstrates tho fact that it exerts an influence upon 
 other fertilizing agents, decomposing them and rendering 
 them available. The moisture it attracts from the at- 
 mosphere through its hygroscopic power must also be fc 
 great benefit to sandy soil. 
 
 GYPSUM LAND PLASTER. 
 
 This, which is the sulphate of lime, can supply- 
 plants with sulphuric acid and lime; both of which, 
 however, are generally found in soils in sufficient quan- 
 tity for the needs of most crops. Where clover may be 
 grown as a green manure or for feed, it is a useful fertil- 
 izer; but otherwise the market-gardener will rarely use 
 it ; unless he incorporates it in his manure pile to fix the 
 
TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 ammonia as sulphate. Where the potato-rot prevailed, 
 gypsum has been known to show worse results than any 
 other application; probably owing to the moisture it at- 
 tracted from the atmosphere. 
 
 NITRATE OF SODA AND THE AMMONIA SALTS. 
 
 These are the most concentrated nitrogenous fertiliz- 
 ers, and in their pure state are to be sparingly and care- 
 fully applied, so as not to come in direct contact either 
 with seed or the roots of plants. To increase the 
 strength of stable manure, particularly such as is defi- 
 cient in liquid excrement, or of compost, there is nothing 
 better than these salts, to be added to the former just 
 before its application. They may also be carefully sown 
 broadcast at the rate of one-fourth to one-half a ton, in- 
 timately mixed with fine muck, woods-earth, or soil, to 
 insure an even distribution. The best to use will be such 
 as supply the gardener with nitrogen at the cheapest 
 rate. The following table presents the present market 
 prices, their proportion of ammonia, and their calculated 
 value, according to the now existing high valuation of 
 ammonia in fertilizers twenty-five cents per pound: 
 
 
 Nitro- 
 gen. 
 
 Equiva- 
 lent to 
 Am- 
 monia. 
 
 Calcula- 
 ted Value. 
 
 Nitrate of soda 
 
 16.40 
 
 19.20 
 
 $96 00 
 
 Nitrate of potash 
 
 13.75 
 
 16.6 
 
 83 00 
 
 Carbonate of ammonia . 
 
 17.70 
 
 21 50 
 
 107 50 
 
 Muriate of ammonia 
 
 25 50 
 
 31 00 
 
 155 00 
 
 Sulphate of ammonia 
 
 21.20 
 
 25 75 
 
 128 60 
 
 
 
 
 
 It must be borne in mind, however, that these salts 
 are not chemically pure, but contain about ten per cent, 
 of impurities, which may or may not have any agricul- 
 tural value. 
 
 In nitrates of soda and potash, the nitrogen exists in 
 the available form of nitric acid, but is more apt to be' 
 lost by leaching than the? ammonia in the other salts, 
 
MANURES, THEIR KINDS AND USES. 53 
 
 The carbonate has too high a value as a drug to allow it 
 to be used by the gardener, except perhaps on a very 
 small scale, and experimentally in the green-house. 
 For such crops as are grown for their leaves, as cabbage 
 and spinach, these salts are admirably adapted; but in 
 the case of potatoes, large doses, as the physician would 
 say, are contra-indicated. 
 
 LIQUID MANURE. 
 
 In China and Holland, liquid manuring for the most 
 valuable crops is extensively practised. As the urine of 
 all animals is much richer than the solid excrements 
 (that of the horse containing thirty-one pounds of ni- 
 trogen to the ton, whereas the solid excreta only contain 
 nine pounds), it has a relatively higher agricultural 
 value, and should be saved with care proportioned to its 
 efficacy. The nitrogen being in a more available form, 
 if applied to crops in the liquid state, it will be more 
 valuable in consequence of its solubility. When plants 
 have reached the stage of rapid and steady growth, ap- 
 proaching maturity, their vital energy and the absorptive 
 power of their roots will enable them to profit wonder- 
 fully from an application of liquid manure, for which 
 reason the cauliflower and the cabbage are treated to 
 food in this form just before the former is expected to 
 " curd," and the latter to head. 
 
 When seedling plants have to be watered at the time 
 of transplanting, a weak liquid manure would help them 
 to start better than pure water. 
 
 Urine is too " strong" to be allowed to come in direct 
 contact with seed or with roots, and should first be al- 
 lowed to ferment, and then be diluted with five or six 
 parts of water. In its fresh state it contains no am- 
 monia, this being formed from urea after putrefaction 
 has commenced. 
 
 Solid manure may be steeped in water until the latter 
 
64 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 has assumed a dark clear color, when the liquor may be 
 used, or Peruvian guano, at the rate of a quarter pound, 
 or any of the ammonia salts, at the rate of two ounces 
 dissolved in a gallon of water, may be substituted. 
 Liquid manure should be applied just before a rain; at 
 any rate, the soil should be moist, as there is then no 
 danger of the liquid passing through the soil and be- 
 yond the reach of the roots. One gallon of water is 
 capable of absorbing one thousand one hundred and fifty 
 gallons of gaseous ammonia. Owing to its inconvenience, 
 truck-farmers rarely use liquid manure. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE ROTATION OF CROPS. 
 
 It is as advantageous for the market-gardener as for 
 the general agriculturist to grow his different crops in 
 succession. Various theories have been proposed to ex- 
 plain the phenomena attending the growth of certain 
 crops on the same soil for a number of successive years. 
 
 Chemical analysis shows that, while all plants are com- 
 posed of nearly the same elements, they exist in each 
 kind in varying proportions. It is supposed that a plant 
 requiring for its full development more of one inorganic 
 element than another, exhausted the soil of the former to a 
 greater or less degree, and rendered that gradually unfit for 
 its own continued growth, while a different plant, somewhat 
 differently constituted, would still find in the soil all the 
 elements it required for its maturity in sufficient quantity, 
 and in an available condition. 
 
 When it was ascertained that, if all the elements known 
 to be taken f f om the soil by a certain crop, were returned 
 to it in fertilizers, and even more of these than it had 
 lost, the crop still continued to depreciate, the theory of 
 exhaustion of the soil then failed to be a satisfactory solu- 
 
THE ROTATION OF CROPS. 55 
 
 tion. De Candolle and others then supposed that the 
 necessity for a rotation of crops was attributable to the 
 fact that plants, during growth, throw off excrenientitious 
 matters by their roots, which, they agreed, were injuri- 
 ous to a following crop of their own kind, but not to 
 others. Exceptional cases, as that of the onion, would 
 have to be accounted for upon the hypothesis that that 
 plant either did not excrete from the root, or if it did, 
 the matter eliminated was not detrimental to itself. 
 Others supposed that the decaying fibrous roots might be 
 injurious. Whether or not either of these theories alone 
 correctly explains the phenomena of rotation, the practice 
 of rotation remains the best possible method of keeping 
 the soil clean, mellow, and in the best attainable condi- 
 tion for the production of remunerative crops with the 
 least cost of manure. 
 
 It is doubtless true here, as in many other matters per- 
 taining to agriculture, that circumstances may, to a cer- 
 tain extent, modify a general rule. In the treatment of 
 land of different kinds and textures the farmer should 
 be an empiric as little as the physician. The fact that 
 rotation may, for a limited number of years, be unneces- 
 sary on deep alluvial soils, or on heavy clays, with, or 
 without manure, may not suffice to upset a general prac- 
 tice as old as agriculture itself. 
 
 Joseph Harris in his " Talks on Manures," while dis- 
 cussing the results of the interesting experiments of 
 Lawes and Gilbert on the heavy clay soil of "Botham- 
 sted," and probably basing his observations too upon ex- 
 perience with his own clays, says: " The old notion that 
 there is any real chemical necessity for a rotation of crops 
 is unfounded. Wheat can be grown after wheat, and 
 barley after barley, and corn after corn, provided we use 
 the necessary manures, and get the soil clean and in the 
 right mechanical condition." In other parts of his val- 
 uable book he says: "A light sandy soil will not pre- 
 
56 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 serve manure like a clay soil." (p. 177.) "On light 
 sandy soil, such an annual dressing of manure (fourteen 
 tons barn-yard manure per acre) would, in the course of 
 a few years, make the land too rich for wheat." (p. 176.) 
 "On sandy land, the manure will decompose more 
 rapidly, and act quicker than on clayey or loamy land." 
 (p. 295.) "To what, then, is the power of soils to 
 arrest ammonia, potash, magnesia, phosphoric acid, etc., 
 owing? The above experiments lead to the conclusion 
 that it is due to the clay which they contain. Pure 
 sand was found not to possess it." (p. 218.) "A 
 London clay contained about seven thousand pounds of 
 ammonia per acre, equivalent to the quantity contained 
 in seven hundred tons of barn-yard manure." (p. 221.) 
 " Clay mixed with manure arrests, or checks decomposi- 
 tion. Sand has no such effect. If anything, it favors a 
 more active decomposition, and hence, manure acts much 
 more rapidly on sandy land than on clay land." (p. 268.) 
 A table by Lawes and Gilbert shows the produce of 
 wheat per acre on the clay soil of Eothamsted for twenty 
 consecutive years without any manure: 
 
 SEASON. 
 
 Tear. 
 
 Bushel*. 
 
 PecTa. 
 
 First 
 
 1843 
 
 15 
 
 
 Second. 
 
 1844 
 
 23 
 
 Oft 
 
 Third 
 
 1845 
 
 17 
 
 3* 
 
 Fourth . 
 
 1846 
 
 16 
 
 3i 
 
 Fifth 
 
 1847 
 
 14 
 
 
 Sixth 
 
 1848 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 Seventh . . . 
 
 1849 
 
 15 
 
 8} 
 
 Eighth 
 
 1850 
 
 15 
 
 3i 
 
 Ninth 
 
 1851 
 
 13 
 
 3i 
 
 Tenth 
 
 1852 
 
 5 
 
 3i 
 
 Eleventh 
 
 1853 
 
 21 
 
 i 
 
 Twelfth 
 
 1854 
 
 17 
 
 
 Thirteenth 
 
 1855 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 Fourteenth 
 
 1856 
 
 19 
 
 it 
 
 Fifteenth 
 
 1857 
 
 18 
 
 
 Sixteenth 
 
 1858 
 
 18 
 
 u 
 
 Seventeenth 
 
 1859 
 
 12 
 
 3* 
 
 Eighteenth 
 
 1860 
 
 11 
 
 1* 
 
 Nineteenth 
 
 1861 
 
 16 
 
 
 Twentieth 
 
 1862 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
THE ROTATION OP CHOPS. 5? 
 
 The weight of the grain of the first crop was fifty- 
 eight and five-tenths pounds per bushel, and that of the 
 twentieth, or last, was sixty-two and seven-tenths pounds 
 per bushel, so that after continuous cropping, without 
 manure, the land produced in the twentieth year two 
 and one-fourth bushels more per acre, and the wheat 
 weighed four and one-fifth pounds more per bushel than 
 the first season. 
 
 Can there be a doubt that on any other than a heavy 
 clay soil the results of these experiments would have 
 been different ? Is there a soil on the southern sea coast, 
 void of clay, which, after continuous cropping for twenty 
 years without manure, would produce more oats or rye 
 (wheat requires clay) or any other crop, to the acre, than 
 it would the first season ? If so, to what is the exhaus- 
 tion of our cotton plantations to be attributed? Better 
 farming, or cotton seed, cow peas and rotation might 
 have preserved their fertility. 
 
 Neither the areas, nor the varieties of crops of the truck- 
 farmer are sufficient to enable him always to practice 
 regular courses of rotation; nor should a lack of manure 
 ever compel their strict observance, but he should aim : 
 
 First. To have a crop which succeeds another as dis- 
 similar in composition and the demands it makes upon 
 the soil as possible. 
 
 Second. Never to have plants of the same family suc- 
 ceed each other. For instance, melons should not follow 
 cucumbers; tomatoes should not follow egg-plants, or 
 Irish potatoes; beans should not succeed peas, or vice 
 versa. 
 
 Third. Tuberous plants should not be allowed to fol- 
 low plants of the same character. 
 
 Fourth. Eoots should not succeed to root crops, as 
 turnips, beets, etc. 
 
 Fifth. Deep or tap-rooted plants should succeed 
 others of dissimilar growth. 
 
58 TKUCK-FAKMIHQ AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 Sixth. To make the heaviest applications of manure to 
 such crops as require most, as cabbage, onions, etc; and 
 have other crops succeed those requiring less, as tomatoes, 
 egg-plants, etc., so that the whole farm may be gradually 
 brought to the same degree of fertility. 
 
 As the crops of the truck-farmer come in for ship- 
 ment during spring and early summer, there is rarely 
 an opportunity of having a second crop occupy the same 
 ground, before the first is harvested; still it may occur. 
 Thus a crop of melons or cucumbers may be put in be- 
 tween the wide rows of peas. The latter will be off be- 
 fore the former requires the first working. 
 
 A further benefit of successive rotation and continued 
 cropping is the destruction of noxious weeds, and of such 
 insects as prey for more than one season on the roots of 
 a particular kind of crop, by depriving them of their 
 food. 
 
 A continued liberal use of the same fertilizer, although 
 it be the complete stable-manure, will eventually show 
 less favorable results, than when manures are alternated. 
 Owing to a too limited use, this will not frequently 
 happen on our truck-farms; but it may occasionally occur 
 near cities, where, after a series of heavy manurings with 
 stable-manure or night-soil, the land seems to crave 
 something else. A resort in such a case to a good com- 
 mercial fertilizer will remedy the evil and increase the 
 crop. 
 
WEEDS. 59 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 WEEDS. 
 
 Plants, according to their manner of growth, are either 
 exogenous (outside growers), their bulk being augmented 
 by layers next to the inner bark; or endogenous (inside, 
 growers), which increase from the centre, the new growth 
 pressing the older outwards. 
 
 All the trees of the United States, with the exception 
 of the Palmetto, are outside growers. The Asparagus is 
 an example of an inside grower. 
 
 The stem of an outside grower consists of the outer 
 bark, the inner bark, or liber, the sapwood or alburnum, 
 the heartwood and the pith. The medullary rays connect 
 the pith horizontally with the inner bark through the 
 wood. 
 
 When a seed germinates, it sends its radicle down into 
 the ground and its sprout (plumule) up into the air. The 
 root obtains from the soil crude sap, containing solu- 
 tions of gases, earths, and salts, which ascend through 
 the sapwood to the leaves. Leaves may be considered a 
 continuation of young bark, and in plants, which are 
 naturally leafless, the young bark performs their office. 
 Leaves are provided on their upper and lower surfaces 
 with breathing pores, or stomata; and those plants grow- 
 ing in moist and shady places, are most abundantly 
 supplied with them, and the pores are of larger size. 
 The outer skin, or epidermis, of thick-leaved plants 
 growing in hot, arid situations, like the aloe, the prickly 
 pear, and the purslane, have few and small breathing 
 pores, and the skin is still further protected by a waxy 
 covering. When the sap reaches the wide expanse of sur- 
 face of the leaves, it comes in contact with air, heat, and 
 light, the crude sap is digested and the excess of water 
 
60 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 is evaporated through the breathing pores, mainly of the 
 upperside of the foliage. Leaves absorb gases, and un- 
 der some circumstances moisture, from the atmosphere 
 through the stomata of their lower surface. It is not 
 necessary to discuss the chemical changes brought about 
 in the leaves, my object being merely to demonstrate 
 their great importance, and to show that whatever tends 
 to injure their health and vigor, tends to destroy the 
 plant. 
 
 The digested sap, made available through the action of 
 the leaves for the support of the plant, descends and dis- 
 tributes its nourishment wherever it may be needed in 
 the interior of the plant. A plant, constantly deprived 
 of its leaves, could no more continue to live, than an ani- 
 mal devoid of skin with which to perspire, lungs with 
 which to breathe, and stomach with which to digest, 
 and there is no exception to this rule, which applies 
 alike to endogens as exogens. Therefore any weed may 
 be destroyed, if frequently hoed down, and some may 
 be killed if cut down only once. 
 
 The crops of the truck-farmer, however, should be 
 kept so well stirred that most of the weeds with which he 
 has to contend are killed before they appear above the 
 ground. Two of our worst weeds, the Wormseed (Cheno- 
 podium ambrosioides, var. anthelminticum), and Dogfen- 
 nel (Eupatorium fwniculaceum) must be eradicated when 
 young, or they will become troublesome by sprouting 
 from the deep roots. Even our worst pest, 
 
 NUT-GRASS COCO-GRASS ( Cyperus rotundus, 
 var. Hydra), 
 
 can be destroyed, if constantly hoed, or plowed and 
 raked out, but owing to the depth of its growth and to 
 the abundance of nuts, each of which has several eyes, 
 to clear any considerable area by hoeing, would cost more 
 than the land would be worth. If a piece of land over- 
 
WEEDS. 61 
 
 run with nut-grass is to be cleared and will grow cow 
 peas, these should be sown at the rate of two and a half 
 bushels to the acre, as soon in the spring as possible, and 
 be plowed under before the shedding of the leaves ad- 
 mits any light and air to the soil. These should be fol- 
 lowed by a second crop of peas, and the latter by one of 
 rye. If this round is repeated, there will be little, if any, 
 nut-grass to be seen at the commencement of the third 
 season, but a third year may be required to kill it. If a 
 mulch is laid upon the ground six or eight inches, or 
 more, in thickness, nut-grass will push its way through; 
 but the stems upon which the young nuts are formed will 
 not penetrate the earth deeply; and, if the mulch has 
 partly rotted in contact with the soil, they will remain 
 upon the surface, or so near it, as to be destroyed to a 
 great extent, by firing the covering material during dry 
 weather. A second or even a third mulch may be neces- 
 sary to be completely effective. Nut-grass is propagated 
 by the nuts; and if the growth above ground is constantly 
 interrupted, and it is not allowed to bloom, it is doubt- 
 ful whether the nuts can come to maturity. 
 
 BERMUDA GRASS (Cynodon Dactylori) 
 
 may be destroyed in the same manner as nut-grass; but 
 an easier and cheaper method may be adopted with this 
 plant, as it may be killed out by repeatedly plowing and 
 raking during hot and dry weather, particularly in heavy 
 ground with clay subsoil. Neither this nor the nut-grass 
 matures seed in the United States. 
 
 PURSLANE (Portulaca oleracea.) 
 
 This weed spreads an extraordinary number of fine seeds 
 over a place, if allowed to mature, and it should be de- 
 stroyed when young. Owing to the nature of the leaf and 
 the paucity of stomata, this plant may be upon the sur- 
 
62 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 face for days in the hot sun without dying. The same 
 is true, but to a greater degree, of 
 
 THE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia vulgaris,) 
 
 which is occasionally an annoyance on high grounds near 
 the coast, and on the Sea Islands. It must be dug up 
 and removed from the land. It will require a hot wood 
 fire to kill it. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SEED AND SEED SOWING. 
 
 Every seed is provided with an embryo, the vitality of 
 which remains dormant so long as the carbon which the 
 seed contains is not eliminated, by forming carbonic acid 
 with oxygen during the process of germination. The 
 composition of a seed is less liable to vary than that of 
 any other part of a plant. 
 
 One of the most wonderful works of nature is the pro- 
 Vision made for the perpetuation of the species, whether 
 of animals or vegetables. Every seed germ, or embryo, 
 is really a plant in miniature, having its stem and leaves 
 in a more or less undeveloped state. 
 
 If kept dry and excluded from air and its oxygen, the 
 duration of its vitality differs with various seeds. If the 
 seed of any given plant, which ordinarily retains its 
 vitality for an extended period, is, when fully matured, 
 thoroughly dried, and perfectly protected from contact 
 with air and moisture, there is no reason why it may not 
 retain its vitality for many yeurs. Prof. Lindley says: 
 u Not to speak of the doubtful instances of seeds taken 
 
SEED AHD SEED SOWING. 
 
 63 
 
 from the pyramids having germinated, melon seeds have 
 been known to grow at the age of forty years, kidney 
 beans at one hundred, sensitive-plant at sixty, rye at forty, 
 and there are now (1859) growing, in the garden of the 
 Horticultural Society, raspberry plants raised from seeds 
 sixteen hundred or seventeen hundred years old." 
 
 There is considerable difference of opinion between ex- 
 perimenters in regard to the duration of vitality in agri- 
 cultural seeds under ordinary climatic influences; but it 
 probably depends upon the comparative condition of the 
 seed and the influence of the different climates of their 
 respective countries. The table below shows the earlier 
 experiments of Cobbett in England, and the later ones of 
 Vilmorin in France. 
 
 
 Cobbett. 
 Years. 
 
 PB- 
 
 morin. 
 Years. 
 
 
 Cobbett. 
 Years. 
 
 W> 
 
 ^rl: 
 
 Artichokes 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 Kale 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 AsDarasrus 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Leek 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Bean 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 Lettuce 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 Bean (Kidney) . . 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 Melon 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 Beet 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 Onion 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Broccoli 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 Okra . . 
 
 2 
 
 
 Cabbage 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 Pea 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 Carrot 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 Pumpkin 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 Cauliflower 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 Radish 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 Celery 
 
 10 
 
 
 Salsify 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Corn 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 1 Spinach 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 Squash . . 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 Egg-plant 
 
 3 
 
 
 Tomato . . . . 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 Turnip 
 
 . 4 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Southern vegetable-growers must bear in mind that 
 our warmer climate, particularly on the moist sea coast, 
 will affect the longevity of seed. Onion seed, for instance, 
 cannot be relied upon after the first year; those of the 
 varieties of cabbage and of turnip after the second, and 
 those of cucurbitaceae, as melon, squash, cucumber, etc., 
 after the fourth year. Some seeds lose their germinating 
 power, if allowed to become dry, as will those of the wil- 
 low two weeks after ripening. Experience teaches us that 
 fresh seeds of cucumbers, melons, etc., produce plants 
 
64 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 that are likely to run to vine, while older seed yield 
 more abundant crops of fruit. Some English horticul- 
 turists carry the cucumber seed they intend to plant in 
 hot-beds, in the pockets of their pantaloons for months 
 prior to planting, in the belief that the warmth of their 
 bodies increases the productiveness of the vines. How- 
 ever this may be, it is a safe rule that seed should be 
 fresh. Old seeds, endowed with weaker vitality, are 
 slower to germinate; they come up irregularly, and too 
 large a percentage is absolutely sterile. Seed of ten-weeks 
 stock, four years old, is used by gardeners to produce 
 plants to bear double flowers, while fresh seed produces 
 the more perfect single flowers. Such being the case, only 
 fresh tomato seed should be used; as the double flowers 
 produce irregularly- shaped, knobby fruit, while it is 
 only the single flowers that form the desirable round 
 and smooth fruit. 
 
 The chemical elements in an imperfectly matured 
 seed seem unstably combined. If such germinate at all, 
 it will be sooner than seeds fully ripe; but the plants will 
 be of weaker growth, owing, probably, to an insufficient 
 storage of nourishment. Such unripe seeds will also be 
 the earliest to become sterile. Some vegetable physi- 
 ologists believe that immature seeds will produce earlier 
 varieties than the mature. There are many facts in 
 regard to the distribution and germination of seeds, 
 which appear unaccountable and wonderful. After the 
 destruction of forests by fire, certain plants will spring 
 up in large numbers, although no parent plants of the 
 same species may have been growing in the vicinity. 
 The unavoidable conclusion is, that the seed had re- 
 mained in the soil for years, awaiting favorable condi- 
 tions for its development. Plants, unlike any in the 
 vicinity, have grown in the soil excavated from deep 
 wells; thus the upper crust of the earth seems full of 
 seeds, Every Southern farmer, who has cleared land, 
 
SEED AND SEED SOWING. 65 
 
 knows that a growth of oak or other deciduous trees will 
 follow pine, and vice versa. It seems as if nature would 
 thus demonstrate the principle of rotation of crops. 
 Theory seems to be unable to explain how seeds can re- 
 main dormant in the soil for years, under conditions 
 apparently favorable to germination. 
 
 THE QUALITY OF SEEDS. TESTING. 
 
 Its plumpness, its specific gravity or density, rather 
 than its size, is an indication of the quality of a seed; 
 and it will generally sink in water. No one matter is of 
 more importance to the horticulturist, than the quality 
 of the seed he sows, not only in reference to the certainty 
 of vegetating, but also to its being true to variety. Our 
 well-known seed merchants, as a general rule, doubtless 
 seek to send out sound and reliable seed; but they are 
 compelled in some instances to depend for a supply of 
 special kinds upon seed-growers personally unknown to 
 them, and may themselves be deceived. In an expe- 
 rience of twenty-six years I have found, however, a con- 
 siderable difference *in the comparative trustworthiness 
 of some of the leading and most extensive seed dealers. 
 A few of the smaller firms, and of less extended repu- 
 tation, frequently gain the custom of Southern druggists, 
 and often of retail dealers, by granting the privilege of 
 returning the stock which remains unsold in their hands 
 after the spring sales. In some instances such seeds may 
 be good and true; but having suffered losses from their 
 use, I warn Southern growers against their purchase. 
 
 The surest way to avoid disaster is to make a prelimi- 
 nary test of any suspicious seed. It is not necessary to 
 commit the seed to the ground. Dr. Nobbe, of the 
 Tharand, Saxony, Seed Control Station, has devised a 
 simple apparatus of earthenware for the purpose. To 
 test seeds, I place a sample, folded in a piece of moist 
 cloth, or blotting paper, at the bottom of a small com- 
 
66 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 mon flower-pot, which is plunged in the soil of another, 
 one or two sizes larger, and a third pot, filled with earth, 
 of the size of the first is placed within the second. If 
 the soil of the two pots is kept damp, the seed, if good, 
 will germinate, and can, from time to time, be conveni- 
 ently examined. By thus testing his seed, the gardener 
 may ascertain the percentage, sure, under proper man- 
 agement, to come up, and may regulate his sowing ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 If seeds are to be preserved and retain their proper 
 vitality, it is indispensable that they should be com- 
 pletely ripe, and be kept perfectly dry. They should 
 be inclosed in cloth bags, and suspended in a dry room. 
 Imported seed should not, as is frequently done, be sent 
 to our warm climate packed in hermetically-closed me- 
 tallic cases. Neither the seed, nor the thick paper gen- 
 erally used in packing being sufficiently dry, the con- 
 fined moisture will cause a commencement of germina- 
 tion, and the heat generated by the process, and the 
 moisture, is very apt in such cases to destroy the vitality 
 of all. 
 
 Seeds of home growth that are subject to injury from 
 weevils may be preserved in jugs, demijohns, etc., in 
 which a piece of gum camphor, a little cyanide of po- 
 tassium (a most deadly poison), or an open phial of tur- 
 pentine has been inserted. 
 
 THE GERMINATION- OF SEEDS. 
 
 As the absence of moisture, warmth and air is 
 necessary to the preservation of the vitality of seed, so 
 the presence of these agents is essential to excite their 
 vital forces, and cause germination. In this process the 
 outer covering of the seed softens, and allows the em- 
 bryo to swell; water is decomposed, and the carbon forms 
 carbonic acid with its oxygen. In the case of sterile 
 seed the softening and swelling occur without any de- 
 
SEED AND SEED SOWING. 67 
 
 composition of water. In the presence of a superabund- 
 ance of moisture, fresh seeds may absorb more water than 
 they are able to decompose, and the death and subse- 
 quent rotting of the germs take place; for this reason 
 it is more advisable to sow in dry than in wet weather. 
 
 The degree of heat necessary to start vital action varies 
 in different species, and depends upon their character 
 and composition, and the climate to which the plants 
 were indigenous. 
 
 The most favorable temperature of the soil for the 
 germination of seeds of plants from cold climates, may 
 be stated at from fifty degrees to fifty-five degrees; 
 for those of green-house plants, at from sixty to sixty- 
 five degrees, and for those of the torrid zone, at from 
 seventy to eighty degrees. 
 
 Of all the seeds sown by the truck-farmer, those of 
 the onion will germinate at the lowest temperature; other 
 conditions being favorable, they will sprout at a few de- 
 grees above freezing, while those of the melon and egg- 
 plant require a higher temperature. Healthy seeds of 
 some species may be exposed to a remarkably high de- 
 gree of temperature without impairing their vitality. 
 Seeds of raspberry have been known to grow which had 
 been picked from a jar of jam which must have been 
 heated to the degree of boiling syrup, or two hundred and 
 thirty degrees. 
 
 To promote germination, seeds are sometimes soaked 
 in water heated to within a few degrees of the boiling 
 point, or about two hundred degrees, but this is only prac- 
 ticable with hard and healthy seed. The practice of 
 soaking seeds in water to soften the outside covering, or in 
 an alkaline solution having a strong affinity for carbonic 
 acid, or a substance able to supply a large quantity of 
 oxygen, like a dilute solution of oxalic acid, is only ad- 
 visable when the difference of a few days in the time of 
 germination is important, as for instance, in the case of 
 
68 TKUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 the loss of a previous planting by frost; otherwise it is 
 better for the gardener to commit his seed to the ground 
 under as favorable conditions as possible, and trust to the 
 usual natural process. 
 
 HOME-GBOWtf SEEDS. 
 
 While it is a matter of true economy for the farmer to 
 purchase as little as he may, and sell as much as he can, a 
 non-observance of which rule has often been the fault of 
 the Southern planter; we are compelled by the effects of 
 our climate to purchase the majority of our vegetable 
 seeds of either foreign or Northern growers. Half the 
 success of growing profitable crops depends upon the 
 seeds, and we can better afford to pay treble the price for 
 those which, from experience, we know to be good and 
 true, than to grow them ourselves, and find too late that 
 they are worse than useless. Again, many vexations from 
 buying poor seed may be avoided by growing such as are 
 indigenous to warm climates, and may be produced cheaply 
 and of superior quality. There is no reason, for instance, 
 why the Southern truck-farmer should not save his own 
 seed of melons, squashes, cucumbers, onions, pepper, to- 
 matoes, and egg-plants, provided he can keep each of the 
 first named three far enough apart from any other species 
 of the squash family to prevent mixing, while it is 
 not advisable for him to use his own seed of cabbage, cauli- 
 flower, etc.; of beets, carrot?, turnips, etc.; for the 
 former will run prematurely to seed without forming 
 heads, and the roots of the latter will be of inferior 
 quality, becoming small and woody. It is so difficult to 
 preserve large quantities of garden peas and snap beans 
 against injury from weevils, from the time they mature, 
 through the summer, to the following spring, that, al- 
 though I have seen peas of home growth satisfactorily 
 tested along side of those grown in Canada, both in ref- 
 
SEED AtfD SEED SOW1KG. 69 
 
 erence to earliness and productiveness, I would not ad- 
 vise the saving of these. 
 
 Plants like the sugar cane, the sweet and Irish potato, 
 which have been propagated exclusively for years from 
 cuttings or tubers, cease bearing matured seed. The 
 potato does occasionally produce seed; but more fre- 
 quently at the North than at the South. Should seed of 
 Southern production be desired for the creation of new 
 varieties, it might be possible to induce some of the late, 
 not very productive, varieties to perfect seed by prevent- 
 ing the plants from bearing tubers, by their removal 
 while small. This will encourage the flow of nutritive 
 matter to other parts, just as contrarywise, the removal 
 of flowers will increase the size of tubers. 
 
 CAUSES OP FAILURE. 
 
 If, after a seed is consigned to the soil, the changes 
 which it undergoes during germination proceed without 
 interruption, the young plant will in due time make its 
 appearance in a healthy state; but when severe changes 
 in the state of the weather occur, it may perish. If all 
 seeds sprouted as promptly and with as much vigor as 
 those of the radish, there would be little uncertainty at- 
 tending seed sowing; but many varieties, large and 
 small, remain in the ground from a few days to several 
 weeks, during which interval unpropitious changes of the 
 weather may occur; a fall of temperature sufficient to de- 
 stroy the barely sprouted seed below the surface may 
 supervene; or the weather may become so wet as to rot the 
 seed before germination has taken place; or the sun may 
 heat the soil sufficiently to scorch the young sprouts 
 at or above the surface; or, finally, the ground may be- 
 come so baked by the sun after a rain, as to prevent 
 smaller seed from breaking through the hard crust. In 
 case of sowing small seeds, like carrot, celery, etc. , which 
 are slow to germinate in ground likely to bake, they may 
 
70 TRUCR-FARMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 be covered with mould or sand free from such tendency. 
 Large seeds, possessed of more vigor, may be able, when 
 germination has once commenced, to upheave a consid- 
 erable weight of soil, and break through the crust. This 
 baking of the soil is a most prolific cause of failure and 
 disappointment. 
 
 None of the seeds of the truck-farmer need be sown 
 broadcast, as drill sowing, either by hand or with a ma- 
 chine, is to be preferred. The seeds may be sown more 
 regularly; the young plants may be thinned and weeded 
 more conveniently, and the soil may be stirred between 
 the rows. The drill distributes the seed more evenly, at 
 a uniform depth, and the operation may be performed 
 during the prevalence of high wind. There are a num- 
 ber of seed-drills now offered which do good work. Some 
 of these are so arranged that they may be converted into 
 hand-cultivators, and be used for weeding the crop after 
 the plants are up. 
 
 No safe rule can be established, as to the depth at 
 which different seeds should be sown, as the weather and 
 varieties of soil must be considered. If continued damp 
 weather could be assured, the rule to cover the seed to a 
 depth equal to its own thickness, might be a safe one. 
 In such case seeds would germinate, if merely laid upon 
 the surface, although darkness is more favorable for the 
 formation of carbonic acid, and therefore for germina- 
 tion. In this matter, the sower must in each instance 
 be governed by the character of his seed, and by the con- 
 ditions of weather and nature of soil which obtain at the 
 time. While on heavy land, and during damp weather, 
 a grain of corn would grow, if barely covered; in a dry 
 climate and a very sandy soil, it might be necessary to 
 place it one foot below the surface, as is sometimes the 
 case in Colorado. Seed should never be sown, particu- 
 larly on sandy soils, when the ground, from previous 
 drouth, is very dry below, with the surface only moist 
 
HOT-BEDS, COLD FRAMES, AND WEATHEB. 71 
 
 from recent rain; for if rain does not follow, the seeds 
 may perish after germination has merely commenced; or 
 the lower soil may be too dry a little later to supply the 
 young root with sufficient moisture. Should soaked 
 seed be sown under such conditions, in the hope of assist- 
 ing germination, the dry soil may absorb the moisture 
 from the swollen seed, and probably the vitality of all be 
 destroyed. At whatever depth the seeds are sown, the 
 soil should have been carefully broken up or "fined" be- 
 fore sowing, using the harrow, roller, and rake, as cir- 
 cumstances may require. After the seeds are sown, the 
 surface should be rolled, in order to bring the soil in 
 close contact with the seed. Where the seed-bed is 
 small, the same end is accomplished, if the soil is 
 "firmed" by patting it with the back of the spade. 
 Mr. Henderson strongly advocates the use of the feet to 
 bring the soil in contact with the seeds, or " treading 
 in," as it is called. A person passes over the line of the 
 drill, and tramps or presses the soil down with his feet. 
 This is a method practised by some, but I have never 
 seen that it had any advantage over the even pressure of 
 the roller. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HOT-BEDS, COLD FRAMES, AND WEATHER. 
 
 Seneca and Pliny inform us, that the Romans attempted 
 the forcing of vegetables by means of artificial heat, 
 using thin plates of talc or mica in lieu of glass. As a 
 rule, the first vegetables and fruit of a season bring the 
 best prices, and the grower is prompted to use all availa- 
 ble means to push forward his crops to early maturity. 
 Florida, being more exempt from frosts than other States, 
 
72 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 can place upon the market any vegetable that, in less 
 favored sections, requires glass, earlier, more plentifully, 
 and with less cost than the gardeners of more Northern 
 States. Since Florida gardeners have taken up truck- 
 growing for the Northern markets, those in the vicinity 
 of Charleston and Savannah require less glass than for- 
 merly. Hot-beds are rarely required as far south as 
 Charleston and Savannah to forward and protect tender 
 seedlings, like tomatoes, egg-plants, peppers, etc. Cold 
 frames, under proper management, not only suffice for 
 this, but are preferable. When any animal or vegeta- 
 ble matters undergo rapid fermentation with partial ad- 
 mission of air and moisture, a considerable amount of 
 heat is evolved, and the gardener takes advantage of 
 this chemical process in his forcing operations. In 
 the management of crops under glass, and the removal 
 of young and tender plants to the open ground, his 
 knpwledge and observance of the changes of the weather 
 will serve him better than in any of his other operations. 
 In the vegetable kingdom, the heat of the sun is the cause 
 of growth, and its light that of maturity. Animals may 
 live with little or no light, but no vegetable can come to 
 perfection without it. The sun's rays are both those of 
 heat and light. Were it not for the wise prevention of 
 the accumulation upon the earth of the heat received 
 from the sun, all life upon our globe would be destroyed. 
 
 DEW AND FROST. 
 
 Evaporation and radiation of heat into space from the 
 earth during the night, when it receives little in return, 
 accomplish this purpose; and these means are the source 
 of benefit. When the surface of the earth has, by this 
 radiation of heat, become colder than the surrounding air, 
 the moisture of the air is condensed upon it in the form 
 of dew, as when moisture appears on the outside of a 
 glass of ice- water, or upon a gun-barrel, etc., upon, being 
 
HOT-BEDS, COLD FRAMES, AND WEATHER. 73 
 
 brought from the cold outside air into a warm room. The 
 value of dew to vegetation is manifested in such dry rain- 
 less seasons, as those of 1880 and 1881. This moisture 
 gathers where it is most needed, on low plants, the roots 
 of which do not penetrate the earth deeply, and on foliage 
 near the ground. The precipitation of moisture upon 
 tender vegetation, must diminish the cold wliich occa- 
 sioned it, and thus prevents the injury that might arise 
 from that cause. The partial prevention of cold on 
 an object near the ground, by the interposition of a 
 screen between it and the sky, is due to the reflection of 
 heat by the lower surface of the screen back to the object. 
 This compensates in part for the loss by radiation. 
 
 The gardener avails himself of this, in protecting his 
 plants in cold and clear nights by the interposition of 
 screens, which are most effective when not in contact 
 with the vegetation to be protected. Clouds similarly 
 prevent injury from cold at night, by radiating heat to 
 the earth in return for what they intercept from the 
 earth. The lower the clouds the more effective they are. 
 Fog, or clouds of smoke, have the same effect as clouds 
 of vapor. Coast lands and islands, from their situation, 
 are more subject to a cloudy sky, to movement in the 
 air, and are therefore less exposed to cold by radiation; 
 but the chief reason why islands are more temperate than 
 continents and inland situations, is, that the water of the 
 ocean, a little below the surface, is uniformly in all lati- 
 tudes about 45. Florida as a long peninsula, with an 
 ocean east and west, and Bermuda, as evidenced by her 
 extremely early crops, although lying in the same lati- 
 tude as Savannah, enjoy these advantages in an eminent 
 degree, besides having the warm waters of the Gulf 
 Stream flowing near their coasts. The cooling of a 
 body exposed on a clear night, depends in part upon 
 the readiness with which it receives heat by conduction 
 from bodies warmer than itself in contact with it. 
 
74 TKtJCK-FAKMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 Bodies thus exposed must radiate as much heat during 
 a wind as in a calm, but in the former case the con- 
 stant contact of warm air will return to them nearly as 
 much heat by conduction, as they lose by radiation, and 
 only a slight agitation of the air is sufficient to thus pre- 
 vent dew and frost. The reason why depressed locations 
 suffer most from cold by radiation is, that they are more 
 becalmed; and there must also be less dew in them, because 
 of the calm atmosphere which provides the moisture. It 
 is true that at considerable altitudes the air becomes colder 
 as the hight increases, but on hills, in cold and clear 
 nights, the frosts are less severe in consequence of the 
 movement in the atmosphere. The dew, which has been 
 deposited upon vegetation by condensation from the at- 
 mosphere, will become hoar or white frost, when the 
 object upon which it has settled is cooled by sufficient 
 radiation to congeal the water into crystals of ice. This 
 can only occur in this latitude up to 44 F. of the sur- 
 rounding atmosphere; or in other words, frost is impossi- 
 ble, unless the thermometer falls as low as 44. 
 
 The different effects of the several solar rays are yet 
 imperfectly understood; but there is no doubt that the 
 heating and illuminating rays produce different results. 
 Plants supplied with heat and moisture may grow for a 
 short time in darkness; but there will be no development 
 of chlorophyll, or leaf-green, and they cannot thrive. 
 Plants, in all stages of growth, need the presence of at- 
 mospheric air, from the seed requiring oxygen for its 
 germination, to the plant which acquires its chief supply 
 of carbon from the air. Water is absolutely necessary in 
 the economy of vegetation. 
 
 The management of plants under glass, whether they 
 are to be transferred to the open ground or not, requires 
 an acquaintance with the effects of these various agents 
 and phenomena, so that they may be made to harmonize 
 in the production of a sturdy and healthy vegetation. 
 
HOT-BEDS, COLD FRAMES, AND WEATHER. 75 
 
 If a relative excess of either is permitted, failure is cer- 
 tain. A spindling growth will result from too much 
 light or heat; too luxuriant growth from an excess of 
 moisture and heat; and the plants are apt to damp off 
 from much moisture and deficient light. 
 
 Having succeeded in producing satisfactory plants, it 
 is the policy of the gardener to transfer them to the 
 field as early in the spring as possible. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The study of atmospheric changes has in all ages been 
 pursued by men engaged in agriculture and the pasturage 
 of animals. To put out his plants judiciously, the gar- 
 dener must carefully observe the general season. The 
 belief in any direct effect of the moon upon vegetation, 
 is a mere superstition of the past. At full moon the 
 reflected light amounts to V B19000 of the sun's bright- 
 ness, not equal in intensity to that reflected by a white 
 cloud in a summer's day; and the heat at the same 
 phase reaches only 94 / 1000000 of a degree. It is now gen- 
 erally denied that the moon has any effect upon the 
 weather; yet observations extending through many years 
 seem to warrant the belief that changes of the weather 
 do more frequently occur at the moon's phases than 
 at any other time.* At any rate during fair weather 
 radiation is most active in consequence of the clear sky 
 attending full moon; and the gardener will do well to bear 
 in mind the great likelihood of an appearance of frost at 
 that change of the moon, about the time in spring he de- 
 sires to transfer his plants to the open ground, and to 
 delay the operation until it has passed. 
 
 After a warm rain, if the wind comes out strongly from 
 the north-west, a reduction of temperature will follow 
 and a frost during the night becomes probable, if the wind 
 
 *See London's Encyclopaedia, p. 445. Toaldo's 48 Years' Observationi. 
 
?6 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 lulls before morning. No reliance can be placed upon 
 warm weather at the time of rain; for the rapid fall of 
 the thermometer under the above circumstances, is some- 
 times astonishing. Thus after a rain at one o'clock P. 
 M. of April 3rd, 1879, the thermometer stood here (Wil- 
 mington Island) at 75 F., and under the prevalence of 
 a north-west wind during the evening and early night, it 
 fell 36, giving us a killing frost on the morning of the 
 4th, at 39 at sunrise. Frost occurred also on the 
 fifth and sixth, at 39. 
 
 Among the many creatures that, like the swallow, have 
 been thought to announce the advent of spring, I consider 
 the appearance of the Tumble-bug (Ateuchus pilularius) 
 and the Whip-poor-will, or Chuck-will's-widow, the most 
 trustworthy. I have rarely known a frost to occur after 
 hearing the voice of this bird in proclamation of the 
 spring. 
 
 Below is a table of last frosts of the spring for a num- 
 ber of successive years on this and the adjacent Island of 
 Whitemarsh, taken from the diary of the late R. T. 
 Gibson, who kept a meteorological record for the Smith- 
 sonian Institute. 
 
 1835. March 29th, cold wind from the N. W.; March 
 30th, frost; April 7th, said to have been frost, but saw 
 none. 
 
 1836. March 21st, rain; 22d, cold; 23d, frost. 
 
 1837. March 4th, snow, five inches deep; April 7th, 
 rain; 9th, wind N. W.; 10th, frost. 
 
 1838. March 18th, cloudy; 19th, clear and cold. 
 
 1839. March 5th, wind N".; 6th, sleet; 30th, rain, 
 wind N. ; March 31st, sleet and rain. 
 
 1840. March 12th, rain; 13th, wind K W., frost; 
 March 25th, rain, wind W. ; 26th and 27th, frost. 
 
 1841. March 16th, rain and hail; 17th, wind N. W.; 
 18th, frost; 20th, frost; April 14th, light frost, 
 
 1842. February 21st, cloudy; 22d, wind N. W.; 23d, 
 
HOT-BEDS, COLD FRAMES, AND WEATHER. 77 
 
 white frost; 24th, frost; March 23d, Melia Azedarach 
 (Pride of India) in bloom; April 7th, Blackberries ripe; 
 April 17th, hail the sizs of half -grown wild plums. 
 
 1843. March 27th, rain; 28th, wind N. W; 29th, ice 
 and frost. 
 
 1844. March 7th, rain; 8th, wind K W.; ther- 
 mometer at sunrise 44; 9th, 42; March 20th, rain; 
 22d, wind W., frost. 
 
 1845. March 24th, rain; 25th, therm. 42; 26th, 
 frost; April 10th, therm, at sunrise 43, frost. 
 
 1846. March 14th, rain, wind N. W. afterwards; 15th, 
 16th, and 17th, frost, therm. 38. 
 
 1847. March 26th, rain; 27th, wind N. W., therm. 
 35; 28th, therm. 35, frost. 
 
 1848. March 13th, rain; 14th, therm. 37, wind N". 
 W.; 15th, wind N. W., therm. 32; 16th, therm. 31, 
 ice; April 9th, rain; 10th, cold but no frost. 
 
 1849. March 20th, rain; 21st, wind K W., no frost. 
 
 1850. March 23d, rain; 24th, wind N. W., therm. 
 39, cold but no frost; 27th, rain; 28th, therm. 39, 
 wind N. W.; 28th, rain; 29th, frost. 
 
 1851. March 16th, rain; 17th, therm. 46, wind W.; 
 19th, therm. 44, wind N. W.; 20th, therm. 34, heavy 
 frost; 28th, first Chuck-will's-widow. 
 
 1852. March 17th, rain last night; 19th, rain at day- 
 light; 20th, therm. 32, wind K W., heavy frost; 25th, 
 first Chuck-will's-widow. 
 
 1853. March 4th, rain at 7 A. M.; 5th, rain; 6th, 
 therm. 35, frost; 7th, therm. 34; 21st, first Chuck- 
 wilPs- widow. 
 
 1854. March 23d, rain last night, wind N. W.; 24th, 
 therm. 54, wind N. W.; 25th, wind N. W; 26th, therm. 
 40; 27th, frost; April 1st, rain; 2d, therm. 45, wind 
 N. W.; 3d, therm. 37; 4th, frost, therm. 40; 6th, first 
 Chuck-will's-widow. 
 
 1855. March 27th, rain; 28th, wind N. W., therm. 
 
78 TRUCK-FABMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 S8, too much wind for frost; 29th, therm. 30, ice; 
 April 14th, first Chuck-will's-widow. 
 
 1856. March 26th, cloudy, wind W.; 27th, wind N. 
 W.; 28th, ice; April 7th, first Chuck- will's-widow. 
 
 1857. April 6th, rain, wind S. W.; 7th, wind N. W., 
 therm. 40, frost; March 29th, first Chuck-will's-widow. 
 
 1858. March 5th, therm. 37, frost; April 8th, first 
 Chuck-will's-widow. 
 
 1859. March 18th, rain; 19th, therm. 44, wind N. 
 W.; 20th, frost, but light several times in April only 
 prevented by wind; April 4tb, first Chuck-wilPs-widow. 
 
 I860. March 27th, cloudy; 28th, wind W.; 29th, 
 heavy frost; April 5th, first Chuck-will's-widow. 
 
 1861. March 18th, rain; 19th, wind N. W., snow; 
 20th, therm. 39, frost; April 10th, first Chuck-will's- 
 widow. 
 
 It will be seen from the above, that cold weather was 
 invariably either preceded by rain, or cloudy weather, 
 the probability being that there was rain somewhere in 
 the district. 
 
 TO MAKE A HOT-BED. 
 
 The material most frequently used for the formation 
 of hot-beds, when a considerable degree of heat is re- 
 quired, is stable manure, that of well-fed horses being 
 the most effective. When a lower temperature suffices, 
 a steady heat may be obtained by mixing vegetable mat- 
 ter, like leaves, spent tan bark, etc., with the stable ma- 
 nure. I have used with advantage a layer of our long 
 moss (Tillandsia usneoides), about one foot thick, below 
 one of stable manure, for forcing sweet potato draws, or 
 sets. This moss, when taken up at the end of the season 
 and cleaned, was in a merchantable condition as black 
 moss. The manure, without too much litter, should be 
 thrown from the stables into a conical heap, and kept 
 moist for four or five days, when it should be turned 
 
HOT-BEDS, COLD FBAMES, AND WEATHER. 79 
 
 over. After the lapse of four or more days, according 
 to the season, it will have acquired a steady heat, and be 
 ready for use. The site for a hot- bed, or cold frame, 
 should be on sandy, or gravelly, or well-drained soil, con- 
 venient to water, well protected from north and north- 
 west winds; it must be free from overhanging trees and 
 the shade of houses, but open to the sun from its rising to 
 its setting. Unless the aspect of the bed be a point or 
 two eastward of south, the plants growing at the e ist- 
 ern end will be dwindled by the shade of the frame. 
 
 The site having been chosen, the manure is placed 
 either on the surface, or in an excavation, about six inches 
 deep, in the shape of a solid parallelogram, extending in 
 length and breadth, one foot beyond the dimensions of 
 the frame to be placed upon it. Each layer of manure 
 is evenly and moderately beaten down with the back of 
 the fork, until about three feet thickness is attained, care 
 being taken to have the pile uniformly moist throughout. 
 The frame with glass is then put on, and air is given only 
 during the day, unless the weather is warm, when it may 
 be admitted du ring the night. After two or three days, fer- 
 mentation will recommence, when the bed will be ready to 
 receive its coating of six inches or more of garden soil for 
 seed, for the forcing to maturity of cucumbers, etc. The 
 frame should be as wide as the length of the sash, and its 
 length will be determined by the number of sash. No bed 
 should be constructed, if avoidable, for less than four 
 "lights," and the longer it is, the more heat will be de- 
 veloped, and the more in amount will be retained. 
 
 In whatever manner the frame is made; whether the 
 planks, which should be one and one-half inch thick, 
 are nailed to corner posts, driven into the ground, or 
 secured by battens, the chief outlook is, to have it fit 
 closely in all its parts, and to have the sash adapted to it 
 so snugly, that there will be no openings for the exit of 
 warm, or the entrance of cold air. 
 
80 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 A sufficient pitch will be secured to carry off the water, 
 if the back is two feet, and the front one foot high. On 
 each end of the frame a strip should be nailed to retain 
 the two outside sashes in position. Each two sashes 
 should be separated by a half-inch strip, nailed upon a 
 three-inch-wide sliding piece, which latter is let flush 
 into the edge of the back and front, and will leave one 
 and one-fourth inch upon which the sashes are to rest and 
 slide. If a small groove is made along each edge of the 
 middle strip, the water will be carried off more effectu- 
 ally. The drip into the beds is sometimes damaging. 
 
 If the site is exposed to high winds, yellow pine is 
 preferable to white pine for the sash, on account of its 
 greater weight. The sash should be three by six feet, 
 with glass not larger than eight by ten. The smaller the 
 glass the less expensive the breaks. The panes are to be 
 puttied to the sash, and to overlap each other like shin- 
 gles. As dust collects between them and obstructs the 
 light, the laps should not be more than one-fourth of an 
 inch wide. 
 
 COLD FRAMES AND THEIR USES. 
 
 Such is a hot-bed. The site, the frame, and the sash 
 for a cold frame are as above described. The difference 
 between the two is solely, that the former is heated by 
 fermenting material, which creates "bottom heat," while 
 the latter is warmed by the confined heat of the sun alone. 
 For a cold frame, the soil should be elevated six inches 
 above the general level, and finely spaded up and raked. 
 
 Glass is the proper material for sash, and the cheapest 
 in the end. Frames covered with cotton cloth may be 
 used as a substitute, however. To render the cloth more 
 translucent, the following ingredients may be used : one 
 quart pale linseed oil, four ounces resin, and one ounce 
 sugar of lead. The sugar of lead should be ground with 
 a little of the oil, then the remainder of the oil and 
 
HOT-BEDS, COLD FRAMES, AND WEATHER. 81 
 
 resin, melted together, should be added, and the varnish 
 applied with a wide brush while warm. 
 
 The following directions apply to the cold frame alone: 
 According to the nature and size of the seed, and the 
 character of the soil, the seeds are to be sown fiom one- 
 fourth of an inch to an inch deep in drills, three or four 
 inches apart across the bed, and more thinly at the back 
 and front, than near the middle of the bed. Each va- 
 riety should be sown in separate cold frames, or, when 
 not practicable, only such should be sown together, as 
 require about the same degree of heat to germinate, and 
 particularly such as demand the same management and 
 protection, until the plants are removed. Thus egg- 
 plants should not be sown in the same frame with to- 
 matoes, nor the latter with cabbages and cauliflowers, 
 while the latter two may go together with lettuce in the 
 same frame. If the weather is dry, and the soil sandy, a 
 watering after sowing may be required to germinate the 
 seed. 
 
 In the subsequent management, it must be borne in 
 mind, that retardation for the production of stocky 
 plants, rather than acceleration of growth, is an object, 
 provided the seeds were sown sufficiently early. Damp- 
 ness and heat produce an elongated rather than a healthy 
 growth, and too much of either must be avoided. The 
 glass is to be used only as a means of protection against 
 the inclemency of the weather. In case of heavy rains, 
 the sash should be pushed down sufficiently to carry off 
 the water beyond the confines of the frame. During 
 severe freezing weather, particularly in clear nights, when 
 radiation is most active, the covering of glass alone will 
 sometimes be inadequate to protect even as hardy a plant 
 as cauliflower^ and some opaque covering upon the glass 
 becomes necessary. Mats, or light shutters of wood, are 
 best. Old pieces of carpet will answer the purpose. For 
 many years, I have used the leaves of our large palmetto 
 
82 TKUCK-FAKMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 with satisfaction. One stirring of the soil between the 
 rows, if attended with thorough weeding, will be cultiva- 
 tion enough for seedlings. 
 
 As soon as the plants are large enough to be safely 
 handled, they should be thinned out to prevent crowd- 
 ing, and, as all kinds of vegetable plants raised in cold 
 frames at the South are benefited by being transplanted, 
 they should be pricked out into other frames, and set 
 from three to four and one-half inches or more apart 
 each way, according to variety and space at disposal. If 
 no such extra cold frames are available, and the plants 
 must remain in the seed-bed, until the final transplant- 
 ing into the open field, then the thinning should be with 
 the view to afford them space to grow strong and stocky, 
 and the surplus plants may be thrown away. Before 
 the final removal, the plants, whether pricked out or 
 not, should be watered, in case the soil is dry, in order 
 that earth may adhere to the fibrous roots, to keep them 
 fresh, and facilitate transplanting. I have indicated 
 how plants may be protected from the effects of frost, 
 and may add that it will hardly ever pay the truck- 
 farmer, planting on any but a very small scale, to resort 
 to any means of protection. He should have a suffi- 
 ciency of plants, however, to replace any killed by cold. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TRANSPLANTING. 
 
 The following remarks are intended to apply to vege- 
 table plants and to those of the strawberry only. 
 
 When a plant is removed from the soil in which the seed 
 germinated, which provided it in its early growth with 
 nourishment and moisture, the contact of the roots with 
 
TRANSPLANTING. 83 
 
 the particles of soil is not only interrupted, but some of 
 the most important roots themselves are broken, and the 
 plant is deprived of the absorbent points of the small 
 rootlets. The evaporation from the leaves still con- 
 tinues, though moisture can no longer be absorbed by the 
 roots. The important operation of transplanting is prop- 
 erly performed, when the equilibrium between these 
 functions of the roots and the leaves is soonest reestab- 
 tablished. If plants are transplanted to a wet, and par- 
 ticularly heavy soil, the part pressed to the roots will 
 bake and contract, leaving cracks and open spaces near 
 the roots. The earth, into which plants are to be 
 shifted, should be freshly dug, as this seems to encour- 
 age an early emission of young rootlets ; and it should 
 be as fine as possible, so that every part of the roots may 
 come in contact with soil and moisture. 
 
 By the removal of leaves, evaporation is not destroyed, 
 but only diminished; for it also takes place through 
 young bark. In our hot climates, a portion of the 
 leaves of all vegetables, in proportion to the injury sus- 
 tained by the roots, should be removed at the time of 
 transplanting To what extent this must be done, will 
 be given for each kind hereafter. 
 
 A moist state of the atmosphere prevents perspiration, 
 or evaporation from the leaves, and such a condition is 
 most favorable for transplanting. Still, with the excep- 
 tion of some very delicate plants not able to survive a dry 
 atmosphere, such as cucumbers, etc. , it is not necessary 
 to await a rain before doing the work. If the earth has 
 been freshly stirred, and is moist enough to allow plant- 
 ing holes to be made by the dibble, without caving in, 
 and the soil is not very sandy, new roots will soon com- 
 mence to grow, and the warm soil will push them rapidly 
 forwards. 
 
 The truck-farmer, planting upon an extensive scale, 
 has often to depend not only upon mere unskilled, but 
 
84 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 upon stupid labor, and were it not for the seemingly 
 imperishable character of some vegetables, the percentage 
 of loss would be much greater. The planting is either 
 too shallow or too deep, and the soil is not uniformly 
 pressed to the roots, which are put into the ground im- 
 properly. 
 
 In transplanting such plants as the strawberry, the 
 fibrous roots should be spread out as much as possible, 
 while the root of a tap-rooted plant, as the cabbage, beet, 
 etc., should be placed regularly up and down and not 
 bent upon itself. If such a root is bent, the nutritive 
 matter in descending from the leaves will be interrupted 
 at the bend, and new rootlets will be slow to appear be- 
 yond it. In transplanting the soil should be uniformly, 
 but not harshly, pressed to the roots their entire length, 
 from the extreme lower point upwards. 
 
 With the exception of asparagus, horseradish, onions, 
 and such plants as emit new roots along the lower por- 
 tion of the stem, as tomatoes, cabbage, etc., it is a safe 
 rule to put down the plant to the depth at which it orig- 
 inally grew. 
 
 In sandy soil it occasionally becomes necessary, in a 
 drouth, during an entire transplanting season, to water 
 the plants after they are set out. In this case the watered 
 surface should be covered with dry soil to prevent baking. 
 
 In a loose, fine, light soil, free from sticks, shells, peb- 
 bles, etc., the hand alone may be used in transplanting 
 on a small scale; but either the planting stick or dibble, 
 or the trowel is preferable. The trowel is the safer 
 implement in the hand of an unskilled workman. In 
 using the dibble, it is thrust into the soil to make a hole 
 to at least the full depth at which the plant is to be in- 
 serted, the hole is then widened by a rotary motion of 
 the implement. To insert the plant properly, it is held 
 between the thumb and index finger of the left hand, 
 and thus placed in the hole; the dibble is then plunged 
 
85 
 
 into the ground two or three inches from the plant in a 
 direction with its point toward and a little below the 
 end of the root. The engraving, figure 3, shows the 
 hole made by the dibble with the root of the plant with- 
 in it. The dibble is thrust into the ground, ready to fix 
 the root in place; by using the point, , as a fulcrum, 
 and moving the handle of the dibble from b to c, the soil 
 
 Fig. 3. PROPER USE OF THE DIBBLE. 
 
 will be pressed to the root for its entire length, from a 
 to c. If this is done with sufficient force, it will fix a 
 delicate plant so firmly in the soil, that if it be pulled by 
 the top of a leaf, that will give way before the plant can 
 be pulled up. If the dibble is inserted perpendicularly 
 or parallel to the plant, instead of at an angle, or if it be 
 partly withdrawn, before the movement from b to c is 
 completed, the soil will only be pressed to the root at the 
 top, leaving its more important part loosely suspended in 
 an open excavation in the soil, as seen in fig. 4. Planting 
 proceeds most conveniently from left to right. When 
 
86 
 
 TRTJCK-FARMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 the trowel is used, the operation is the same, except that 
 the implement is inserted in front of the plant, instead 
 of at the side. 
 
 When plants are taken up so carefully that few of the 
 small roots are ruptured and with the soil adhering, or 
 when they are turned out of flower-pots, they will start 
 
 Fig. 4. IMPROPER USE OF THE DIBBLE. 
 
 more readily; but they will not make so luxuriant a 
 growth of leaves, nor will they develope as much fruit, as 
 when a part of the roots has been broken. This is not 
 in consequence of the rupture in itself, but because at 
 and above the points of injury, numerous small fibrous 
 roots are emitted, which are capable of providing the 
 plant with an increased amount of nourishment. 
 
WATER AND WATERING. 
 
 The following table by Werner shows the leaf surface 
 of ruta-baga turnips both of plants grown directly from 
 the seed, and of those subsequently transplanted. 
 
 
 Average 
 Number 
 of Leaves. 
 
 Average 
 Surface of 
 each Leaf. 
 
 Average 
 Surface of 
 all the Leaves. 
 
 Ruta-baga Turnips di- 
 rectly from seed 
 " transplanted 
 
 18 
 18 
 
 150 sq. centimet's. 
 
 190 " 
 
 2,700 sq. centimet'i 
 3,430 " 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WATER AND WATERING. 
 
 Water is the medium by which the soluble matters of 
 the soil are conveyed, through the roots, into the in- 
 terior organism of plants. We know that the earth, 
 only apparently dry, cannot support vegetation. The more 
 advanced the state of growth, so long as the foliage re- 
 mains young and succulent, the more moisture does a 
 plant need. An important fact in the relation of vege- 
 tation to moisture is seen in the effect the humidity of 
 the atmosphere has upon its temperature. Without 
 more or less vapor in the atmosphere, radiation would 
 cool the surface of the earth so rapidly as to destroy the 
 life of all tender plants. The hottest rays of the sun 
 pass through the air, even when that is saturated with 
 moisture, without heating it; but the heat radiated from 
 the earth, and every object upon it, is intercepted and 
 absorbed by the humidity in the air; and the atmospheric 
 warmth is therefore in proportion to the heat of the sun's 
 rays and the moisture of the air. Like the covering of a 
 cold frame, the moist air admits the heat by day and 
 
88 TRUCK-FARMIHG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 prevents its departure at night. Hence the clearest, 
 driest nights are the coldest. Hence the driest regions, 
 like the desert of Sahara, have the coldest nights, and the 
 cold of high elevations is due to the same cause. 
 
 Prof. Tyndall says: "The removal, fora single sum- 
 mer night, of the aqueous vapor from the atmosphere 
 that covers England, would be attended by the destruc- 
 tion of every plant which a freezing temperature would 
 kill." Humidity and temperature are therefore inti- 
 mately connected. 
 
 Although the heat of the sun causes evaporation from 
 plants, its amount is governed by the humidity of the 
 air and the velocity of the wind. If the gardener could 
 regulate the moisture of the atmosphere surrounding his 
 crops, and make it most favorable for keeping up the 
 proper evaporation, by applying water artificially and 
 only in circumscribed limits, to their roots, he could be 
 assured of success. While he may do so in his green- 
 house, there are no means of regulating the heat and 
 moisture of the open air. It is therefore that watering 
 out-door crops, in our hot climate, is more often pro- 
 ductive of harm than of benefi t. 
 
 When the earth is naturally moistened by rain, the 
 whole air is saturated with moisture, preventing a too 
 rapid perspiration from the leaves and the evaporation 
 from the soil. If watering is done at all, it should be in 
 cloudy weather; but it is most frequently injudiciously 
 practised in dry, hot weather, and so circumscribed in ex- 
 tent, that it can have little or no effect upon the atmos- 
 phere. The roots are temporarily excited, and the dry, 
 hot air robs the plant of the moisture through the leaves 
 as rapidly as it can be pumped up by the roots. As soon 
 as the temporary supply is exhausted, the plant not only 
 returns to its former state of suffering, but is left more 
 susceptible to injury than before. If the watering is 
 repeated, the emission of rootlets near the surface is en- 
 
WATER AND WATERING. 89 
 
 couraged, and these grow, merely to perish again unless 
 the water is continued. Another injury may occur 
 through the decrease of temperature caused by rapid 
 evaporation and perspiration. 
 
 In our hot climate, during drouths, vegetation is 
 greatly sustained by the moisture which is returned to 
 the earth in the form of dews; and in order that these 
 may be most beneficial, the soil should be deeply stirred 
 and continue in a mellow condition upon the surface. 
 When the soil is puddled and compacted around a plant 
 by local watering, the amount of dew will be less from 
 the decrease in the number of points of radiation pre- 
 sented by the compact ball; besides the diminished quan- 
 tity is evaporated from the impenetrable crust without 
 being able to reach the roots. If watered, the earth 
 should therefore be stirred subsequently, or the watered 
 surface be covered with fresh, loose soil. 
 
 If practised at all, the watering should, in hot weather, 
 be applied to the roots and not to the foliage. Evening 
 is the proper time of day, unless in the exceptional case 
 of watering cold frames, when frost is apprehended. 
 It is then advisable to water in the morning. The 
 water should not be much colder than the surround- 
 ing atmosphere. Where there are facilities for moistening 
 the whole mass of soil by irrigation, that should not be 
 neglected; for its great benefits are undoubted. But even 
 then, unless the surface is so densely covered with the 
 growing crop, as to protect it from being baked by the 
 sun, it would be best to allow the moisture to reach the 
 roots through percolation from ditches or drain pipes 
 near enough to each other and kept full, than to cover 
 the soil with water. A crop supplied with a sufficiency 
 of soluble manure will suffer less during drouth than one 
 inadequately fertilized, and the latter will require an 
 abundance of water. 
 
 The fertilizing effects of mulching the soil are men- 
 
90 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 tioned elsewhere. It remains here to be remarked that a 
 mulch or covering to the soil will shade the ground from 
 the hot sun and maintain an equal temperature. It pre- 
 vents the too rapid evaporation and drying of the soil, 
 and is therefore to be recommended with or without 
 watering. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PACKING AND MAKKETS. 
 
 It should be remembered by the grower and shipper 
 of fruit and vegetables to Northern markets that, while 
 his produce may be of the best quality, it will return 
 him unsatisfactory prices, if put up in packages which 
 present to the buyer an unattractive or unclean appear- 
 ance. His first consideration, then, after securing a 
 good crop, is to have his barrels, crates, etc., clean and 
 bright, and well and symmetrically made, neatness being 
 very important. The matter next in importance is, that 
 the packages be not only full at departure, but that they 
 be also full on their arrival at their destination. They 
 should not, therefore, be filled in a careless, haphazard 
 manner, hastily headed up, and hurriedly dispatched. 
 The contents should be so placed, or thoroughly shaken 
 down, whenever the character of the article will permit, 
 as to leave no vacant spaces to be filled out by the jar- 
 ring received in transit, thus causing an empty space at 
 the top, and permitting the stuff to be bruised by being 
 shaken or rolled about within the package. The con- 
 tents of the barrel or crate should bulge up beyond the 
 level, so that force will be required to press on the head 
 or cover. A slight bruising of the upper layer is of but 
 
PACKING AND MAHKETS. 91 
 
 little consequence. Special directions will be given for 
 packing each variety of vegetable. No vegetable or 
 fruit of inferior value (I am not alluding to size), with 
 the slightest indication of decay or of over-ripeness, 
 should be put up; for the packer should bear in mind 
 that a speck, now only faintly perceptible to him, will 
 some days later appear as an odious blemish in the eyes 
 of the purchaser. The decay of a single individual may 
 be communicated to and injure the rest. 
 
 If vegetables or fruit of a second quality are worth 
 less at home than if forwarded, let them be put up in 
 separate packages, and not allowed to detract from the 
 quality and market value of the first grade by mixing 
 the two together. If articles of the first quality and the 
 "culls" are shipped in separate packages, they bring 
 better prices than when they are put up together. The 
 decrease in value is out of all proportion to the slight 
 increase in bulk. 
 
 The pernicious habit of packing articles of a better 
 quality at the top of a barrel or other package, and those 
 of an inferior below ("deaconing" or "topping"), is 
 neither more nor less than an attempt at fraud, to be 
 shunned by every honest grower, while it is a reflection 
 on the discernment or acuteness of the buyer. To the 
 gardener who expects to continue shipping vegetables, 
 who hopes for satisfactory returns, and wishes his brand 
 or mark favorably known in the markets to which he 
 sends his crops, I should recommend the other extreme. 
 
 The laths of a crate should not be far enough apart to 
 allow their edges to indent or cut such vegetables as to- 
 matoes, cucumbers, etc., and yet be sufficiently distant 
 to ventilate the package as much as possible. The heads 
 and sides of barrels should be cut to admit air freely. 
 None but good, strong, clean, round-hooped potato or 
 flour barrels should be used for shipping purposes. 
 
TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH'. 
 BUSHEL AND BARREL CRATES. 
 
 A bushel crate requires a centre-piece and two end- 
 pieces; these are eight by fourteen inches. The laths 
 two feet in length, and of a width suited to the kind of 
 vegetable to be packed. For tomatoes, the laths should 
 be fully two inches wide. For purposes of ventilation 
 and convenient handling of the crate, the middle and 
 
 Fig 5. A BUSHEL CRATE. 
 
 end-pieces are made octagonal by having the corners 
 sawed off. The capacity of such a crate is two thousand 
 two hundred and twenty-one cubic inches, while a legal 
 bushel contains two thousand one hundred and fifty cubic 
 inches. The width of the lath should be about one-half 
 inch less than the dimension at the corner, in order to 
 permit access of air when the crates are closely stowed on 
 shipboard. The figure represents a bushel crate ready 
 
PACKING AND MAEKETS. 
 
 93 
 
 for packing. If the first four laths with which the con- 
 struction of a crate usually commences, #, b, c, and d, in 
 figure 5, are a trifle thicker than the others, ventilation 
 will be more effectively secured in a pile of crates. 
 
 If the contents are to be shaken down, two laths are 
 placed loosely over the bulging vegetables, to prevent 
 their jarring out; and grasping the ends of the crate at 
 A and B> each end is lifted by the packer, and allowed 
 to come down alternately with a sudden thump, and this 
 
 Fig. 6. A BARREL CRATE. 
 
 process is continued until the contents have thoroughly 
 settled. 
 
 Each crate should be plainly and neatly marked by a 
 stencil plate on both ends, with the name or initials both 
 of the shipper and the consignee. When a mark has 
 been adopted, it should be retained, so that it may be 
 known by the buyers. Old brands on second-hand 
 barrels should be thoroughly removed by the scraper, be- 
 fore they are marked. 
 
 The wood from which the crate? are niade should be 
 
94 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 inodorous. On account of its odor, cypress is objection- 
 able. Sappy yellow pine makes the brightest, lightest 
 laths, and splits less readily than heart-wood. 
 
 The dimensions of the barrel crate (fig. 6) are eleven 
 inches wide, twenty inches deep, and thirty-nine inches 
 long. These crates are best made of slats, 3 / 8 X 2 1 /, X 39 
 inches, and 3 / 4 X 2 1 /, x 39 inches. A thicker slat is nailed 
 on the edges of the end pieces, to afford ventilation, and 
 the crates are headed up with pieces 3 / 4 X6x39 inches. 
 
 Figure 7 shows six strips, nailed upon thick plank, in 
 order to hold the head and centre-pieces upright, and at 
 the proper distance apart, facilitating the making of 
 
 Fig. 7. BLOCK FOK NAILING CBATES. 
 
 crates. At c is a centre-piece in position. These are 
 aligned by having all touch the board, a, b. The most 
 convenient position for nailing crates is a seat on a 
 low stool, in front of the above platform on the floor, 
 though a standing position might suit a young person 
 better. Of course the material, including nails, should 
 be within easy reach. 
 
 THE MARKETS. 
 
 To market a crop profitably, or to know where and to 
 whom to consign it, is as indispensable to the farmer, as 
 to be able to produce it successfully. While an article 
 may command a good price in one market, it, at the 
 same time, may hardly pay the freight charges in an- 
 other. Even distinct varieties of the same vegetable may 
 one market better than another, and it is necessary 
 
PACKING AND MARKETS. 95 
 
 to learn the peculiarities of each. Tomatoes are sold to 
 better advantage in Baltimore and Boston than in any 
 other Northern market. Cauliflowers and melons will not 
 pay in Baltimore, while both sell well in Boston and New 
 York, the former being a better market than New York 
 for melons. The red sweet potato, although not the pop' 
 ular variety, is more salable in Boston than in New 
 York. White onions will sell higher than red ones in 
 New York, while there is but slight difference between 
 the two in Boston. I have rarely had reason to be pleased 
 with sales in Philadelphia, and of late years have shipped 
 very little to that market; nevertheless I am constrained 
 to add that I have been told of several satisfactory sales 
 there during the past season. My experience has taught 
 me that New York is, on the whole, the best market for 
 the bulk of the crops. 
 
 I have no personal knowledge of the "Western markets 
 and commission merchants; but I learn that the ship- 
 ments have given satisfactory returns. It is probable 
 that, with improved transportation facilities, considerable 
 shipments will be made to the Western cities hereafter. 
 In every market there are doubtless many excellent, hon- 
 est, and trustworthy firms, the standing of which, as that 
 of all others, is ascertainable at mercantile agencies. Old 
 and experienced truck-farmers have their tried and ap- 
 proved consignees, and it is important for the beginner 
 to exercise great care in the selection of his commission 
 house, and, when one has been fixed upon, it is not well 
 to make a change for a trivial reason. 
 
96 tBUCK-FABMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 INSECTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 
 
 1'he working farmer is so occupied in the pursuit of his 
 profession, and by the study of the phenomena by which 
 he is surrounded, upon a correct appreciation of which 
 his succor will largely depend, that he rarely has sufficient 
 time to devote to botany or entomology as a science. 
 The laws of vegetable growth, an intimate knowledge of 
 useful and noxious plants, and, above all, a clear percep- 
 tion of, and discrimination between his friends and foes 
 in the insect world, are among his urgent needs. Next 
 to the contingencies of season, his prosperity will depend 
 upon the extent of insect depredations. Millions of dol- 
 lars' worth of property arc annually destroyed by in- 
 sects, and a knowledge of their habits is required, that 
 we may learn how to deal with them, in order to stay 
 their ravages. If farmers more correctly appreciated the 
 aggregate losses by insects, they would probably take a 
 deeper interest in studying them. (See Exodus x: 5, 
 14-15.) 
 
 In A. D. 591, a vast horde of locusts ravaged Italy. 
 From the stench of their decaying carcasses arose a pesti- 
 lence which carried off nearly a million men and beasts. 
 In the Venetian Territory, in 1478, the same insect 
 created a famine, during which thirty thousand persons 
 died of starvation. So well did the Arabians know their 
 power, that they make a locust say to Mahomet: "We 
 are the army of the great God; we produce ninety -nine 
 eggs; if the hundred were completed, we should consume 
 the whole earth and all that is .in it." Professor Riley 
 estimated the annual loss from insect depredations in 
 Missouri at fifteen to twenty millions of dollars, and the 
 
INSECTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 97 
 
 losses in the United States probably amount to such an 
 enormous sum, that nearly fifty million dollars might be 
 saved through a more generally extended knowledge of 
 the habits of insects. If insects play such a part in our 
 economy, and, if the farmer's property is more liable to 
 injury than that of any other class, who more than him- 
 self should be interested in them, and the remedies 
 to abate the evil? There is no part of animated nature 
 more vital to our welfare than insects, of which there 
 are about fifty thousand species inhabiting the United 
 States. 
 
 The study of entomology has been frequently looked 
 down upon by the ignorant with ridicule, in consequence 
 of the minuteness of many of its objects; yet it is exactly 
 in these small members of creation that are exhibited the 
 most wonderful adaptations of means to purposes, and 
 the most amazing wisdom of the Creator! 
 
 Can the tiger, with its fierce leap, by which he catches 
 his prey, and the retractile claw, by which he secures it, 
 or the giraffe, with his long neck and tongue, by which he 
 reaches the leaves, many feet from the ground, be com- 
 pared with the spider? This insect lurks behind a screen 
 of its own manufacture, ready to pounce upon and tie up 
 any helpless insect, which conveys to it by the vibration 
 of the web, the intelligence of its entanglement. In 
 this web each single thread consists of many thousands 
 rf finer strands, a part only of which in the net of geomet- 
 ric spiders, the circles, is provided with a viscid covering 
 V> hold the captive. Which seems the greater manifesta- 
 tion of divine wisdom: the clumsy she bear that brings 
 food to her hungry cubs, directly appealing to her ma- 
 ternal care, or the sand-wasp, which, after depositing an 
 egg in a cell at the bottom of a cylindrical cavity in the 
 Band, supplies the future larva with food in the form of 
 insects ? She so regulates the number of these, that the 
 larva may have sufficient food \ she stings the insects* 
 5 
 
98 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 without killing them, as they would then putrefy, but 
 just enough to keep them in a dormant state until 
 wanted. How wonderful the instinct of a mother to 
 provide food for offspring she will never behold ! Every 
 individual of the species, the descendant of countless 
 ancestors, has thus fulfilled this maternal duty for 
 ages past. Had the sand- wasp, for a single season, 
 neglected its instinctive work, there would be no " horse- 
 guards" to keep the cow-fly under control, and in a 
 measure to protect our cattle on the sea coast from 
 their annoyance. The most efficient aids to man in keep- 
 ing the increase of injurious insects within due limits, 
 are their natural enemies of the insect world, and some 
 of the insectivorous birds; for other birds devour indis- 
 criminately, both the useful and injurious insects. There 
 are also certain families of insects, which depredate upon 
 fche farmer's crops, and diminish his income, and certain 
 other kinds, which prey upon these, and are therefore 
 our friends and auxiliaries. Horticulture, it has been 
 truly said, is a war with insects, and we must antagonize 
 the former, and wage a relentless war against them, while 
 we patronize, protect, and foster the useful insects to the 
 best of our ability. 
 
 If the farmer remains ignorant of these mutual rela- 
 tions between insects, a knowledge of the more common 
 instances being readily acquired, how is he to discrimi- 
 nate between friend and foe, so that he may not be guilty 
 of the evident impropriety of destroying both? How 
 often has the useful little friendly lady-bug been mis- 
 taken for the parent of the plant-lice, and been pitiless- 
 ly destroyed? 
 
 If he that makes two blades of grass to grow, where 
 onlv one grew before, is a benefactor to mankind, he 
 that protects both from needless destruction, is not 
 less a benefactor ! Therefore, while it is not within the 
 power of man to wipe injurious insects from the face of 
 
INSECTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 99 
 
 the earth, he may limit the destruction of property they 
 cause, and it is to the farmer's interest, and is his duty, 
 to wage a united war against them, knowing no to- 
 morrow in its prosecution, but killing and destroying 
 wherever and whenever possible, and employing every 
 means in his power. Individual effort can avail little, 
 and concerted action is necessary. 
 
 In our climate, insects generally have two broods in a 
 season. Most of those which survive the winter in their 
 perfect state are fertilized females, and all insects, if left 
 unmolested early in the season, will propagate their spe- 
 cies, and the second brood will outnumber the first a 
 hundred or a thousand-fold. 
 
 While recommending a determined crusade against all 
 insect pests, I would, from the same motive, protest 
 against the pernicious habit, so common all over the 
 cc untry, of indiscriminately taking the life of the lower 
 animals inhabiting the fields and woods; for the reason, 
 that many reptiles, the toads and moles, are our innocent 
 friends and aids. There are but very few venomous 
 snakes, and the larger kinds, which are not insectivorous, 
 destroy numbers of field rats and mice. 
 
 PARASITIC INSECTS. 
 
 We are occasionally subject to the visitation of an in- 
 sect in vast numbers; but these generally bring with 
 them the cause of their own limitation, or there would 
 be no equilibrium in nature. Swarms of parasitic insects, 
 finding an increased food supply, follow in their wake, 
 and the farmer, aroused from his apathy, by finding his 
 entire crops, and not merely a portion thereof, endan- 
 gered, resorts to all sorts of devices to save them. He 
 dusts and sprinkles poisons, he digs circumscribing 
 ditches with upright sides and pitfalls, and applies the 
 torch and burning petroleum. 
 
 Previous to 1862, the European cabbage butterfly 
 
100 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 (Pieris rapes), the parent of the cabbage- worm, was un- 
 known in this country. It was at that time introduced 
 into Canada. Finding in the cabbage fields near Quebec 
 an abundance of food, and meeting no checks, it im- 
 proved its opportunities and propagated its species to 
 such an extent, as to cut short the cabbage crop of 
 the vicinity in one season to the extent of forty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 Suddenly its own especial enemy, the little Chalcid 
 fly (Pteromalus puparum) made its appearance, presum- 
 ably direct from Europe; and in turn, finding its ap- 
 propriate food in abundance, propagated its species so 
 rapidly, that, now in sections where the cabbage-worm 
 was most plentiful, neither the one nor the other is often 
 seen; thus showing the beautiful working of checks and 
 counter-checks in the general plan of nature. 
 
 THE MIGRATION OF INSECTS. 
 
 The number of injurious insects is on the increase all 
 over the world. The interchange between different 
 sections, different countries, and even different hemis- 
 pheres, of noxious insects, indigenous to each, is con- 
 stantly occurring, as shown by the case of the just-named 
 Pieris rapce. The Colorado potato-beetle once gained 
 a foothold in Germany; but through the paternal care of 
 the government, the large potato field, where he was ob- 
 served, was covered with inflammable material, and that 
 country was promptly made too hot for him. 
 
 The Colorado potato-beetle has marched eastward to 
 the coast, a curse and ravager of every farmer on its 
 route, while the harlequin-bug (Strachia histnomca), 
 coming north from its home in Mexico, will cross the 
 line of the other, unless it reaches a climatic limit to its 
 onward progress. An abundance of food has recruited 
 the ranks of noxious insects, and is still exerting the 
 same influence. Before the introduction of the cab- 
 
INSECTS AND 1HEIE REMEDIES. 101 
 
 bage into Mexico, the insect just named was probably 
 much more restricted in numbers, and changed its habit 
 from some plant of the mustard family or other, to the 
 more acceptable and delicate food of the cultivated cab- 
 bage. This insect was found a few years ago feeding on 
 Ossabaw beach on a plant, I think, of the family 
 Salsoleae. 
 
 In the fall of 1880, I found the larvae of the little 
 Botys repetitalis on cauliflower, and a few days afterwards 
 my daughter found it, probably on its native food plant 
 very abundantly, the common rag- weed (Ambrosia 
 artemesicefolia. ) Of this and other instances of change 
 of habit coming under my own observation, Prof. Biley 
 says in one of his reports: 
 
 "Under the head of new cabbage insects should be 
 included this insect, which was first described as Botys 
 repetitalis by Mr. Grote, on page 270 of the last Annual 
 Eeport of the Department of Agriculture. Larvae of 
 this insect were originally received from Dr. A. Oemler, 
 of Wilmington Island, at the mouth of the Savannah 
 River, etc." 
 
 In a contribution to the "American Naturalist," under 
 the title of " Change of Habit; Two New Enemies of the 
 Egg Plant," Prof. Riley says: "In our writings on the 
 Colorado potato-beetle, we have repeatedly drawn atten- 
 tion to the fact that Doryphora juncta, although a native 
 of the Atlantic States, and living in the midst of our cul- 
 tivated species of Solanum, has yet never shown any indi- 
 cation to leave its natural food plant, the wild horse-nettle 
 (Solanum Carolinense) for the cultivated species of the 
 genus. We have now for the first time to record its appear- 
 ance as an enemy to horticulture, Dr. Oemler having found 
 it larvae as well as beetles feeding on his egg-plants in 
 the earlier part of June. There can be no doubt about 
 the correctness of Dr. Oemler's observations, as the speci- 
 mens were sent to us for determination. This is another 
 
102 TtUTCMARMiM AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 of those instances of remarkable and sudden change in 
 the food-habit of a tolerably common and otherwise well- 
 known species, which led us to the remarks on p. 152 of 
 this volume anent ' New Insects Injurious to Agricul- 
 ture.' As in other cases of this sort, the causes of such 
 changes are not readily ascertained. In this particular 
 case, the new habit may be only temporarily developed in 
 a restricted region, either by the disappearance or the poor 
 condition of Solanum Carolinense; or it may become per- 
 manent, and cause D. juncta, hitherto looked upon as 
 harmless or even beneficial, to vie with its ten-lined rel- 
 ative in destructiveness. Time alone will indicate, as we 
 have no grounds upon which to base any confident pre- 
 diction." I may mention that the horse-nettle was 
 neither absent, nor in poor condition, and, that after 
 writing to Prof. Riley, I found the perfect insect on both 
 egg-plant and the former. 
 
 The same author writes: "Another case very similar to 
 that just mentioned, may here be recorded. There is a 
 small tortoise-beetle ( Cassida Texana) easily distinguished 
 from its congeners by the uniformly pale-green color of 
 its upper surface, and the coarse striae of punctations on 
 the elytra. In 1879, we found it in all stages abundant- 
 ly in Southern Texas, feeding on the leaves of Solanum 
 elcBagnifolium. Dr. Oemlernow writes (June 13th) that 
 he finds eggs, larvae and images of this beetle quite com- 
 monly depredating on his egg-plants, though there is no 
 previous record of any such habit, and, indeed, the spe- 
 cies is not recorded from the Atlantic States, albeit we 
 have fo*und it this very season at Washington on Solanum 
 Carolinense." Probably neither of these insects may 
 ever become very destructive pests; but finding in our 
 cultivated crops more abundant and succulent food than 
 its former, wild-growing and tougher food plant afforded, 
 the probabilities are that both will increase, and the pres- 
 ent is the proper time for their destruction. 
 
IHS1CTS AtfD THEIR REMEDIES. 103 
 
 In whatever state an insect species is accustomed to 
 exist through the winter, or to hibernate (and it is done 
 in the case of a few in more than one condition), no de- 
 gree of cold likely to occur will affect them; therefore the 
 popular idea that a hard winter is destructive to insects 
 is a fallacy; except that such as are turned up by the plow 
 in very cold sunless weather may, in their benumbed 
 state, become an easier prey to insectivorous birds. 
 There is more truth in the reverse statement, that a mild 
 winter is destructive to insects. 
 
 The influence of a certain degree of heat for a sufficient 
 time will hatch the worm as well as the chick, or bring 
 forth the butterfly from its chrysalis. If a worm is born 
 after a mild spell in winter, and finds no food in readi- 
 ness, it naturally must perish from starvation, and if a 
 butterfly appears, it must suffer from the same cause. 
 Either may perish from cold it was not expected to en- 
 counter. Even in case of survival, there would be no 
 breeding during the uncongenial weather. 
 
 THE RAPID REPRODUCTION OF INSECTS. 
 
 The Creator in his wisdom has ordained that the 
 smaller animals and insects, which are most subject to 
 predatory enemies, shall be endowed with the greater 
 fecundity. The queen of the white-ant lays sixty eggs 
 in a minute, eighty thousand in twenty-four hours, and. 
 forty million during its existence of two years in the 
 perfect state. Ants, birds, reptiles, beasts, ever near, 
 make food of them, when they come forth in countless 
 numbers at the commencement of the tropical rainy sea- 
 son; so that of many millions scarcely a single pair es- 
 capes to lay the foundation of a new colony. A single 
 plant-louse may, in five generations, become the ancestor 
 of seven hundred and twenty-nine million individuals; 
 and there may be twenty generations in a season. Dr. 
 Fitch ascertained, by actual experiment, that the fecun- 
 
104 TRUCK-FARMIHG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 dity of the grain-aphis was still greater. The wingless 
 females become mothers at three days old, and bear four 
 little ones every day, every one of which is a fertile fe- 
 male from birth; so that in twenty days the descendants 
 would exceed two millions. Only the next to the last 
 brood of the season consists of both male and female, 
 when the eggs are fertilized for every generation of the 
 ensuing season but the last, all the other broods being 
 born alive. No insect is more subject to being preyed 
 upon. In all nature a contest is going on for existence, 
 the weaker always succumbing. This is the struggle for 
 the " survival of the fittest," as Darwin terms it. 
 
 If we sow our seeds too thick, we see some of the plants 
 overtopping and smothering the rest; we see in a growth 
 of young pine saplings that some of the trees are dying 
 out, in order that the more vigorous may have more room. 
 In this wise ordinance of the Creator, that only the 
 stronger individuals shall propagate their own species, 
 He has established a safeguard against deterioration; and 
 it seems that He has not only endowed the stronger with 
 greater powers to resist deleterious influences, but has 
 implanted in such lower orders of beings, which are fre- 
 quently the cause of disease and death, an inclination, a 
 selection, to infest victims least able to resist their in- 
 roads. The sleek, well-fed horse will not be subject to 
 itch; the well cultivated and vigorously growing orchard 
 is not apt to be attacked by bark- lice. 
 
 The above is, at least, the only reasonable explanation 
 I am able to offer of the fact, often observed by cabbage 
 growers, that plants in luxuriant growth are rarely at- 
 tacked by leaf -lice, whereas a field that is backward in 
 growth, and feeble in health, will be overrun by them. 
 This is such a general observation, that Gregory says: 
 " Considering the circumstances under which the insect 
 appears, I hold that it is rather the product than the 
 cause of disease." 
 
INSECTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 105 
 
 THE CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 
 
 This is not a book on entomology, and I shall avoid, 
 as much as possible, the description of insects and the 
 use of technical terms, preferring to present the most im- 
 portant species to the eye in the form of an illustration. 
 
 For the better understanding of future references, I 
 must, however, enumerate the orders into which insects 
 are divided, and the transformations they undergo. 
 
 ORDERS. 
 
 I. Hymenoptera. Example, bees, ants, wasps, ich- 
 neumons. 
 
 II. Coleoptera. Shield-winged insects. The beetles. 
 Example, the fig-eater; Colorado potato-beetle. 
 
 III. Lepidoptera. Butterflies and moths. Example, 
 the cotton-worm and tomato-worm moths. 
 
 IV. Hemiptera. The bugs. Example, the plant- 
 louse. 
 
 V. Diptera. Two-winged insects. Example, com- 
 mon house fly. 
 
 VI. Orthoptera. Straight-winged insects. Example, 
 the grass-hopper. 
 
 VI I. Neuroptera. Nerve-winged insects. Example, 
 the dragon-fly, or mosquito -hawk. 
 
 There are also minor divisions, but the orders will an- 
 swer our purpose. 
 
 The four stages of insect life are: 
 
 First. The egg, which hatches and produces: 
 
 Second. The larva (worm, grub, maggot, caterpillar), 
 which goes into the state of the: 
 
 Third. Pupa or chrysalis, often enclosed in a silken 
 cocoon. Out of the pupa appears the: 
 
 Fourth. Imago, or perfect insect. 
 
 These changes of form are truly wonderful. 
 
106 TRUCK-FARMING AT TH3 SOUTH. 
 
 The cabbage insect, for instance, from being a worm, 
 crawling slowly about upon sixteen short feet, and greed- 
 ily devouring, with two strong jaws, about twice its own 
 weight of cabbage leaf daily, and seeing out of twelve mi- 
 nute, nearly invisible eyes, transforms itself, first into a 
 motionless, sightless chrysalis, and then into a flitting 
 butterfly, with six long, wholly dissimilar legs, ten hav- 
 ing completely disappeared. Instead of the twelve in- 
 visible eyes, it is now provided with two prominent ones, 
 each composed of about seventeen thousand convex 
 lenses, every one supposed to be a separate eye. Instead 
 of the two strong jaws, we see a long, flexible proboscis 
 for the extraction of the nectar of flowers, now its only 
 food. The shape of its head is completely changed, and 
 from it project two horns, which are the organs of touch. 
 
 The insects that infest particular vegetables will be 
 mentioned further on, in treating of their special food 
 plants. 
 
 Of omnivorous insects, or general feeders, those which 
 first claim our attention, on account of their general de- 
 structiveness, are: 
 
 THE CUT-WORMS. 
 
 These are the larvae of S3veral genera of night-flying 
 owlet or rustic moths (Noctutda), the genus Agrotis 
 furnishing the most numerous species, while those of 
 Mamestra, Hadena, and Celcena are more rare. 
 
 Prof. C. V. Eiley has made a special study of cut- 
 worms, and has described, in his First Missouri Report, 
 the habits of twelve distinct species, and subsequently 
 of several others. 
 
 Ordinarily, the moth attaches her eggs in early spring 
 and late summer to vegetation near the ground; but 
 sometimes the eggs are laid on the leaves of trees, upon 
 which the worms do not feed, but from which they de- 
 scend as soon as born. Soon after it is hatched, the young 
 
INSECTS AKD THEIR REMEDIES. 10? 
 
 worm descends below the surface of the soil, but comes 
 up nightly for food, cutting tender plants. Retiring 
 about sunrise, it sometimes draws a part of a leaf into its 
 burrow. Some distinct species ascend trees to cut the 
 buds, and are the climbing cut-worms. They are all most- 
 ly dark-colored, greasy, smooth-looking worms, mottled 
 with white, bearing a general resemblance to one another, 
 and when full grown are about an inch and a half in 
 length. They curl up, when disturbed, and are torpid 
 in the cold of winter; but in our climate, with every 
 warm spell, they become lively, and hungry enough to 
 continue their depredations periodically throughout the 
 
 Fig. 8. GREASY CUT-WORM (Agrotis telifera, Hair.). Fig. 9. LARVA. 
 
 winter. They hibernate at the South in both the larva 
 and the pupa state. When full grown, the worm goes 
 deeper into the ground, and forms an oval chamber in 
 the soil, in which it goes into the pupa state. In the 
 warm weather of spring, the moth comes forth in from 
 two to three weeks afterwards. It is generally of a gray 
 or brown color, with slight differences of darker markings 
 and colorings, on the front wings, and has a spread of 
 wings of about an inch and a half. When at rest, it sits 
 with the wings folded against the body, the lower being 
 covered and out of sight. 
 
 In order to familiarize the eye with the appearance of 
 the parent moths, as well as that of the worms, engrav- 
 ings of several of the species are given. 
 
 The Greasy cut-worm (fig. 8; larva, fig. 9), is very 
 
108 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 widely distributed, it being found in nearly all parts of 
 the United Spates, and attacks many very different 
 plants, sometimes destroying whole fields of corn and of 
 tobacco. The parent moth (fig. 8), is known as the 
 Lance Rustic (Agrotis telifera, Harr. ), which often enters 
 
 Fig. 10. MOTH OF WESTEBN STRIPED CUT-WORM (Agrotis subgothica). 
 
 the house at night. The general color of the fore-wings 
 is dark-brown, and the hind-wings are pearly- white. 
 
 The most common species in Georgia is called the 
 Western Striped cut- worm in the books, though it is 
 quite as common at the East and South as elsewhere. It 
 is dirty-white or ash-gray in color, sometimes yellowish, 
 and has dark stripes on the sides. The moth, known as 
 the Gothic Dart (Agrotis subgothica, Harr.), is given in 
 fig. 10, with the wings both open and closed. The darker 
 
 Fig. 11. DARK-SIDED CUT-WORM (Agrotis Cochranii). 
 
 parts of the wings are deep-brown, and the lighter por- 
 tions are of grayish flesh-color. 
 
 The Dark-sided cut-worm, of which larva and moth 
 are given in fig. 11, is Agrotis Cochranii, Riley. It is 
 
INSECTS AND THEIE REMEDIES. 
 
 109 
 
 one of the climbing species, and very destructive to the 
 buds of fruit trees. 
 
 The W-marked cut-worm (fig. 12), is the larva of the 
 Clandestine owlet-moth (Noctua clandestine!,, Harr.). It 
 attacks various vegetables, and also climbs. 
 
 The Glassy cut-worm, the larva of Agrotis (or Ha- 
 
 Fig. 12. W-MARKED CUT-WORM 
 
 (Noctua clandestina, Harr.). 
 
 
 Fig. 13. GLASSY CUT- WORM 
 
 (Agrotis devastatd). 
 
 dend) devastate/, (fig. 13), is glassy-green, with a bright 
 
 red head, with a hard, dark-brown shield just back of it. 
 
 The small White, Bristly cut-worm (fig. 14), Celcena 
 
 Fig. 14. SMALL WHITE BRISTLY CUT-WORM (Gdcwui renigera). 
 
 (or Hadend) renigera, is very small, and a general feeder, 
 often destructive in the flower garden. 
 
 Entomologists, in their revision of these insects, have 
 made some changes in the scientific names. Those here 
 given will direct the reader to the detailed descriptions 
 in the entomological reports and other works. 
 
 As the moths of the various cut- worms fly at night, and 
 are attracted by light, it has been recommended to make 
 open fires in the fields; and even several fire-traps have 
 been invented, into which night-flying moths have been 
 enticed and killed. These fires are of very questionable 
 utility, since it may happen that more beneficial than 
 noxious insects may be destroyed. 
 
110 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 REMEDIES FOR CUT-WORMS. 
 
 Many remedies have been recommended to kill or drive 
 away cut-worms, such as ashes, salt, lime, gas-lime, cop- 
 peras, sulphur, etc.; but I know of none, harmless to 
 plants, worth the trouble of application. Some have 
 been deceived by the disappearance of the worm at the 
 time it is about to undergo its changes, ascribing it to the 
 effect of a remedy. Dilute washes of soap, tobacco, etc., 
 do not seem to be repulsive to cut-worms. Pyrethrum, 
 the mere touch of which is so deadly to some insects, 
 seems in the open air perfectly innocuous to these, and 
 they soon recover, even after being covered with it for 
 half an hour or more in close confinement. 
 
 Covering the stems of plants above and below the sur- 
 face of the ground by a funnel-shaped fold of paper or 
 tin, or surrounding a cucumber or melon hill similarly with 
 a hoop of wood or iron, may be a protection, but is a pro- 
 cess too troublesome and expensive for the truck-farmer. 
 
 Round holes made in loamy or heavy soil by the inser- 
 tion of a stick are said to entrap these worms, which may 
 be killed the next morning by re-inserting the stick. This 
 is one of the few remedies, the utility of which I cannot 
 deny from actual experience, never having cultivated 
 land heavy enough to prevent the worm from promptly 
 burrowing himself out of the trap. On a large field the 
 small holes, to entrap them, would necessarily be very 
 numerous, and the labor of re-inserting the stick into 
 each, whether empty or full, would condemn the remedy. 
 
 The instinct of the parent molh will lead it to place 
 its eggs only where the future worm will find its proper 
 food; and if a field upon which the gardener expects to 
 put out valuable plants in the spring is kept bare of veg- 
 etation during the months in which the eggs are laid, 
 it,. will be free from cut-worms. If plowed up later, and 
 then kept bare during the winter, the worms will migrate 
 
INSECTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. Ill 
 
 to better pastures, which may even be provided for them 
 with advantage. But a bare fallow is destructive to 
 fertility in our climate, and a thick mulch should be pro- 
 vided, which when burnt off will destroy crickets, etc. , har- 
 boring under it. I can vouch both for this plan as a mea- 
 sure against cut-worms, as well as a means of fertility; 
 but it is rarely practicable. If in the rotation a clean 
 fall crop, not subject to cut-worms, can precede the one 
 to be put out, th latter will not be apt to suffer from 
 them. A cut-worm generally indicates its presence, 
 by a destroyed or injured plant, a cut leaf, or freshly 
 stirred soil, and, on a small scale at early morn, it may be 
 hunted at the root of the plant and killed; but never until 
 some damage has already been done. When the soil is 
 damp, the worm is generally to be found at early morn- 
 ing near the surface. In dry sandy soil, and as the day 
 advances, it burrows deeper. 
 
 My method of dealing with cut-worms, of late years, 
 has been to remove them from the field, before the crop 
 to be jeopardized is up, or the plants are put out. 
 
 By placing cabbage leaves and bunches of grass along 
 the rows of watermelon hills four years ago, I caught, 
 by hunting them daily, fifteen hundred and thirty-eight 
 worms on about one-fourth of an acre, before the seed 
 came up, and lost but a single melon plant. 
 
 On one occasion, I captured, one morning, fifty-eight 
 of all sizes under a single turnip leaf, and my son found 
 fifteen at the root of a single small cabbage plant. But, 
 even when the worms were as abundant as this would indi- 
 cate, I found the process unsatisfactory and time-consum- 
 ing, and resorted to my present effective plan of poisoning 
 them. 
 
 After the land is prepared for cabbages, or any other 
 crop needing protection, I place cabbage or turnip leaves 
 in rows fifteen or twenty feet apart all over the field, and 
 about the same distance apart in the rows. The leaves 
 
112 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 are first dipped in a well-stirred mixture of a tablespoon- 
 ful of Paris green to the bucket of water; or they may 
 be first moistened, then dusted with a mixture of one 
 part of Paris green to twenty of flour, and placed care- 
 fully with the dusted surface next to the ground. Two 
 such applications, particularly in cloudy weather, at in- 
 tervals of three or four days, will suffice to allow the cut- 
 worms to make away with themselves, which they gen- 
 erally do with perfect success. This plan, of protect- 
 ing the various crops, is the best that I have found. 
 Whoever adopts it, will rid himself of the pest at least 
 cost and trouble, and will not be compelled to replant 
 constantly, or to sow his seed so thickly as to provide: 
 
 " One for the black-bird, one for 'he crow, 
 Two for the cut- worm and three to grow." 
 
 NATURAL ENEMIES OF CUT-WORMS. 
 
 In the front rank of all insectivorous birds as a destroyer 
 of cut-worms stands prominently the much slandered 
 crow. He is up early enough to catch the worm, before 
 it descends; but, if need be, he digs it up. The good the 
 crow accomplishes in killing cut- worms, tomato-worms, 
 and field mice, far outweighs the value of the few grains 
 of corn he may pilfer, and he should therefore be pro- 
 tected instead of being persecuted. 
 
 Domestic poultry are also useful aids in destroying 
 cut-worms. The common mole, it is true, does consid- 
 erable damage by burrowing between the roots of grow- 
 ing crops; but he is wrongfully accused of feeding upon 
 grain, and roots of crops, for he is exclusively insectiv- 
 orous, and he probably devours numbers of cut-worms. 
 Fortunately for the mole, and for the farmer, too, at- 
 tempts to poison it with corn soaked in strychnine are 
 based upon the fallacious belief that he feeds upon the 
 grain. 
 
 Notwithstanding the subterranean and nocturnal habit 
 
INSECTS AND THEIK REMEDIES. 113 
 
 of cut-worms they have several insect enemies, which 
 attack them both above and below the surface. There 
 are four-winged flies, belonging to the genus Microgaster 
 which deposit their eggs in the body of the worms; and 
 a large yellowish brown, four-winged Ichneumon fly, 
 Paniscus geminatus, does the same. Among the insects 
 that devour cut-worms for food, is the useful spined 
 soldier-bug, and the larva and complete insect of the 
 fiery ground-beetle, Calosoma calidum. 
 
 GRASSHOPPERS. 
 
 The insects commonly called grasshoppers, belong to 
 two families of Orthoptera. The first and comparatively 
 harmless (Locustidm) are mostly nocturnal insects, gen- 
 erally green in color, with their legs four-jointed. They 
 have long, tapering feelers, and are provided with a long 
 projecting instrument at the end of the body for deposit- 
 ing their eggs (ovipositor). 
 
 The other family (Acrididce), embraces the more de- 
 structive "hateful grasshopper," or Kocky Mountain 
 locust, the locusts of the Bible (Locusta migratoria), 
 and the numerous varieties, which are so destructive to 
 our turnips and cabbage seedlings in autumn. (The 
 insects, commonly called locusts in this country, be- 
 long to the Cicada family, and are harmless to the crops 
 of the truck-farmer.) Thesa are more varied in color than 
 the foregoing, have shorter feelers, three-jointed legs, 
 and no long egg-laying instrument. The female insect 
 lays a large number of eggs in the soil, late in the fall, 
 which hatch out in the spring. The larvae are wingless, 
 but otherwise bear a great resemblance to the imago and 
 perfect their growth during the summer. To plants in 
 seed-leaf they are very destructive; but those more ad- 
 vanced may outgrow their inroads. To plants so young, 
 as only to have one or two seed-leaves, or still in the seed- 
 bed, there can be no reasonable objections to the applica- 
 
114 TBITCK-FARMItfG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 tion of poison for their protection^ as all the first leaves 
 will be cast off long before maturity, and the small 
 amount that might lodge on the stem would be removed 
 by rain. 
 
 Harris says that grasshoppers are attacked by certain 
 thread-like, brown, or blackish worms (Filaria), and are 
 infested by little red mites ( Ocypete), of which ten or a 
 dozen may be found adhering to the body beneath the 
 wings. 
 
 Probably moles and ground beetles, and their larvae 
 may destroy the eggs,. while the crow and a few other 
 birds, and domestic poultry, feed upon the insect. 
 
 Grasshoppers might be captured, as in France and 
 elsewhere, by means of cloth traps, drawn across the 
 fields, but such methods, without concert of action 
 among farmers, are useless, and the use of kerosene on 
 sheet-iron pans drawn over the field as recommended in 
 the First Report of the United States Entomological 
 Commission is, by all odds, the most satisfactory. 
 . Grasshoppers are not apt to fly far from harboring 
 grass or weeds; I avail myself of this habit, and locate my 
 cabbage-seed beds in the middle of an open field, gen- 
 erally undergoing preparation at the time for oats. If 
 the grain is up simultaneously with the cabbages, the 
 young blades, while affording food, will not be sufficiently 
 thick to furnish a harbor around the beds. 
 
 CKICKETS (A chetidce. ) 
 
 Unlike the tree-cricket (CEcantlms niveus) which in- 
 jures fruit trees, the several kinds of crickets depredat- 
 ing upon the crops of the truck-farmer live upon the 
 ground, harboring under low herbage and grass. . They 
 pass the winter at the South in the egg and in the per- 
 fect state; the female laying numerous eggs in the ground 
 at the approach of winter, which hatch out in the spring. 
 They abound particularly near the sea coast, where, at 
 
INSECTS AND THE1E REMEDIES 115 
 
 times, they become very destructive. Exclusive of cut- 
 worms, no insect here was more destructive to young 
 cabbage plants in the fall of 1881. In March and April 
 they gnaw into the "curds " of cauliflower, making un- 
 sightly blemishes. 
 
 They emit their shrill sound by rubbing their wing 
 covers against each other. This insect, on very young 
 plants, may be poisoned by an application of Paris green, 
 but when it becomes dangerous to use the poison in this 
 manner, it may be mixed with grated carrot. 
 
 Crickets have the habit of hiding under 'objects on the 
 ground, and may be found under boards, palmetto leaves, 
 etc., placed along the rows of cabbages and other crops, 
 for the purpose of attracting them, but it requires quick- 
 ness to kill them, with a flat bat, as they become very 
 lively as soon as light is admitted to their retreat. 
 
 THE MOLE-CRICKET (Gryllotalpa.) 
 
 Owing to its exclusively nocturnal habit, this insect is 
 rarely seen, although it is sometimes destructive to seed- 
 ling plants, eating oif the seed leaves, for instance, of 
 melons and cucumbers. There are two species in this 
 country. Gryllotalpa borealis is found in moist ground 
 in the New England and other Northern States, but is 
 much less common than G. brevipennis in the Middle 
 and Southern States. A still different species, G. vul- 
 garis, is found in Europe, where it is more abundant 
 than either of ours are with us. It is often quite trou- 
 blesome. I have seen it successfully captured by sinking 
 empty tumblers, flower-pots (closed at the bottom), etc., 
 level with the surface of the soil. It may also be pois- 
 oned in the same manner as the cricket. 
 
 BIRDS AS INSECT DESTROYERS. 
 
 As related to the question of the utility of insectivor- 
 ous birds and their food supply, I cite the examinations 
 
116 TRUCK-FABMISTG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 made by Prof. S. A. Forbes, of Illinois, of the stomachs ot 
 eighty-six blue birds (Sialia sialis), and his observations 
 and conclusions.* Ten of the birds were shot in Feb- 
 ruary, twenty-one in March, thirteen in April, nine in 
 May, ten in June, nine in July, two in September, and 
 twelve in December, in Southern Illinois. The stomach 
 of a bird shot February 24th, contained thirty per cent, of 
 cut- worms; forty per cent, of crickets; five per cent, of 
 ichneumonidse; twenty-five per cent, of the larvae of the 
 two-lined soldier-beetle. After enumerating the contents 
 of the stomachs of all the birds, Prof. Forbes summarizes : 
 " What now shall we say of the economic relations of 
 this bird? According to the estimate of Mr. Walsh that 
 (reasoning from the comparative numbers of injurious 
 and beneficial insects, a bird must be shown to eat at 
 least thirty times as many injurious individuals as bene- 
 ficial ones, before it can be considered useful), the blue 
 bird does at least twenty times as much harm as good, 
 that is to say, the beneficial insects destroyed would 
 themselves have made away with twenty times as many 
 injurious insects as the birds themselves have eaten. 
 Admitting that Mr. Walsh's estimate was exaggerated, it 
 surely was not twenty times too large, and even if it 
 were, we could merely look upon the blue bird as harm- 
 less, indeed, but as useless also. And yet, in the face of 
 this, I venture to doubt that a case has yet been made out. 
 " In the first place, nothing has been learned of the food 
 of the young, and there is some reason for supposing 
 that birds select for their young, the softer kinds of in- 
 sects. This supposition, founded chiefly upon the state- 
 ments of M. Florent-Prevost, of Paris, is contradicted, 
 it is true, by observations of the food of the young mock- 
 ing-bird, and whatever deficiency of credit may be due 
 to this neglect of the food of the young, is compensated 
 
 * From tlie " American Entomologist," 1880, 
 
IHSECTS AND THEIR REMEDIES. 117 
 
 in part, at least, by the fact, that the number of cater- 
 pillars eaten is doubtless overestimated, in comparison 
 with hard insects, as their flexible skins remain in the 
 gtomachs of birds longer than the hard structures of in- 
 sects. This is exactly contrary to the usual supposition, 
 but the frequent occurrence of numbers of the emptied 
 and twisted skins of cut-worms in the stomach, still rec- 
 ognizable as Noctuidw, when not even a fragment of a 
 jingle head remains, is sufficient evidence that the hard 
 parts break up and disappear before these delicate but 
 yielding skins. Secondly, while our knowledge of the 
 tfood of arctians, cut-worms, and grasshoppers, is suf- 
 ficiently definite and full to enable us to predict with cer- 
 tainty exactly what would happen, if those eaten by the 
 blue birds were allowed to live and multiply, we have not 
 the same complete and certain knowledge of the food and 
 habits of the different genera of ichneumonidae, the 
 ground-beetles, the soldier-bugs and soldier-beetles. One 
 hundred blue birds, at thirty insects each a day, would 
 eat in six months about half a million insects. If this 
 number of birds were destroyed, the result would be the 
 preservation of about one hundred and seventy thousand 
 caterpillars (ninety thousand of them cut-worms), twenty 
 thousand leaf-chafers, ten thousand curculios, and eighty- 
 five thousand crickets, locusts, and grasshoppers. 
 
 "How this horde of marauders would busy itself, if 
 left undisturbed, no one can doubt. It would eat grass 
 and clover, and corn and cabbages, inflicting an immense 
 injury itself, and leaving a progeny which would multi- 
 ply that injury indefinitely. On the other hand, would 
 the two hundred thousand predaceous beetles and bugs, 
 spiders and ichneumons, either prevent or counterbal- 
 ance these injuries? I do not believe that we can say 
 positively whether they would or not. In a discussion 
 of the natural checks upon the cut-worm, Prof. Kiley, in 
 his First Report as State Entomologist of Missouri, men- 
 
118 TRUCK-FABMIKO AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 tions two species of ichneumon that parasitize the larva, 
 credits the spined soldier-bug and the carabid larva, 
 Calosoma calidum, with its destruction, and says that 
 some kinds of spiders are known to prey upon it. From 
 the Eeport of the United States Entomological Commis- 
 sion, for 1877, we learn that the grasshopper is preyed 
 upon, at one or the other stage, by Agonoderus, Harpa- 
 lus, Amara, and other carabids; by soldier-beetles, sol- 
 dier-bugs, and spiders, and that certain ichneumonidae 
 parasitize the eggs. It seems probable, therefore, that 
 the beneficial insects eaten by blue birds include the spe- 
 cial enemies of the cut-worms and grasshoppers it de- 
 stroys, but he who knows best the small number of re- 
 liable observations upon which our general statements of 
 the food of predaceous insects rest, will have the most 
 hesitation in trusting them without reserve. The proba- 
 bilities seem to be against the blue bird, but the certain- 
 ties are, as yet, in its favor. Finally, I would call atten- 
 tion to the fact that we do not know that the normal 
 rate of increase among these carnivorous and parasitic 
 insects is not sufficient to keep their numbers full to the 
 limit of their food supply, and to furnish also a surplus 
 for destruction by birds. Just as a tree puts forth more 
 leaves than it needs, and sets more fruit than it can pos- 
 sibly mature; as an offset to the constant normal depre- 
 dations of insects, so there is much reason to suppose 
 that our insect friends have become adjusted to this 
 steady drain on their numbers. There are many consid- 
 erations involved here into which I can not at present 
 enter. It will suffice to say that all the evidence we have 
 of the increase and decrease of carnivorous insects, at- 
 tendant upon the increase and decrease of the insects 
 upon which they feed, tends to show that the real limit 
 to their multiplication is not destruction by birds, but a 
 deficient food supply, and that in relieving them from 
 their feathered enemies, we should only be giving a por- 
 
ASPARAGUS. 
 
 119 
 
 iion of them the poor privilege of starving to death, in- 
 stead of being eaten up. Considering, therefore, the 
 certainty of the evil consequences of the destruction of 
 the blue bird, and the uncertainty of the possible good, 
 I believe that, notwithstanding the apparent balance 
 against the species, even the most radical economist, the 
 most indifferent to the beauty and pleasure of the nat- 
 ural world, would have no present justification for throt- 
 tling the song of the blue bird in his garden, with the 
 hope of increasing thereby his annual store of hay and 
 cabbage." 
 
 The following table gives the percentages of the three 
 classes of insects destroyed, and the average for the 
 season : 
 
 PERCENTAGES FOB 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 *3 
 
 EACH MONTH. 
 
 c 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^a. 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 e 
 
 | 
 
 t' 
 
 1 
 
 Is 
 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 -t 
 
 5 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 p 
 
 ^Q 
 
 Beneficial 
 
 46 
 
 28 
 
 21 
 
 35 
 
 38 
 
 14 
 
 11 
 
 28 
 
 
 41 
 
 60 
 
 23 
 
 55 
 
 26 
 
 67 
 
 02 
 
 S9 
 
 Neutral 
 
 13 
 
 11 
 
 56 
 
 10 
 
 34 
 
 19 
 
 87 
 
 33 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ASPARAGUS. (Asparagus offidnalis.) 
 
 Atperge, French ; Spargel, German ; Aspergie, Dutch ; Asperago or 
 Italian ; and Esperrayo, Spanish. 
 
 Asparagus is a native of the sea coasts of Europe, and 
 has long been in cultivation as one of the choicest vege- 
 tables of the garden. Peter Henderson says of this vege- 
 table, that the supply has never yet fully satisfied tire 
 demand, and that a small quantity of good asparagus has 
 
120 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 frequently helped to sell a wagon load of vegetables, the 
 gardener making its sale conditional upon the purchase 
 of other articles. Asparagus is not only a wholesome 
 article of food, but it is a pleasant diuretic and aperient, 
 and is often used as an alterative or "purifier of the 
 blood." When prescribed medicinally it is, as a decoc- 
 tion, made by boiling two ounces of the root in one quart 
 of water. There are some sixty or seventy species of as- 
 paragus, of which the above named is the only edible 
 one. While the shoots of the majority of the asparagus 
 plants are green, some plants produce purple-topped 
 shoots, owing probably to some modification of the leaf- 
 green, or chlorophyll. Such plants cannot be considered 
 even as varieties, as they occur in every planting of 
 whatever kind of asparagus seed, and the peculiarity is 
 not transmitted as a regular distinctive feature. 
 
 Difference of opinion exists among horticulturists in 
 regard to the question of varieties of this vegetable, some 
 contending there are no varieties of Asparagus officinalis. 
 They claim that growers, in several localities, have 
 brought the cultivation of asparagus to such a state of 
 perfection, as to have developed a decided superiority in 
 the plant; that, as like produces like, the seed of such 
 plants are preferable and will continue to give a superior 
 product. They hold that, until deteriorated, the Con- 
 over's Colossal, the Ulm, the Argenteuil, and others, are 
 only improved strains, while others claim them to be dis- 
 tinct varieties. Unlike the varieties of other vegetables, 
 the different sorts of asparagus are distinguished neither 
 by shape, nor color of leaf or flower, nor by taste, nor 
 by any other character, save size, and when removed from 
 favorable conditions of climate, soil, manure, and man- 
 agement, they deteriorate and are undistinguishable 
 from plants grown from seeds of the poorest kind. As- 
 paragus is a dioecious plant, that is, the male (staminate) 
 and female (pistillate) flowers are on separate roots. 
 
ASPAKAGUS. 121 
 
 Only the latter bear seeds which will not be fertile un- 
 less the flower is impregnated by the pollen of the for- 
 mer. Thus it requires two distinct plants for the propa- 
 gation of the species. Should a variety originate by 
 chance, its flower would require the pollen of the previous 
 variety to fertilize it; and to transmit its distinctive fea- 
 tures to descendants, it must be ever afterwards exempt 
 from any altering influences of the pollen. If such breed- 
 ing of varieties was probable in dioecious plants, the 
 chances of cross-fertilization are such that varieties and 
 sub- varieties would be constantly seen. 
 
 RAISING THE PLANTS. 
 
 Asparagus is propagated from seed, the usual practice 
 being to raise the plants in a seed-bed, and trans- 
 fer them to the field when one or two years old, those of 
 one year being much the best. It has generally been, at 
 the South, not only the uneconomical, but from an horti- 
 cultural point of view, the objectionable custom to pur- 
 chase the plants from Northern nurseries, at from four dol- 
 lars to eight dollars per thousand, without any knowledge 
 of their previous cultivation, age, or condition. This has 
 been done when the plants could be grown much cheaper, 
 and much better at home, with the additional advantage of 
 being able to lift them carefully and fresh from the seed- 
 bed when needed; whereas, procured from a distance, they 
 are stale, roughly handled and bruised. The price of the 
 seed is usually about fifty cents per pound, containing 
 some fourteen thousand seeds, which should supply at 
 least ten thousand five hundred plants, or enough for 
 three acres. At the average price of plants, as offered 
 by the largest seed firms, the same number of plants 
 would cost twenty-one dollars. Small, spindling shoots 
 are comparatively worthless. The asparagus grower 
 should start his seed-bed with the ultimate object of pro- 
 ducing large, stout sprouts, (or " grass," in the language 
 6 
 
122 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 of the market), and to do this he must avoid stunted 
 plants. A good asparagus plantation is expensive. It 
 brings in no return for three years, but when it once 
 comes into bearing, it remains productive for twenty 
 years or more, and affords good profits. Unless it can 
 be properly made from the start, it had better not be 
 undertaken. 
 
 The seed of asparagus is not injured by frost. It may 
 be sown from December 1st to the middle of March. Se- 
 lect high, sandy or well-drained, light land, which has 
 been well manured; sow in drills two feet apart, and one 
 inch deep; the plants should stand about three inches 
 apart in the row. At these distances, one-fourth of an 
 acre will grow twenty-one thousand seven hundred and 
 eighty plants, or a sufficient number to plant five or six 
 acres. If proper care is taken of them during their 
 growth, the plants will be superior to any of one year's 
 growth, purchasable at any price from any Northern nurs- 
 ery, simply in consequence of our longer and warmer 
 growing season. In addition to this, are the advan- 
 tages of being able in transplanting to return them to the 
 soil, fresh and without injury to the roots. 
 
 THE SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION. 
 
 One of the chief claims' of asparagus to popular favor 
 is its early appearance in the spring; and hence, a heavy 
 cold clay, particularly if badly drained, should be avoided. 
 A light, high, warm, sandy soil, heavily fertilized, is 
 best adapted to this crop, and it especially flourishes 
 when such soil is located near its native habitat the sea 
 coast. The more manure, the better the cultivation, the 
 larger and better will be the " grass;" therefore the land 
 should be in fine, mellow condition before the application 
 of the manure. After deep plowing, subsoiling, and har- 
 rowing, a coating of about a hundred wagon loads of 
 green stable manure to the acre, without much long litter, 
 
ASPARAGUS. 193 
 
 should be turned under as deeply as possible. Future 
 surface manurings will benefit the top soil. The field 
 being thoroughly harrowed, straight rows should be laid 
 off with a two-horse plow, going only in one direction, 
 care being taken to have the straight cuts, or land-sides 
 of the furrows, equi-distant from each other, and five feet 
 apart. If the roots of the plants are long, it will prob- 
 ably be necessary to deepen the furrows by following the 
 first with a smaller plow. In the bottom of the furrow 
 it is well to apply some lasting fertilizer, as coarse 
 
 15. ASPARAGUS PLANT. 
 
 ground bone, at the rate of half a ton to the acre. If 
 the land is high and warm, the crowns of the plants 
 might eventually be about six inches below the surface; 
 but in colder ground it would be unsafe to place them 
 deeper than four inches, or the sprouts might be late in 
 the spring, and a part of the plants might perish. The 
 roots are round and succulent, with numerous small 
 fibres, which unite to form the crown, from which the 
 
124 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 sprouts appear. The crown grows laterally, the base of 
 every succeeding bud, during the life of the plant, re- 
 maining at about the same depth. This lateral manner 
 of growth, and the position of the buds, are shown in 
 fig. 15. The deeper the plant can be placed, due regard 
 being had to the requisites of an early and profitable 
 growth, the better, as the crowns will be less liable to 
 injury at the hands and knives of careless cutters of 
 the crop. The old method of close planting of aspara- 
 gus upon trenched ground, with a subterranean layer, 
 three feet deep, of oyster shells, or brickbats, for drain- 
 age, and with the idea of preventing the too deep growth 
 of the roots, has been abandoned. One might as well ex- 
 pect to see stalks of corn grow thirteen feet high, and 
 thick in proportion, when the grain is sown broadcast for 
 fodder, as to look for good " grass " from the old man- 
 ner of planting. 
 
 An old asparagus plant makes an enormous growth of 
 root, both as regards its mass and length, and wide 
 planting admits of these roots securing a sufficiency of 
 food, and of their making a vigorous growth without 
 crowding. 
 
 SETTING OUT THE PLANTS. 
 
 The plants should be carefully lifted from the seed 
 bed with a digging fork, without bruising the roots. 
 These, if very long and irregular in length, may be 
 shortened back a little. 
 
 The distances in the row being marked off at from two 
 to two and a half feet, or even three feet, a plant is 
 dropped at each place, and the planter, following, holds 
 the plant at the proper depth, say six inches, against 
 the land side, or cut, with the roots spread out from the 
 crown in a fan-shaped manner, and, with a single sweep 
 of the left hand, fixes it in position with loose soil from 
 the top of the furrow. The subsequent filling in may be 
 
ASPARAGUS. 125 
 
 done with the plow; but the hoe is to he preferred, as 
 the depth can he more exactly adjusted, and there is less 
 danger of an accidental disturbance of the plant. For 
 safety, until growth commences, the crowns should not 
 be covered the entire depth, but only two or three inches; 
 when the shoots have grown several inches high, the cov- 
 ering may be completed, and this will serve as a working 
 of the ground, and destroy weeds. 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 Its vigorous growth enabling it to overtop grass, and to 
 hold its own against weeds, asparagus will withstand 
 as much neglect as any other vegetable; but it will 
 respond to generous treatment. The expense of its 
 first planting, and its care, until it commences to 
 make a return two or three years later, are too great to 
 admit of neglect. If the plantation has been properly 
 made and properly tended, its rank and luxuriant growth 
 will meet across the five-feet rows in the third year and 
 smother most weeds during the summer. The crop 
 should be cultivated and hoed as often as necessary to 
 subdue grass and weeds. Asparagus produces seed the 
 second year. As soon, therefore, as the ctalks commence 
 to die in the fall, they should be chopped down and 
 burned, to prevent, so far as possible, the growth of 
 young seedlings among the crop, which are not readily 
 eradicated, and are really weeds. 
 
 It is useless to apply manure when the plant is at 
 rest in the fall and winter, but just prior to the commence- 
 ment of growth, make an application of half a ton to the 
 acre of Peruvian guano, bone-flour, or ground fish guano, 
 mixed with muck, woods-earth, or garden soil, and thor- 
 oughly harrow it in. If stable manure is used, it should 
 remain upon the surface. The material being at hand, 
 a mulch thick enough and close enough to prevent the 
 growth of weeds and grass, to be burned off before the 
 
126 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 winter top-dressing is to be applied, would obviate the 
 necessity of frequent working, and of chopping, or mow- 
 ing down the bushes, and would destroy all the seed, 
 without causing any injury to the deeply buried roots. 
 Subsequent cultivation consists in keeping down weeds 
 by stirring the soil with cultivator and hoes, and in the 
 annual installment of fertilizers, alternating each year 
 with a different kind. 
 
 The natural habitat of asparagus being the sea coast, 
 it is benefited by applications of common salt, which 
 may be used with advantage in sufficient quantity to de- 
 stroy weeds, say from six hundred to eight hundred 
 pounds to the acre, particularly if the crop is at a 
 distance from the sea shore. The burning of a mulch 
 of marsh sedge would supply the crop with other salts of 
 sea water besides common salt. If the shoots are nu- 
 merous and strong, a few may be cut the third year, but 
 it is better to dofer cutting any until the fourth season 
 from the seed. 
 
 CUTTING AND MARKETING. 
 
 Asparagus knives of various shapes are made expressly 
 for the purpose. The blade should be passed down along 
 the shoot to the necessary depth, when by a turn of the 
 handle the shoot is severed, and can be lifted out. 
 
 Only the part of the shoot made green by exposure 
 to light is eaten, the white blanched portion being tough 
 and stringy. Yet fashion, and, therefore, the trade, de- 
 mand that at least a part of the sprouts be white, other- 
 wise it would not bo necessary to place the crowns so 
 deeply in the ground. A change in this respect is tak- 
 ing place, however, and a modification in the mode of 
 planting may soon be advisable. 
 
 Asparagus should not be cut until the shoots are four 
 or five, or even six inches above the ground, so that they 
 may be at least eight inches long, that being the usuaj 
 
ASPARAGUS. 
 
 127 
 
 Fig. 16. ASPARAGUS BUNCHER. 
 (Old.) 
 
 length of the bunches. A plantation in full bearing and 
 
 vigorous growth may require to be cut daily, but it 
 
 should not be continued beyond about four weeks, for 
 
 fear of weakening the plants. 
 
 The bunches, to command the highest market price, 
 
 should be four inches in 
 
 diameter, eight inches in 
 
 length, and about two and a 
 
 half pounds in weight, and 
 
 should not only consist of 
 
 good assorted "grass," but 
 
 be evenly and compactly 
 
 made. To attain these re- 
 
 quisites, without too much 
 
 loss of time, a buncher, of which there are many 
 
 patterns, is indispensable. It holds the proper number 
 
 of sprouts to form the 
 four-inch bunch, firm- 
 ly in position for one 
 tie to be made below 
 the buds and another 
 near the base, when 
 the lower ends may be 
 evenly cut off with a 
 sharp knife. The sim- 
 plest form of buncher 
 is shown in fig. 16. It 
 consists of a board with 
 four pins about six 
 inches long, placed four 
 inches apart, and form- 
 ing a square. This is 
 
 Fig. IT.- 
 
 . (Modern.) 
 
 in order to make the ends of the shoots even, or it may 
 be provided with a back, as in fig. 16. The ties are laid 
 down, anci the shoots stacked up between the pins. A 
 
128 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 more recent form of buncher is given in fig. 17. In thia 
 the shoots are placed between two strips of brass, and 
 the upper, hinged portion brought down, which firmly 
 holds the bunch in proper shape until it can be tied. 
 
 Twine and small willow twigs are sometimes used foi 
 ties, but Cuba Bast is the best material, and gives the 
 bunches a very neat appearance. This is the inner bark 
 of Paritium elatum, a large tree of the Mallow family. 
 It is in large sheets, and sells, wholesale, at about $1.00 
 per pound. A recently introduced material, called Raf- 
 fia, the outer skin or cuticle of the leaf of a palm, is 
 very soft and strong, and may be used for the purpose. 
 Either kind should be cut of the proper length and laid 
 in water; this renders the material flexible, and allows 
 the ties to be made more readily. 
 
 Asparagus is sold by the bunch, that from the South 
 bringing generally, in New York, from nine dollars to 
 twelve dollars per dozen, and it may be packed in other 
 than the usual bushel crate, although a uniformity of 
 package is desirable. The bunches should all stand up- 
 right, and if in more than one layer, the buds on top 
 of the shoots in the lower one should be protected from 
 being bruised by the stems of the layer above by some 
 soft intervening material, like moss. The first cost of 
 making a planting of asparagus with home-grown plants, 
 as above, is about one hundred dollars per acre. 
 
 SAVING SEED. 
 
 Asparagus is one of the vegetables of which Southern- 
 grown seed is as good as any. To save the seed, the ripe, 
 red berries should be stripped off by hand, or the bushes 
 cut down, and the berries threshed off. They are then 
 placed in a vessel or barrel, and pounded with a wooden 
 pestle to break the outer shells, which may be separated 
 from the seed by washing, when the latter are dried in 
 the sun and stored away. 
 
ASPARAGUS. 
 INSECTS. 
 
 Asparagus is subject to injury from the following 
 
 insects : 
 
 First The asparagus-beetle (Crioceris asparagi.) 
 Second The zebra-caterpillar (Mamestra picta.) 
 Third The smeared-dagger (Acronycta oUinita.) A 
 
 small ash-gray moth, the caterpillar of which sometimes 
 
 feeds upon the plant. 
 
 The asparagus-beetle was introduced from Europe 
 
 about 1860. In a few years it became so numerous and 
 
 terribly destructive, that, in 1862, some farmers on 
 
 Fig. 18. ASPARAGUS BEETLE (Criocens asparagi'). 
 Beetle, Larva, Egg. The lines show the natural length of Egg and Beetle. 
 
 Long Island plowed up their asparagus plantations, 
 the crops having been ruined. All remedies failed, 
 and it was thought the cultivation of asparagus would 
 have to be abandoned on the Island, where the best in the 
 country is grown. But in 1863, there appeared a deliverer 
 in the form of a little black shining chalcid fly, which 
 very soon checked the increase of the insects. The larvse 
 eat off the bark of the stalks, preferring, and commenc- 
 ing with, the tender shoots. The beetle has two broods 
 in the season, and winters in the perfect state. I have 
 never seen this insect at the South, but if it has not yet 
 reached us, the probabilities are that it will do so in time. 
 The other insects named commit no serious injury. 
 
130 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BEAN BUSH OR SNAP. (Phaseolus vulgaris.) 
 
 Haricot, French ; SchminJcbohne, German ; Heere Boon, Dutch ; Fagiorilo^ 
 Italian-. Fasoles, Spanish. 
 
 The Bean is a tender 'animal, a native of India, and 
 was introduced into England about 1590. 
 
 Owing to the ease with which it can be grown, the 
 short period between seed-time and harvest (about six 
 weeks), and its extensive consumption at the North, the 
 bean is one of the principal vegetables grown by the 
 truck-farmer. Its cultivation is most profitable where 
 labor is plentiful for picking the crop, as in the neighbor- 
 hood of cities. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 There are two distinct forms,' the Pole or Climbing 
 Bean, and the Dwarf. The latter, Phaseolus vulgaris, 
 is a low bush and produces its pods during a shorter time 
 than the other. The Dwarf beans are a little more 
 hardy, and the pods are smaller, but 'of better flavor and 
 greater delicacy. As the running kinds require poles, 
 the " Bush," in consequence of readier cultivation, is the 
 bean of the market-gardener. 
 
 The varieties of Bush-beans are numerous. The flat- 
 podded " Early Mohawk," is the earliest, and hardiest. 
 It sells well, until the later, more tender and less stringy 
 round beans come in, and command a higher price. 
 
 The "Valentine " is now the most popular round bean, 
 it having superseded the " Eefugee " or " 1000 to 1," and 
 the " Cleveland Extra Early " is considered the earliest of 
 them,coming in about one week later than the ''Mohawk." 
 The several varieties of German " Wax-beans" are very 
 
BEAN BUSH OB SNAP. 131 
 
 fine, and, when in good order, sell well ; but they become 
 spotted more readily, and are not so extensively planted 
 as the others. The time for sowing may be, approxi- 
 mately, for the vicinity of Savannah, from the first to 
 the middle of March, later to the northward, and earlier 
 to the southward ; in the middle of Florida, it may be 
 safely planted as early as January 10th, and still further 
 south, at any time in the winter. In 1881 the first beans 
 from Florida came into the Savannah market on Decem- 
 ber 22d. Formerly vegetables regarded as out of season, 
 could find no sale in the Northern markets, but now 
 beans in limited quantities, bring fair prices in March. 
 
 SOIL. 
 
 The lightest land of the farm may be appropriated to 
 the bean crop; but a sandy loam suits it best. Like 
 other leguminous plants, it will grow fairly upon good 
 soil without recent fertilization ; though, like other mar- 
 ket vegetables, it should be manured, and green, or 
 fresh stable manure is considered most beneficial. The 
 land being properly plowed and harrowed, straight fur- 
 rows, if the land is level, are laid off, thirty inches apart. 
 The manure is drilled from the tail of a cart, or with a 
 manure distributor, at the rate of thirty wagon loads to 
 the acre, then covered by the plow. The resulting ridge 
 beds are leveled by means of a board attached to a plow 
 beam, taking two at a time, or by hoe or rake. 
 
 To avoid repetitions, it may be stated here, that, for 
 all vegetables hereafter to be treated, when manuring 
 in the drill and planting on beds are mentioned, these 
 operations of covering the manure and partly leveling 
 the bed, must be understood to have preceded the putting 
 in of the seed. 
 
 SOWING THE SEED. 
 
 The methods of depositing the seeds are various. One 
 of the very best trucl ers 'n the vicinity of Savannah has 
 
132 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 constructed an instrument for making holes, upon the 
 previously raked beds, exactly an inch and a half deep, 
 and three inches apart. Into these even his poorest 
 hands may properly drop the beans. The implement 
 consists of a wheel upon the periphery, or outer rim, to 
 which are fixed pegs of the desired length and the proper 
 distance apart. Another very successful farmer sows his 
 beans by hand, in a wide furrow three inches deep, and 
 covers them an inch and a half deep with a rake. The 
 former claims a greater uniformity of showing above 
 ground, a nicer appearance, a saving of seed, and greater 
 facility in working the crop, as the hoe and cultivator 
 may run close to the straight row. The other claims 
 that his plants, in the wide furrow, come up in a sort of 
 quincunx order, support each other, and that he gets more 
 plants upon the same area. Others again open the drills 
 by a hoe, or small bull-tongue plow and use a seed drill 
 to sow the seed, and cover by rake, or board, or by means 
 of the covering attachment with which the drill is pro- 
 vided. The drill must of course be arranged to work 
 accurately and satisfactorily, when its use will prove the 
 most expeditious and the cheapest method of planting. 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 "When the plants are three or four inches high, the 
 cultivator may be run between the rows, and just before 
 the buds appear, the plow and hoe should be used to land 
 up or draw soil to the stems, a useful operation, and the 
 last in the cultivation of the crop, which is, of course, 
 only to be performed in dry weather. 
 
 PICKING AND PACKING. 
 
 The pods should be picked with great care, so as 
 to cause as little disturbance of the roots as possible, 
 and before the seeds become large enough to bulge 
 out the pods, and while yet crisp enough to "snap" 
 
BEAK BUSH OR SNAP. 133 
 
 when bent. Beans are apt to shrink in the package, 
 and a little wilting prior to packing, in this case, 
 is less objectionable. The beans should be laid reg- 
 ularly in the crate, well shaken down, and firmly packed. 
 The crop lasts some three weeks, and about six pickings 
 are usually made. A fair yield per acre, is one hundred 
 and fifty crates, although more are sometimes made, and 
 the prices range from one dollar to four dollars per crate, 
 according to earliness and demand. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 Beans are such an early crop, and the pods are picked 
 at such an early stage of growth, that the insects infest- 
 
 Fig. 19. BEAN WEEVIL (Bruchus fabce). 
 
 ing them rarely damage the market-gardener's crop to 
 any extent. 
 
 They are as follows: 
 
 First. The Bean-weevil (Bruchus fabce.) 
 
 Second. The Yellow Bear Caterpillar, the larva of 
 the Miller-moth (Spilosoma Virginica). 
 
 Third. The Fall web-worm (Hyphantria textor). 
 
 Fourth. The Blister-beetles, such as the Striped 
 (Lytta vittatd), the Ash-colored (L. cinerea), and the 
 Margined Blister-beetles (L. marginatd), which are, how- 
 ever, more hurtful to the Irish potato. 
 
134 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BEET (Beta vulgaris). 
 
 JSettarave, French ; Bothe-Rube, German ; Biet or Kroot, Dutch ; Barba 
 Biettda, Italian ; Bettarage, Spanish. 
 
 The Beet is a biennial, tap-rooted plant, with some- 
 what fleshy leaves; it is a native of the sea coast of 
 Southern Europe, and has been cultivated in England 
 since 1656. 
 
 It is only within the past year or two, that the beet 
 has been grown for shipment to any extent south of 
 Norfolk, although it has for many years been one of the 
 regular Bermuda crops. Next to the cabbage, this is 
 one of the most extensively and profitably cultivated 
 vegetables at the North, and it is probably destined to 
 stand high in the estimation of the truck-farmer. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 The turnip-rooted varieties are the earliest and best to 
 grow at the South, and of these the "Egyptian " or " Red 
 Egyptian Turnip" stands first, notwithstanding the 
 seed is higher in price than any other sort. The " Early 
 Blood Turnip" is next in value. The "Bassano" is the 
 earliest variety, but objectionable in consequence of its 
 turning a light color in boiling. 
 
 SOIL AND SOWING. 
 
 Beets, like the ruta-baga, may be sown for local mar- 
 kets in September and October; but in consequence of 
 sudden changes of weather, success at this season is 
 doubtful. Heavy rains and hot baking suns, whether 
 the seed be up or not, may destroy a sowing. Although 
 hardy, freezing will kill very young beets, and the 
 
BEET. 135 
 
 safest date for sowing near Savannah is about Janu- 
 ary 10th, and earlier or later, according to latitude. In 
 middle Florida the beet may be sown through November 
 and December. Like all tap-rooted plants, the beet de- 
 lights in a deep, rich, loose soil, a low, but thoroughly 
 drained, sandy mould being the best. If loamy, let the 
 soil be deeply stirred, freed from clods and lumps, and 
 made fine and mellow. 
 
 It is desirable to have clean and smooth roots, and 
 fresh stable manure in the drill is objectionable, as it 
 
 Fig. 20. EGYPTIAN BEET. Fig. 21. EARLY BLOOD TURNIP BEET. 
 
 tends to make them branch or to produce "fingers and 
 toes." Any rank manure in the drill, like night-soil, is 
 objectionable, and hog manure is said to communicate an 
 unpleasant flavor to the roots. Beets require a nitroge- 
 nous fertilizer, and well-rotted stable manure, thirty loads 
 to the acre, broadcast, supplemented with five hundred 
 pounds of Peruvian guano, or with three hundred pounds 
 of nitrate of soda; or three-fourths of a ton of the guano, 
 or half a ton of nitrate of soda, composted with muck, will 
 suffice without the stable manure. But in this case, the 
 land should have previously produced some well-manured 
 crop. As this plant is a native of the sea shore, an ap- 
 plication of twelve bushels of salt per acre is beneficial to 
 crops distant from the coast. If the cultivation of the 
 beet crop is to be entirely by hand, the seed may be sown 
 
136 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 three-fourths of an inch, or one inch deep, with a hand 
 drill in rows, fifteen to eighteen inches apart. On level 
 ground sow in narrow "lands," say thirty feet wide, 
 which will afford additional surface drainage. If the 
 planting is to be on a large scale, the distance between 
 the rows must be from thirty to thirty-six inches, accord- 
 ing to the size of the cultivator. In sowing and weed- 
 ing, bear in mind that each grain contains several seeds. 
 Owing to its slow germination, beet seed is often soaked 
 in warm water. See chapter on " Seeds." The quantity 
 of seed required to sow an acre is from four to eight 
 pounds, according to the above-mentioned distances. 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 The young plants should not be allowed to crowd each 
 other. If the stand is close, it is well to chop out spaces 
 in the row with a narrow hoe, and subsequently, when 
 the plants are about two inches high, they should be 
 thinned out to stand from four to six inches apart. 
 Vacant spaces may be supplied; but transplanted turnip- 
 rooted beets are not apt to make smooth roots. Subse- 
 quent cultivation consists in stirring the surface between 
 the rows, working as near the beets as possible, and in 
 keeping the crop free from weeds. Frequent hoeings 
 between the narrow rows and some hand-weeding will be 
 necessary. For the wider rows, one plowing, the use of 
 the cultivator twice, and one hoeing may suffice in favor- 
 able seasons, but more should be given if needed. 
 
 MARKETING. 
 
 Beets must be marketed while tender, and before they 
 are full grown. When about three inches in diameter, 
 ^hey are large enough for shipment. The leaves are cut 
 off. within about three inches of the roots, which, un- 
 washed, are then to be closely and regularly packed in 
 well-ventilated barrels, covered with cloth. The prices 
 
CABBAGE 137 
 
 of the past season ranged from two dollars per barrel up- 
 wards; as much as seven dollars and fifty cents having 
 been secured for some marketed from middle Florida. 
 The beet is, in this country, remarkably free from insect 
 depredations. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CABBAGE (Brassica oleraced). 
 
 CTioupomme, or Cabas blanc, French ; Kopfkohl, German ; Kool, Dutch ; 
 Cavdo, Italian ; Berza, Spanish. 
 
 The Cabbage was a favorite culinary vegetable of the 
 Romans, who introduced its cultivation into England 
 before the Christian era, although it grows wild along 
 the sea shore of that country, particularly near Dover, 
 where it is abundant on the chalk cliffs. 
 
 Cultivation has evolved from the wild plant very 
 many sorts and varieties. Of these, the truck-farmer 
 of the extreme South is at present concerned with only 
 a few select varieties of the common or heading cabbage 
 and with the cauliflower, kale being grown only at Nor- 
 folk and vicinity. Possibly the large German element 
 in the populations of the Northern cities may in time 
 provide a market for kohl rabi. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 Climate affects the cabbage more, perhaps, than it 
 does any other vegetable ; and a variety growing, as to 
 appearance, indifferently well in both countries, may be 
 considered superior in England, and be discarded as 
 worthless in America, while some sorts, which grow 
 satisfactorily in one region, may fail in another not very 
 distant. 
 
138 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 A variety suitable for cultivation should (1) be sure to 
 form heads; (2) produce medium to large heads; (3) the 
 heads should be very hard and compact; and (4) it 
 should be a popular kind in the majority of the princi- 
 pal markets. 
 
 Some varieties, like the " Schweinfurth," are bulky and 
 delicate, but of such loose structure as to be useless for 
 shipment, as they would shrink very much in the pack- 
 age. On the other hand, a barrel properly packed with 
 a solid-headed variety, would shrink to a very limited 
 
 Fig. 22. WINNINGSTADT. 
 
 extent in transit, and still be full upon arrival in mar- 
 ket, to the satisfaction of the buyer. The two varieties 
 that combine all desirable features in the highest degree, 
 and at the same time are best adapted to our climate, are 
 the "Early Summer" and the "Brunswick," with tbe 
 preference for the former. It is somewhat smaller, but 
 owing to its more compact habit of growth, a sufficiently 
 larger number may be grown to the acre, to make up 
 for the difference in individual size. The retail dealer 
 will realize more money from a barrel of fine medium- 
 sized cabbages, than from one containing a smaller num- 
 ber of very large heads. There is no better variety, if the 
 Beeds are of pure stock, for forming uniformly solid heads, 
 than the "Jersey Wakefield," but it is small and liable 
 to burst open when in vigorous growth in warm, rainy 
 
CABBAGE. 
 
 139 
 
 weather followiDg a drouth, particularly on high, sandy 
 land. The remedy for this is " root-pruning/' which 
 is done by pushing the plants over slightly, to break 
 some of the roots, or by cutting down alongside of 
 
 Fig. 23. FOTTLER'S BRUNSWICK. 
 
 them with a spade. The Winningstadt, formerly so 
 highly esteemed as a reliable, medium early kind, and 
 even used as a winter sort, of late years appears to have 
 degenerated, is liable to rot in the stem, and in warm 
 .weather its leaves turn yellow too readily. American seeds 
 
 Fig. 24. JERSEY WAKEFIELD. 
 
 are considered as producing more hardy plants than the 
 imported; therefore, for a crop to head well in winter, 
 the American "Flat Dutch" is the best variety, with 
 " Fottler's Brunswick," which is an American variety of 
 the German "Brunswick" cabbage, as second choice. 
 
140 TmjCK-EARMltfG At THE SCUTS. 
 
 SEEDS AND SOWING. 
 
 Cabbages from imported seed are thought to be more 
 certain to head, and in the vicinity of Savannah, those 
 from Germany are preferred, however it may be in other 
 localities. 
 
 It is of more importance to have seed of a good strain 
 of the cabbage than of any other vegetable. Poor seeds 
 of any of the genus Brassica are dear at any price. 
 
 In consequence of its good keeping qualities, the cab- 
 bage can be and is used in the United States throughout 
 the year. The South is supplied with Northern grown 
 stock during the hot summer months, and in the winter, 
 the first shipments arriving about the middle of July. 
 In turn, the North procures its supply from us after the 
 exhaustion of the stores of wintered cabbages, dating 
 from about March 1st, and continuing until June. 
 Owing to its universal consumption, the markets have 
 never yet been glutted with cabbage. Were its use less 
 universal, as the Florida, Georgia, and Carolina crops 
 are all marketed during the same period, the price might 
 fall below a paying standard. The opening of the west- 
 ern and north-western markets for the less perishable 
 articles of the truck-farmer, by lower railroad freights 
 and safer transportation facilities, makes it probable that 
 many years will elapse before sufficient areas are appro- 
 priated to the cultivation of such vegetables, as to cause 
 the supply to exceed the demand. Cabbages are also 
 grown to supply other than the Northern markets, of 
 which we will speak hereafter. The seed to produce 
 plants for the more important shipping crop is best sown 
 between October 1st and 15th. It may be sown later; 
 but as the plants are subjected to severely cold weather in 
 December, it is important that they be large enough at 
 that time to withstand hard frosts. When the ther- 
 mometer falls below twenty-four degrees, they are likely 
 to be killed. 
 
CABBAGE. 141 
 
 To secure the necessary hardiness, and low, stocky 
 growth, the seed should be sown thinly on rather light, 
 unmanured soil. Instead of making a sowing in the 
 open air later than November 1st, the careful gardener 
 will provide against losses by frost, by sowing under 
 glass in cold frames, about November 1st. The cold 
 frame planes will only be used in case those in the open 
 ground have been killed or injured by freezing, or have 
 grown too large to be transplanted for a later crop. To 
 render the plants as hardy as possible, the soil of the 
 frames should not be manured, and it should be kept as 
 dry as the health of the plants will permit. Sashes 
 must not be used, day or night, to force the plants, but 
 are only to be put on at night for protection against ap- 
 prehended black frost. 
 
 For the location of a cabbage seed bed in the open air, 
 see chapter on " Insects." A deep and freshly stirred soil 
 is not indispensable to produce good plants, and, where 
 moles are numerous, they are very apt to haunt a bed 
 freshly stirred, and destroy many young plants. The 
 bed may be thrown ap by the plow a fortnight or more 
 before the seed is to be sown. When it is raked off later, 
 many young weeds, which might have become annoying, 
 will be destroyed. 
 
 The seed bed should be about four feet wide, level on 
 top, to avoid washing by heavy rains, and elevated a few 
 inches above the general surface. The seed is sown from 
 one-fourth to one-half an inch deep, according to the 
 character of the soil. Make the drills across the bed four 
 to five inches apart, to allow the earth to be stirred be- 
 tween the rows, firming the soil by the roller or by a 
 patting board. When sown under glass, the drills may 
 be three and a half inches apart. If the soil is dry, the 
 beds may require watering to cause the seed to germi- 
 nate. It is not advisable to sow any seed within two or 
 three inches of the back of the frame, or the plants will 
 
142 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 grow spindling from the effects of the heat reflected 
 from the boards. Do not sow as thickly near the front 
 as in the middle of the bed, lest in wet weather the plants 
 may damp off while young. 
 
 At the South, at the planting season, so many con- 
 tingencies affect the sprouting of the seed and the safety 
 of the young plants, when placed in the open air, that 
 no definite quantity of seed, which will suffice for a 
 given area, can be stated. Among these adverse influ- 
 ences are hot baking suns, heavy rains, cut-worms, grass- 
 worms (Laplirygmafrugiperda), and grasshoppers. 
 
 Peter Henderson, one of the best authorities on mar- 
 ket gardening at the North, says an ounce of seed will 
 produce two thousand plants there are about ten thou- 
 sand cabbage seeds in an ounce and A. S. Fuller, another 
 good authority, estimates that an acre will require from a 
 pound to a pound and a half of seed, or from one hundred 
 and sixty thousand to two hundred and forty thousand 
 seeds. I have sown pounds of seed without getting even 
 a single plant. The only advice to be given is: to make 
 frequent sowings and on different parts of the farm, and 
 to follow the suggestion in the chapter on "Insects." If 
 the seed is sound and properly sown under glass and 
 cared for, few will fail to furnish available plants. 
 
 SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION. 
 
 The land best adapted to raise spring cabbages for ship- 
 ment, is a moist, sandy loam, if well drained. Any good 
 garden soil, properly enriched and well prepared, will an- 
 swer, however, if it be not too light and sandy; on such 
 soils the plants maybe affected by the hot suns in March 
 and April, just at the heading season. A newly cleared, 
 well-drained mould is excellent. The chalk cliffs of the 
 English sea shore being the native habitat of the cabbage, 
 admirable crops of superior quality may be produced near 
 
CABBAGE. 143 
 
 our coast under the influence of the moist sea air, wher- 
 ever the soil is adapted to this plant. Lime is very ben- 
 eficial to the whole cabbage family, and soil, otherwise of 
 desirable quality, on the immediate sea coast of the main- 
 land, or on any of the Sea Islands, if well supplied with 
 crumbling oyster-shells, the rubbish of Indian camps, 
 cannot be surpassed for this vegetable. That these ac- 
 cumulations of oyster shells, with a few shells of the 
 clam and conch, are of Indian origin, is proven by the 
 frequent occurrence among them of pieces of Indian pot- 
 tery. 
 
 Heavy soils require to be more deeply stirred by the 
 turning and the subsoil plows, and more frequently har- 
 rowed, than those of lighter character. 
 
 At the North, land consecutively cropped with cab- 
 bages seems to become infested with the cause, whatever 
 it may be, of the disease of the root called "clubfoot;" 
 an additional reason for rotation in cabbage culture. 
 This appears to be less the case, when the land is plenti- 
 fully supplied with lime naturally, or when it is used as 
 a manurial application. Although the cabbage is little 
 affected with this disease at the South, it is not well to 
 have cabbages follow cabbages on the same ground. 
 
 The richer the manuring, in excess of what any possi- 
 ble crop could be able to take from the soil, and the bet- 
 ter the preparation, the larger will not only be the indi- 
 vidual heads, and, therefore, the weight of the entire 
 produce, but the more certainty will there be of the 
 whole crop heading up uniformly. 
 
 The table opposite shows the composition of fifty tons- 
 equal to eighty-eight wagon loads of loose stable manure, 
 holding thirty bushels, or one thousand one hundred and 
 twenty-five pounds, each; and that of a crop of twenty- 
 five tons of cabbages, both according to the analyses of 
 Prof. E. Wolff. 
 
144 
 
 TRUCK-FAKMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 
 59 Tons of 
 fresh Stable 
 Manure 
 contain 
 
 25 Tons of 
 Cabbages 
 contain 
 
 Nitrogen 
 
 546 Ibs. 
 
 120 Ibs. 
 
 Potash 
 
 520 ' 
 
 315 * 
 
 
 280 ' 
 
 70 
 
 Soda 
 
 100 ' 
 
 45 ' 
 
 Lime 
 
 210 * 
 
 155 
 
 Magnesia 
 
 140 ' 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 A study of tlie above table will show: 
 
 First. That a crop of twenty-five tons of cabb&gos will 
 exhaust within fifty-five pounds all the lime contained in 
 an application of fifty tons of stable manure, and, if only 
 that quantity were applied, an English or Northern yield 
 of fifty tons, not an excessive estimate, under their closer 
 planting, would require one hundred pounds more of 
 lime than is contained in the manure. As was stated 
 before, nearly all land holds sufficient lime for ordinary 
 crops; but, unless the soil is rich in this component 
 (often the case on the coast), land used for cabbage crops 
 would be benefited by a dressing of lime, of about thirty 
 bushels to the acre, every three or four years. It is not 
 only a chief constituent of .the crop, but it renders the 
 nitrogen in the soil more available. 
 
 Second. That exceedingly rich land is required for a 
 ^ood crop of cabbages; therefore, as no crop can take up 
 all the nitrogen and other plant food contained in an ap- 
 plication of manure, the larger the amount of this plant 
 food and the greater its concentration and availability, 
 the more satisfactory will be the result. 
 
 Third. That if the stable manure used is deficient in 
 liquid excrement, or has been exposed to leaching rains, 
 fifty tons should be supplemented either with good Peru- 
 vian guano, or with nitrate of soda and an acid phosphate, 
 or with night-soil. If stable, or any other bulky or com- 
 posted manure is to be used, it is best to apply it broad- 
 cast for cabbage, after the land has been thoroughly pre- 
 
CABBAGE. 145 
 
 pared by plow and harrow, and then to turn it into beds 
 with a one-horse plow. 
 
 For applying bulky manures, either broadcast or in drill, 
 for cabbages, Irish potatoes, or other crops, the truck-farm- 
 ers who plant in the vicinity of Savannah on an exten- 
 sive scale use a manure-spreader. This applies the manure 
 not only evenly at a certain rate, which is very well reg- 
 ilated, but it cuts up and mixes the manure during the 
 distribution. Of stable manure accumulated under shel- 
 ter and well-rotted without having been fire-fanged, 
 forty two-horse wagon loads to the acre on good land, 
 which has previously been fertilized for a vegetable crop, 
 is a fair manuring. If of less valuable quality, the quan- 
 tity should be increased, or its character improved by 
 adding guano, etc., as above recommended. Instead of 
 stable manure, a good compost applied in quantity pro- 
 portionate to its quality, may be used. This may con- 
 sist of Peruvian guano, or some reliable ammoniated 
 superphosphate of lime (acid phosphate), or of cotton 
 seed, or night-soil, composted with muck or leaf-mould. 
 If there be a specific manure for cabbage, it is good, 
 pure, fine bone-flour. 
 
 Of the crops raised by the trunk-farmer, there are one 
 or two of which I may claim, without egotism, to have 
 produced stock of superior quality. Among these are 
 the two members of the Brassica genus, cultivated under 
 this latitude for the Northern markets. Being situated 
 too distant from the city to procure a satisfactory sup- 
 ply of stable manure, I cannot too urgently impress upon 
 my fellow-farmers, similarly situated, the indispensability 
 of plowing under the "Clover of the South," our cow 
 pea, for successful cabbage culture, and indeed, although 
 perhaps in less degree, for the growing of any other 
 crop. It should precede for them every other application 
 of manure for cabbages: Soda and potash are inter- 
 changeable in the composition of plants. Thus a plant 
 7 
 
146 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 grown on a soil rich in the former, but poor in the latter, 
 will contain much more soda than potash, and vice versa. 
 The large preponderance of soda in the following analysis 
 of the cow pea is attributable to the fact, that it grew 
 upon soil near Chapel Hill, N. 0., which, in dry weather, 
 is sometimes coated white with carbonate of soda. 
 
 TABLE SHOWING THE COMPARATIVE FERTILIZING VALUE OF COW PEA 
 VINES AND RED CLOVER. 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 1 - 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 $9 
 
 S 
 
 ^ 
 
 * 
 
 o 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 | 
 
 P 
 
 1^ 
 
 55 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Cow pea vines 
 
 10.88 
 
 17.13 
 
 4.96 
 
 16.58 
 
 6.841.68 
 
 0.70 
 
 0.14 
 
 13.20 
 
 Bed clover, ripe 
 
 23.21 
 
 1.07 
 
 8.21 
 
 22.85 
 
 6.662.02 
 
 1.78 
 
 2.50 
 
 32.60 
 
 Doubtless fine cabbages maybe raised directly from the 
 seed sown in place, instead of raising the plants in a 
 seed-bed and then transplanting them. Experience and 
 theory have long since shown the expediency of trans- 
 ferring the plants from the seed-bed to the open ground. 
 By the former practice, nothing is gained and something 
 is lost. Apart from the advantages of transplanting 
 (see chapter on that subject), we ha.ve, on a very small 
 area, say one hundred and fifty square feet, a sufficient 
 number of plants to set an acre. With at least one work- 
 ing in the first six weeks, of the land to which the plants 
 are transferred, we avoid the possible damage to the soil, 
 during six weeks of fall weather, by heavy packing rains, 
 and we place the manure fresh and concentrated around 
 the newly-formed roots, when the plant has sufficiently 
 advanced in growth to make use of it. 
 
 TRANSPLANTING. 
 
 Cabbages in our southern climates are marketable, 
 though not full-grown, in about five months from the 
 seed, the time depending upon the degree of moisture anc} 
 
CABBAGE. 147 
 
 the warmth of the season. Plants, if large enough, may 
 be put out about November 1st, and successively, 
 whenever circumstances are favorable, until January 
 1st. After this date, successful marketing will be more 
 doubtful, although in case of loss by freezing, well-grown, 
 sturdy plants, put out up to February 1st, as far north 
 as Savannah, may come in early enough to anticipate the 
 Norfolk crop. 
 
 When a plant is pulled from the seed-bed, the tap-root 
 will probably be so shortened as to encourage the emis- 
 sion of numerous new fibrous roots. If not, its extremity 
 should be pinched off. If the roots are puddled, they 
 are more apt to take root promptly. This is done by 
 making a mush or mud of clay, fresh cow dung and 
 water, or of clay, or soil and some weak solution of 
 any fertilizer, stirring it up to form a mixture as thick 
 as cream. The roots of the plants are to be dipped in 
 this, and if the plants are kept in the shade for twenty- 
 four hours, young rootlets will commence to grow; but 
 the plants must not be exposed to dry ness, until the roots 
 are in the soil. Puddling is not a necessary operation. 
 
 Should a drouth prevail during the whole proper 
 transplanting season, watering during the process may 
 be indispensable on very light soil. In such rare con- 
 tingency a weak liquid manure is better than pure water. 
 
 The stems of all the plants of the Brassica genus 
 are the most vulnerable part; to protect these from frost, 
 to place the extremity of the root nearer to moisture, 
 to encourage the formation of roots along the inserted 
 stem, and finally, to secure the plant more firmly in the 
 soil, it should be planted down to the stalk of the up- 
 permost leaf, or very nearly to the crown of the plant. 
 
 Though occasionally planted closer together, the proper 
 distance for Winningstadt, and other compactly-growing 
 varieties, is eighteen inches in the row, and for the 
 Brunswick, and other large kinds, from twenty-one to 
 
148 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 twenty-four inches, the beds, or rows, being three and a 
 half and four feet apart respectively. 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 Plants cultivated, like the cabbage, for their foliage, 
 should be pushed by frequent stirring of the soil. No 
 vegetable responds more promptly to generous treatment 
 than this. As soon as the plants commence to grow, the 
 rows may be barred off by the plow to loosen the soil, 
 but it must by no means be deferred late enough to stunt 
 them by injuring the roots. (See chapter on " Insects'"). 
 Under ordinary circumstances, two or three plowings, 
 exclusive of the above, the return of the soil to the beds, 
 and a couple of hoeings may be sufficient for this crop. 
 
 In garden culture, and on a small scale, it is recom- 
 mended to hoe every few days, and only while the dew is 
 on; but the truck-farmer cannot make a hobby of his 
 cabbage field to the neglect of other crops, however val- 
 uable this particular one may be. 
 
 GATHERING THE CROP AND MARKETING. 
 
 The Northern demand generally commences early in 
 March, and the crop should then be in full heading to 
 meet it. 
 
 Judgment and experience are needed to cut cabbages 
 properly. Before its maturity, a head may be soft, that 
 a little later will become hard and compact. Although 
 a matured head presents a peculiar appearance, recog- 
 nizable by an experienced grower, in part by becoming 
 paler on top, it should be grasped and felt with the left 
 hand, before the hatchet (which, with a little longer 
 handle than usual, is the best cutting tool,) is applied. 
 In preparing the heads for market, only a few outer leaves 
 should be left to protect them from bruising in the pack- 
 age and, for the same reason, the stems should be trim- 
 med close to the heads, 
 
CABBAGE. 
 
 By comparing the valuable organic matter contained 
 in clover, cabbage, and turnips, it will be seen that the 
 cabbage outranks the latter as food for cattle. 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 || 
 
 s*< 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 P 
 
 jSs 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 Clover 
 
 80 
 
 3.3 
 
 7.7 
 
 0.7 
 
 4.5 
 
 
 90 
 
 1.5 
 
 6.3 
 
 0.4 
 
 2.0 
 
 Turnip 
 
 92 
 
 1.1 
 
 5.1 
 
 0.1 
 
 1.0 
 
 The best use, therefore, to make of the waste leaves, 
 is to feed them to stock. Unless so utilized, the heads 
 had better be cut out so that very little subsequent trim- 
 ming may be required, and the leaves and stalks plowed 
 under, instead of allowing them to grow, to the detriment 
 of the land. The refuse, if preferred, may be conveyed 
 to the compost heap, which should be at some distance 
 from human habitation. By the use of sufficient cover- 
 ing material, soil, or muck, the offensive gases (phos- 
 phoretted and sulphuretted hydrogen) may be absorbed, 
 With such bulky crops as the cabbage, packing should 
 be done near the field. During the cooler morning 
 hours and cloudy weather, it may proceed in the open 
 air, but during hot sunshine, it were better under shel- 
 ter, for fear of subsequent heating in the packages. 
 
 Crates should only be used when barrels cannot be had, 
 the latter being preferred by the trade. They must be 
 properly ventilated, however, by six holes in the sides. 
 They are not double headed, but are covered with cloth, 
 the contents generally bulging about six inches above the 
 top. 
 
 Whatever package is used, the cabbage should be 
 evenly and firmly packed, using considerable force, so 
 that no displacements and consequent bruising may oc- 
 cur during transportation. Each variety should be 
 marketed in separate packages, and it is well, even with 
 
150 TBUCK-FARMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 cabbages, to assort the sizes, although this is not generally 
 done. A barrel will contain from eighteen large Bruns- 
 wicks to fifty of the Winningstadt, as small as should be 
 shipped, although smaller will sell. An equal crop of 
 the two varieties will average seven thousand two hun- 
 dred and sixty plants per acre. With reliable seed, and 
 under favorable circumstances, six thousand eight hun- 
 dred of these should produce marketable heads. 
 
 From one hundred and seventy to two hundred barrels 
 per acre is a good crop. One of the most successful 
 gardeners near Savannah marketed one thousand seven 
 hundred barrels from eight acres, which averaged, in the 
 Northern markets, four dollars per barrel gross. His 
 crop, closely planted, was manured with forty two-horse- 
 wagon loads of unsheltered stable manure and night-soil, 
 supplemented with Peruvian guano. 
 
 My own shipments last year averaged four dollars and 
 fifty-three cents, principally in the New York and Bos- 
 ton markets. This may have been due to better sales 
 rather than to the superior quality of the cabbages, and 
 good packing may have had something to do with it. 
 
 It must, however, be stated that prices ruled unpre- 
 cedentedly high during the season of 1882. 
 
 Freights from Savannah to New York and Boston 
 were fifty cents per barrel. Commissions on sales were 
 from seven to eight per cent. 
 
 Near Norfolk a local variety of cabbage is cultivated, 
 known as " Tait's Extra Early." The seeds of this are 
 sown about the last of August, the crop is transplanted 
 in November, and is ready for market about April 1st. 
 Jersey Wakefield, and Large York, sown about Sept. 
 20th, and set oat in early winter, will come in about the 
 same time. Seeds of the last two kinds, if sown for the 
 main crop, under glass in October, and the plants put out 
 in February, will come in later, but produce much the 
 best cabbages. 
 
CABBAGE. 151 
 
 During a glut in the markets, Norfolk cabbages may 
 not pay the freight. The maximum price is three dol- 
 lars and a quarter per barrel. 
 
 It is probably owing to the fact that larger varieties 
 are grown near Charleston and Savannah, that the early 
 arrivals from Norfolk do not seriously affect the prices of 
 shipments made at the same time from more southern 
 and distant points. 
 
 The cabbage crop is marketed early enough to be fol- 
 lowed by a planting of corn, to be succeeded in turn by 
 fall turnips; or the land may be used for a second crop of 
 Irish potatoes, in which the manure would be available. 
 Such is the management of the spring cabbage crop for 
 the Northern markets. The period during which the 
 truck-farmer markets his crops for shipment, is confined 
 to the five months from March to July inclusive. Ow- 
 ing to the great number of small patches of all kinds of 
 common vegetables, owned by negroes and whites near 
 the city, the supply is so well up to the demand, that the 
 majority of truck-farmers have found it unprofitable to 
 attend the regular local market. If confined exclusively 
 to the Northern, and the local sales of vegetables, the 
 growers would have no income during seven months of the 
 year; hence on the lines of the railroads truck-farming is 
 generally an adjunct to cotton planting, and in Florida to 
 that and to orange growing. Cabbage is one of the few 
 vegetables that may be made available for the markets 
 of the interior, where there arises a demand during the 
 later winter months. The variety best adapted to this 
 season is the more hardy American "Flat Dutch." 
 Seed for this crop may be sown from June to September; 
 but the earlier the better, as cabbage to head in time 
 for the winter crop should "bud," or commence to 
 head, before cold weather. Owing to hot suns and 
 heavy rains, and destructive insects, it is difficult to 
 raise the plants. The soil for the seed-bed may be 
 
152 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 richer than for the later crop. Although cabbage re- 
 quires an open exposure, the seed-bed may be under the 
 partial shade of trees, but not near enough to be under 
 their drip. If the seed-bed is protected by a screen, it 
 should be high enough (seven to eight feet) and open 
 enough to admit air and light. A mat made of our com- 
 mon large cane admits of removal occasionally, and the 
 thickening of the stem at the joints prevents the total 
 exclusion of air and light. The plants for this crop are 
 generally put out from August to the middle of October. 
 There is no material difference in the management of the 
 two crops. Cabbages are shipped in grain sacks or bar- 
 rels to the West and the upper interior cities of Georgia. 
 The prices in Atlanta were from two and a half to five 
 cents per pound, at wholesale, for the crop of 1882. 
 
 It is now impossible to say what were the insect enemies 
 of the cabbage in the country where it was indigenous, and 
 before its succulence and delicacy had increased and its 
 cultivation had extended over so large a part of the globe. 
 We have imported two of its pests: the Eape-butterfly and 
 the Cabbage plant-louse from Europe, and may in turn 
 export some of our native plagues to other countries. 
 The cabbage is certainly more infested by destructive in- 
 sects than any other cultivated vegetable. Those to the 
 attacks of which it is subject at the South, are: 
 
 1. The Wavy-striped Flea-beetle (Haltica striolata). 
 
 2. The 12-spotted Squash-beetle (Diabrotica 12-punc* 
 
 3. The Cabbage Maggot (Anthomya brassicce). [tata). 
 
 4. The Cabbage Plusia (Plusia brassicce). 
 
 5. The Rape Butterfly (Pier is rapes). 
 
 6. The Pot-herb Butterfly (Pieris oleracea). 
 
 7. The Southern Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris Protodice). 
 
 8. The Zebra Caterpillar (Mamestra picta). 
 
 9. The Cabbage Pionea (Pionea rimosalis). 
 
 ' 10. The Cabbage Plant-louse (Aphis brassicce). 
 11. The Harlequin Bug (Strachia histrionica). 
 
CABBAGE. 153 
 
 12. The Tarnished Plant-bug (Capsus oUineatm). 
 
 13. The False Chinch-Bug (Nysius destructor.) 
 
 FLEA-BEETLE. 
 
 The first in order to attack the plant in its earliest 
 growth, and before the appearance of rough leaves, is the 
 Flea-beetle in the perfect state. Lime or soot, dusted on 
 the young plants, while wet with dew, seems distasteful 
 enough to the insect to drive it off. The larva also in- 
 jures the roots of larger cabbage plants. ' 
 
 12-SPOTTED SQUASH-BEETLE. - 
 
 Only within the last three years has the 12-spotted 
 Squash-beetle been injurious to the cabbage crop. The 
 perfect insect appears in February, puncturing and eat- 
 ing the leaves. Although sometimes considerable dam- 
 age has been done, it has not been sufficient to compel a 
 resort to Paris green. 
 
 CABBAGE MAGGOT. 
 
 The Cabbage-fly, or perfect insect of the Cabbage 
 Maggot, was imported from Europe about 1856, but 
 its depredations have until recently been confined to the 
 North. The "Club-root," a warty enlargement of the 
 roots, has been ascribed to this insect, but I have never 
 seen it at the South. The Cabbage Maggot had not 
 been observed to be injurious to the crop until after the 
 publication of the first edition of this book, but since 
 then it has become the most destructive of the many in- 
 sect pests of the cabbage, ruining large fields in South 
 Carolina during the spring of 1885, and in Georgia dur- 
 ing that of 1886 so completely, that farmers plowed them 
 up for other crops. When a plant shows signs of the 
 presence of the insect by a sickly appearance, it is already 
 past remedy. The fly deposits its egg on the plant at or 
 
154 
 
 TRUCK-FARMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 near the surface of the ground, and the maggot hatching, 
 eats away its bark and penetrates the stem. 
 
 Half a teaspoonful of bi-sulphide of carbon to each 
 plant, poured into a hole made by a stick at the root, 
 will kill the maggots, after which a healthy plant may be 
 substituted. The vapor of the bi-sulphide of carbon is 
 highly inflammable. A simpler and safer remedy is kero- 
 sene emulsion. 
 
 The insect is strictly confined to plants of the Cabbage 
 
 Fig. 26. RAPE BUTTEBFLT (Pleris rapce). 
 a. Larva ; b, Chrysalis ; c, Female ; d, Male. 
 
 family, and isolated farms may be kept comparatively ex- 
 empt by having no winter crops of any of its members. 
 The most destructive green cabbage-worm at the South, 
 is the looping, or half measuring, larva of the night- 
 flying, or noctuid moth, the Cabbage Plusia (Plusia 
 Irassicce). All cabbage growers know how these with 
 the help of some others, honey-comb cabbages in the 
 spring. 
 
CABBAGE. 155 
 
 LIGHT-COLORED CABBAGE-WORMS. 
 
 The following three, viz., the Kape Butterfly (Pieris 
 rapce), the Pot-herb Butterfly (P. oleracea), and the 
 Southern Cabbage-Butterfly (P. Protodice), are white or 
 cream- colored butterflies. The first two are more nu- 
 merous and destructive than the third, our native South- 
 ern species. The larvae and butterflies bear a general 
 resemblance to each other, though they differ in their 
 markings, as will be seen by an examination of the 
 engravings. 
 
 All of these cabbage- worms have their insect enemies. 
 The Pot-herb Butterfly has lately been kept in check by 
 
 Fig. 27. POT-HERB BUTTERFLY (Pieris olerosca). 
 a, Larva ; 6, Butterfly ; c, Chrysalis. 
 
 its own appropriate parasite (Pteromalus puparum), a 
 little greenish wasp-like insect, less than one-tenth of an 
 inch in length, with four delicate transparent wings. 
 These butterflies almost invariably deposit their eggs on 
 the under surface of the leaves. They hibernate gen- 
 erally in the chrysalis state, attaching themselves to 
 fences, stems of bushes, etc. , in the vicinity. 
 
 If boards were fixed in the cabbage field, about two 
 inches above the ground, these worms would probably 
 resort to them, but such methods to capture them and 
 diminish their number, after the infliction of the dam- 
 
156 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 age, particularly on a large scale, and without coopera- 
 tion, would be impracticable. 
 
 The Zebra Caterpillar (Mamestra picta,) is not suffi- 
 
 Fig. 28. SOUTHERN CABBAGE BUTTERFLY (Pieris Protodice). 
 ^ a, Larva ; b, Chrysalis. 
 
 ciently numerous to do much harm. The Cabbage 
 Pionea (P. rimosalis,) I have never found upon the 
 cabbage. 
 
 REMEDIES FOR CABBAGE-WORMS. 
 
 The numerous deterrent remedies recommended as ef- 
 fective against the cabbage-worms, although many may 
 
 Fig. 29. SOUTHERN CABBAGE BUTTERFLY Female. 
 
 be distasteful or offensive to them, are all comparatively 
 worthless. This is owing partly to the impossibility of 
 their being made to reach every part of the plant haunted 
 by the insect, particularly the under surface of the leaf, 
 and the interior of the head. Among the proposed 
 
CABBAGE. 
 
 157 
 
 remedies are: red pepper, soot, lime, ashes, salt, sulphur, 
 solution of copperas, yeast, soap-suds, etc. Water heat- 
 ed to one hundred and forty, or even to one hundred 
 and sixty degrees, was at one time highly praised as an 
 insecticide; but the same objection applies to it as to the 
 others. Were it not hazardous to apply to the eatable por- 
 tions of vegetables, like the cabbage, etc., poisons danger- 
 ous to man, we would have an effective means in Paris 
 green or London purple for the removal of these insects. 
 The remedy for cabbage-worms, tested and recom- 
 
 Fig. 30. ZEBRA. CATERPILLAR (Mamestro, picta). 
 a, Larva; 6, Moth. 
 
 mended by our best authority on such matters, Prof. 
 Riley, is Pyrethrum powder. This is also called "Dal- 
 matian," or "Persian Insect Powder," and the name 
 "California Buhach," is given to the fresher and there- 
 fore more effective Calif ornian product. This is not a 
 mere deterrent, rendering the part of the plant it touches 
 obnoxious to the worm, but it acts as a poison by con- 
 tact, convulsing and paralyzing the insect. While this 
 powder is very effective with some kinds of insects, it is 
 
158 TKUCK-FAKMItfG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 comparatively harmless to others, and is more effective 
 on young worms than on older ones of the same species. 
 It is more fatal to the caterpillars of Pieris butterflies 
 than to those of the Plusia moth. The powder does 
 not always kill the worm, but merely so disables it that 
 it falls to the ground, where it will readily become the 
 prey of ants and other natural enemies. 
 
 Pyrethrum seems to owe its virtues to a volatile oil, 
 and its effects are not lasting in the open air. It may 
 be used in the form of dry powder, mixed, if fresh, with 
 from ten to twenty parts of flour, and blown by means 
 of a bellows, or dusted upon the plant. It may also be 
 used in the form of an alcoholic tincture, as a tea or de- 
 coction, or even a mere solution or infusion in water, and 
 applied by means of an atomizer or sprinkler. The 
 fumes of burning Pyrethrum are applicable only in 
 greenhouses or in dwelling rooms, which may be cleared 
 of flies and mosquitoes by its use. 
 
 PLANT-LICE. 
 
 The astounding fecundity of plant-lice (Aphides), and 
 their peculiar habit of attacking stunted plants, have 
 already been mentioned. If the season be not too far 
 advanced, or the plants too large, a badly infested cab- 
 bage should be pulled up, removed from the field, and 
 its place supplied by a clean and healthy one. 
 
 The same valueless applications, with the addition of 
 tobacco water and snuff (tobacco smoke in greenhouses), 
 as in the case of the cabbage-worms, have been also 
 recommended for plant- lice. Pyrethrum may be better 
 than any other, but it would be useless to apply reme- 
 dies to a large, badly infested cabbage, in the hope that 
 it would ever become marketable. If of any effect, its ap- 
 plication might destroy some plant-lice, but I have never 
 carefully examined an infested plant without finding 
 some of the natural enemies of the aphides at work 
 
CABBAGE. 159 
 
 among them, and, if left alone, the lice would eventu- 
 ally succumb. An effective application would probably 
 destroy friend as well as foe. My only success in fighting 
 plant-lice was by transferring the larvae of the lady-bird 
 from less valuable ruta bagas to cauliflowers or cabbages. 
 The best advice in the premises is: prepare the land 
 thoroughly, manure it richly, and cultivate the crop fre- 
 quently and carefully, thus securing such vigorous and 
 luxuriant growth that the losses by cabbage-lice will be 
 insignificant. 
 
 INSECT ENEMIES OF PLANT-LICE. 
 
 The insect enemies of the plant-lice are legion, else 
 they would devour every green living thing upon the 
 earth. Some of these enemies are enumerated below. 
 One or two of the species of lady-birds may be confined 
 to other plant-lice than the Aphis brassicw. The lady- 
 birds, both in the perfect and larval state, feed upon 
 little else than plant-lice. Of these there are: 
 
 First. The Nine-spotted Lady-bird (CoccinellaS-nota- 
 ta). Nearly round, brick-red, with nine black spots. 
 
 Second. The Two-spotted Lady-bird (Coccinella M- 
 punctata). Similar to No. 1, smaller, with two black spots. 
 
 Third. The Spotted Lady-bird (Megilla maculata). 
 Imported from Europe. Pink, with large black spots. 
 
 Fourth. The Thirteen-spotted Lady-bird (Hippo- 
 damia 13-punctata) : Brick-red, with thirteen black spots. 
 
 Fifth. The Trim Lady-bird (Cycloneda sanguined). 
 It has no black spots. 
 
 Sixth. The Convergent Lady-bird (Hippodamia con- 
 vergens). Deep orange-red, marked with black and white. 
 
 Seventh. The Fifteen-spotted Mysia (Mysia 15- 
 punctatd). From light gray to chestnut-brown, with 
 fifteen black spots. 
 
 Eighth. The Twice-stabbed Lady-bird (CMlocorus 
 Uvulnerus}. Highly polished black, with two red spots. 
 
160 TRUCK-FABMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 Besides these, there are many less common kinds. 
 
 Prominent among the enemies of the plant-lice are 
 the larvae of the Golden-eyed and Lace- winged flies, 
 called Aphis-lions. 
 
 Other enemies are the larvae of Syrphus-flies, somewhat 
 resembling a leech in shape. Besides heing preyed upon 
 by all these insects, the plant-lice are subject to several 
 genera of tiny parasites included in the genus Aphidius. 
 
 Fig. 31. HARLEQUIN CABBAGE BUG (Strochia histrionico). 
 a, Larva ; 6, Pupa ; c, Eggs ; d, Perfect Bug. 
 
 They have mostly black bodies, and are about one-twen- 
 tieth of an inch in length. The little round, plump, 
 smooth bodies in a colony of aphides, or remaining on 
 the leaf of a plant after the removal of the colony by 
 other enemies, are dead parasitized aphides containing the 
 parasitic pupa of an ichneumon fly. 
 
 The Harlequin-bug made its appearance in Georgia, 
 from Mexico, about the commencement of Mr. Lincoln's 
 first presidency, from which circumstances it received the 
 local name of " Lincoln-bug," by which it is still known 
 in Southern Georgia. In 1867 it had reached North 
 Carolina. 
 
 This insect winters in its perfect state, and the first 
 
CABBAGE. 
 
 161 
 
 that are seen in spring should always be destroyed. The 
 larvse puncture and suck the leaves of the cabbage, giving 
 them the appearance of being scorched. Strange to say, 
 while this insect is on the increase, and the damage it 
 inflicts considerable, no birds, or insect enemies seem to 
 prey upon it. Probably, in good time, these will both 
 present themselves for the feast, when its conspicuous 
 black, yellow, and reddish colorings will render it an easy 
 prey. Hand-picking in the egg, larva, and perfect state, 
 is the only remedy yet known. 
 
 Two of the true bugs are sometimes very destructive 
 to the cabbages and turnips. The False Chinch-bug and 
 the Tarnished Plant-bug. 
 
 The False Chinch-bug (Nysius destructor), much 
 resembles the true Chinch-bug 
 in general appearance, but that 
 has a black head and thorax, 
 and two conspicuous black 
 spots on the front wings, 
 while in this, the False-bug, 
 the color is more uniform 
 and of a paler tarnished brown. 
 The two insects differ in their 
 habits; while the Chinch-bug 
 confines itself to the grains and grasses, this feeds 
 on several garden plants and the grape. The engrav- 
 ing fig. 32, gives the larva at b, and the perfect in- 
 sect at c. This, like related insects, feeds by sucking the 
 juices of plants by means of its beak, causing them to 
 wilt. Like the Chinch-bug, it passes the winter under 
 weeds and rubbish, and clean culture with the burning of 
 all trash at the approach or winter, will aid in keeping 
 it in subjection. 
 
 The Tarnished Plant-bug (Capsus oUineatus), fig. 
 33, in its general color is dirty yellow, sometimes green- 
 ish, with markings of dark brown or black. It is a more 
 
 Fig. 32. FALSE CHINCH-BUG 
 
 (Nysiw destructor.) 
 ft, Pupa ; c, Mature Insect. 
 
162 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 general feeder than the preceding, and besides plants 
 in the vegetable and flower garden, it attacks vari- 
 ous fruit trees, especially when these 
 are young. The principal remedies 
 thus far recommended are tobacco 
 water and cresylic soap. The insect 
 is very fond of the cabbage, especially 
 when it is in bloom, and it has been 
 suggested to allow a patch of cabbages 
 to run up to flower in order to attract 
 the insects which can be more readily 
 destroyed, when thus assembled, than 
 
 Fig. 33. TARNISHED , J 
 
 PLANT-BUG (Capsus when scattered over a wide area. 
 
 obiiwatus). The Ladj . birds or Lady-bugs, in 
 
 their perfect state are well-known insects, and the brief 
 description of the leading species here given will 
 allow them to be recognized. The larval form, 
 in which they are so useful is not so well 
 known. The engraving fig. 34, gives their 
 general appearance. The color is often blue, or 
 lead color, with orange and black markings. 
 They are remarkably active and run about with 
 great rapidity, as they feed not only upon plant LA.RVA OF 
 lice but upon other insects. The one repre- (Ntppoda- 
 sented in fig. 34, is the larva of Hippodamia mia g ^ er - 
 convergens, and has done good service in keep- 
 ing the Colorado Potato-bug in check, by feeding upon 
 its soft larvae. 
 
THE CAULIFLOWER. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE CAULIFLOWER (Brassica oleracea var. Botrytis). 
 
 Choufleur, French; Blumenkohl, German; Moeinkool, Dutch; Cavoli 
 Jiori, Italian ; and Berza florida, Spanish. 
 
 The Cauliflower is the most curious, most delicate, and 
 most valuable member of the genus Brassica. The part 
 used, called the "curd," consists of the undeveloped 
 flower buds, with their stems, etc., forming, when not 
 too much expanded, a firm, white, compact head. 
 
 PROFITS PER ACRE. 
 
 Of the various crops grown by the truck-farmer, this, 
 when all the peculiar conditions for its successful culture 
 are present, can be made the most profitable. Peter 
 Henderson, in his valuable "Gardening for Profit," as- 
 sures us that his average proceeds from an acre, through 
 several years, had been fifteen hundred dollars, and, that 
 in one very favorable season, it reached nearly three 
 thousand dollars (ten thousand to twelve thousand plants 
 to the acre). Two years ago, the New York " Sun " re- 
 ported as exceptionally high, the net sales of two barrels 
 of cauliflower, in prime condition, from Cutchogue, L. 
 I., at nineteen dollars each. Some of my own crop of 
 last year, April 4th, 1882, brought, in the New York 
 market, per bushel crate, containing an average of twenty- 
 two heads of prime quality, but not very large, eight dol- 
 lars and fifty cents gross, or seven dollars and sixty cents 
 net. That portion of the crop shipped in crates to New 
 York, averaged, for the first quality and "culls," five 
 dollars and sixty-five cents gross. The first, shipped 
 
164 TKUCK-FAKMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 in barrels, March 25th, containing forty-two No. 1, and 
 forty-seven No. 2, netted twenty-four dollars and seventy- 
 five cents per barrel. 
 
 The average gross sales per head of No. 1, in New 
 York, were at thirty-seven and nine-tenths cents. The 
 average gross sales per head of No. 1, in Boston, were at 
 thirty-seven and five-tenths cents. The sales by another 
 firm were not quite so satisfactory. 
 
 What number of plants to the acre, under favorable 
 conditions, he may be able to nurse up to the production 
 of marketable heads, will, of course, depend upon the 
 gardener himself. 
 
 The Cauliflower is considered the queen among vege- 
 tables, and the supply has never been equal to the de- 
 mand, though there are hundreds of acres devoted to it 
 on Long Island, for the New York market. As seen 
 from the prices quoted above, this vegetable is only within 
 the command of persons of means. Fortunately for 
 the market gardener, there are many who think as did 
 Dr. Johnson: " Of all the flowers of the garden give me 
 the cauliflower." 
 
 Besides large quantities used for pickling, etc., there 
 were marketed from Long Island, in 1879, one hundred 
 thousand pounds of cauliflower. 
 
 LOCATION AN^D SOIL. 
 
 The cauliflower can never become a vegetable of uni- 
 versal cultivation, for the reason, that it will not succeed 
 if far removed from the moisture and the saline atmos- 
 phere of its native locality, the sea coast, unless, in- 
 deed, the required moisture can be supplied by irriga- 
 tion. Erfurt, in the interior of Germany, produces per- 
 haps the finest cauliflowers of the European Continent. 
 They are grown between open ditches, or small canals, 
 on " lands " so narrow as to admit of water being thrown 
 by hand from each marginal ditch to the middle of each 
 
THE CAULIFLOWER. 165 
 
 "land." In watering, a scoop attached to a somewhat 
 elastic handle, is used, thus drenching the whole crop. 
 
 The culture is often impracticable at only a short dis- 
 tance from a favorable location. While the northern 
 shore of Long Island is, par excellence, the cauli- 
 flower garden of the United States; the southern 
 shore is comparatively unfit for its growth. On the 
 Peninsula of Florida, there must bo many situations 
 along either its west or east coast, where the soil being 
 suitable, this vegetable may be grown with great success, 
 and it is strange that the farmers of that State have not 
 yet made it one of the favorite vegetables for shipment. 
 It ought to do well near Norfolk, but the farmers there 
 consider it a troublesome crop. 
 
 Owing to the heat and dry ness prevailing during the 
 season of ripening, the seed of cauliflower is rarely grown 
 in this country, but is imported from Europe. One 
 American variety, the " Snow Ball," has lately been highly 
 recommended. I do not yet know it sufficiently to either 
 condemn or praise it; but what little I have seen, leads 
 me to consider it a small leaved " Dwarf Erfurt," from 
 American grown seed. 
 
 It is necessary, even in a greater degree than with the 
 common cabbage, to secure seed of good strain. Though 
 all the other elements of success may be present, with 
 seed of poor quality, failure is certain. Instead of the 
 beautiful, snow white "curd," more like a flower in its 
 delicate beauty than an edible vegetable, the green leaves 
 push their way through the loose, deformed head, or the 
 plant grows up into a stalk without heading, being per- 
 fectly unmarketable, and only fit for cattle feed. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 As in the case of cabbage, a crop of cauliflower may be 
 grown for winter, and one for heading in spring, and, as 
 with cabbage, success with the winter crop is most uncer- 
 
1G6 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 tain. Different varieties are adapted to each season. 
 While resistance to the effects of cold is the chief requisite 
 of the first, ability to withstand the heat is a necessity for 
 the spring crop. The "Algiers," the variety grown so 
 extensively in the French African colony for the winter 
 supply of Europe (whence its name), is a good sort for 
 the winter crop. It makes an enormous plant, and forms 
 a large, massive, fine white head. The seed is sown, like 
 that of cabbages, from May to September; but, owing to 
 the greater susceptibility of cauliflower to heat, it is even 
 
 Fig. 85. LENOKMAND CAULIFLOWER. 
 
 more difficult to grow the plants. Another drawback in 
 this latitude is the liability to have the crop killed out 
 by freezing about the time it commences to mature. An 
 amount of cold several degrees above that injurious to 
 cabbage will kill cauliflower plants outright. 
 
 The distance apart for the Algiers and other bulky va- 
 rieties is two by four feet. This variety is recommended 
 to Florida growers for a winter crop, to be marketed in 
 February, the seeds being sown early in September. For the 
 
THE CAULIFLOWER. 167 
 
 main, or shipping, spring crop, the early dwarf varieties, 
 which may be expected to mature before May, that is, 
 before the weather becomes dry and hot* are the kinds to 
 be selected. The ' ' Very Early Dwarf Erfurt," the "Short- 
 stemmed Lenormand," and "Early Paris," in the order 
 framed, are the choice varieties. 
 
 The plants should, like cabbage and other plants, be 
 put out dripping wet, -about, or soon after, the first of 
 January, so as to escape the severest cold, which, in the 
 latitude of Savannah, may generally be looked for in the 
 latter part of December. The seed should therefore be 
 sown under glass in cold frames, from November 15th to 
 December 1st. In Florida, of course, it may be sown 
 earlier, and the plants be put out sooner, as there is little 
 danger to be anticipated from winter killing. 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 The varieties are of such dwarfish habit (particularly 
 is this so with the Erfurt), that it is not advisable to sow 
 earlier in the open air, and to prick out under glass. 
 When of a sufficient age to " curd," if growth is retarded, 
 they may in the seed-bed form heads no larger than mar- 
 bles. It is, therefore, important with this vegetable, that 
 the plants suffer no hindrance or stunting in growth, but 
 be pushed forward from the start, without, however, al- 
 lowing them to become spindling or too delicate. From 
 eighteen to twenty-one inches in the rows, and these 
 three and a half feet apart (seven thousand one hundred 
 and eleven to eight thousand two hundred and ninety- 
 seven plants to the acre) is sufficient distance for the 
 early varieties. The manure, the depth and kind of 
 preparation of the soil, and the cultivation of the cauli- 
 flower, are identical with that of cabbage, with the only 
 difference, that the former perhaps requires a little more 
 care, and will certainly reward extra attention. 
 
168 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 PROTECTING. 
 
 , Bright sunshine tans or tarnishes the snowy whiteness 
 of the " curd," deteriorating its quality. As soon, there- 
 fore, as the head commences to be visible, it should be 
 protected from the light, either by tying up all the large 
 leaves over the head, or by pinning two of them together 
 by a little stick. Protection is given more expedition sly 
 and the light excluded by using one of the larger leaves, 
 torn from the plant to cover the " curd " closely, tucking it 
 between the head and surrounding leaves. If there are 
 any caterpillars of the cabbage-butterfly on the plant, 
 they are likely to be found on the lower surfaces of the 
 covering. When the cutting of the crop has been com- 
 menced, leaves for covering are to be taken from plants 
 already cut. If the protecting leaf has been carefully 
 adjusted, the operation need rarely be done more than 
 once, as the heads mature three or four days after they 
 become plainly visible. The several lobes forming the 
 head should not be allowed to separate, or the head to 
 become loose and expanded, before cutting for market; 
 solidity being one of the requisites of good quality. 
 
 CUTTING AND PACKING. 
 
 When the ' ' curd " is mature, the leaves will be seen to 
 spread out. The proper instrument for cutting is a 
 strong sharp knife, or small hatchet. A couple only of 
 the larger leaves are left, which are folded over the head 
 for protection against bruising in the packages. Heads 
 less than four inches in diameter, those tanned by the 
 sun, or of an " off color " from any other cause, or blem- 
 ished by crickets, cut-worms, or cabbage-worms, or too 
 much expanded, should be classed as culls, and packed 
 separately. If white and compact, a small size is less 
 objectionable than bad appearance. Each " curd," at least 
 of the first quality, should be covered by a piece of 
 
THE CUCUMBER. 169 
 
 smooth, soft, but tough white paper, which will admit of 
 being tucked between the head and the leaves without 
 tearing. The heads should be packed evenly and snugly 
 in layers in barrels or crates, as the case may be. Each 
 layer may be separated from the other by a piece of brown 
 paper; if a barrel is used, the package should be thor- 
 oughly ventilated. During cool weather, cauliflower 
 may be safely shipped in barrels or barrel crates; but as 
 soon as the weather becomes warm, the usual bushel 
 crate is better, as affording a smaller mass of material to 
 engender heat. In New York and Philadelphia, cauli- 
 flower is sold by the package, and in Boston by the 
 dozen. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 Insects infest the cauliflower and cabbage alike, and 
 the remedies are the same in each case. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus.) 
 
 C&ucombre, French; Gurke, German; Eomkommer, Dutch; Citrindlo y 
 Italian ; Pepino or Cohombro, Spanish. 
 
 The Cucumber is one of the earliest known vegetables. 
 Moses mentions it as abundant in Egypt. "We remem- 
 ber the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cu- 
 cumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, 
 and the garlic." Numbers xi:5. 
 
 A native of the East Indies, it was introduced into 
 England in 1573. By means of thin plates of talc or 
 mica (specularia plates of lapis specularis), Pliny tells 
 8 
 
170 TRUCK-FARMIM At THE SOUTH. 
 
 us, the Roman emperor Tiberius, who was fond of cucum- 
 bers, had them throughout the year. The forcing con- 
 sisted in growing the cucumbers in boxes or baskets of 
 earth, protected in coid weather by these plates. The 
 cucumber is a vegetable that is very easily grown, and 
 is so productive when properly manured and cultivat- 
 ed; it is so universally popular at the North, and is 
 consumed so largely, that when the season permits the 
 marketing of the greater part of the produce, it is one of 
 the best paying crops. One of the drawbacks of truck- 
 farming is, that whether the entire product of a crop is 
 harvested or not, as soon as the same vegetable matures 
 at a point farther North, it comes into market in a condi- 
 tion fresher and more acceptable to the trade, and, there- 
 fore, excludes from profitable sale all shipments of the 
 article from the more southern and distant points. Thus, 
 when the Savannah cucumbers are in, those from Flor- 
 ida will be thrust out of the market; and the same fate 
 awaits those from Georgia, as soon as the Norfolk crop 
 matures. The season of 1882 was a fortunate one for the 
 Savannah growers, nearly the entire yield of cucumbers 
 having been marketed. While from two hundred to 
 three hundred crates may be considered a fair crop; one 
 farmer gathered one thousand three hundred and fifty 
 crates from about an acre and a half, or nine hundred 
 crates per acre, on very richly manured ground. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 The only variety grown for shipment is the " Improved 
 White Spine." In cucumber cultivation, seeds of home 
 growth may be used. Seeds of more than one year old 
 will be more productive, and run less to vine, than fresh 
 seeds. They may be sown in the vicinity of Savannah ac- 
 cording to season, about March 1st to the 15th, and 
 earlier or later, respectively, south or north of that lati- 
 
THE CUCUMBER. 171 
 
 tude. In the middle of Florida, it may be safe to plant 
 any time in January, 
 
 SOIL SOWING AND CULTIVATION. 
 
 The land best adapted to the cucumber is a moist, 
 warm, light, sandy loam; although sandy soil is not so 
 productive, the finest and earliest cucumbers may be 
 grown on it if highly and properly fertilized. * A manure 
 rich in nitrogen will produce fruit of the de- 
 sirable dark-green color. The usual method 
 of planting cucumbers is in hills, either four 
 or five, or even six feet apart each way, ac- 
 cording to the nature and fertility of the soil. 
 The land being properly plowed and har- 
 rowed, furrows are run by the plow, crossing 
 each other at right angles. At each crossing 
 one or two shovelfuls of good stable manure, 
 or compost, or failing these, an equivalent 
 quantity of any other good fertilizer is inti- 
 mately mixed with the soil, and a hill, flat on 
 top. and a little elevated above the general WHITE-SPINE 
 
 J *j.l. xl. 1. T CUCUMBER. 
 
 surface, is made with the hoe. In a furrow 
 one-half to one inch deep, made by the hand across 
 the middle of the hill, sow from ten to fifteen seeds. 
 A week later, whether any of the seeds first planted 
 are up or not, a second sowing is made, at a sufficient 
 distance from the first to avoid disturbing it, and 
 always on the same side of it. A week later still, a third 
 sowing may be made on the other side of the first. Should 
 a frost kill the growing plants of the first seeding, before 
 those of the second are up, plants from the second may 
 be made available. When the plants are large enough 
 and danger of frost has passed, thin the plants to two or 
 
 * None of the Cncurbitacese, which comprises Cucumbers, Squashes, Melons, 
 etc., should be planted on land having just borne a crop of Cabbages, for tear 
 of the soil being infested with the larva- of the 12-epotted Squash-beetle. 
 
TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 three in the hill. If the seed comes up well, and the 
 plants are crowding each other, another partial thinning 
 may be necessary. I prefer to manure, as for cabbage, 
 in the furrow, and to drill in the seed on beds six feet 
 apart, and to thin so as to leave the plants finally about 
 twelve inches apart in the row; leaving single plants, 
 three sowings being made as before. At the first thin- 
 ning, the soil should be drawn by the hoe to the stems 
 up to the seed leaves. The earth is to be kept loose and 
 clean between the rows by plow and cultivator, and be- 
 tween the plants by the hoe, until the vines have taken 
 possession of the ground. If the plant is stopped when it 
 has two rough leaves beyond the second, that is, if the 
 end of the vine is pinched off, lateral fruiting branches 
 will be emitted, which will be early in bearing and more 
 productive than the main vine. This operation of stop- 
 ping is rarely practised in extensive planting. 
 
 GATHERING AND PACKING. 
 
 If the fruits are cut instead of being pulled off, there 
 will be no injury to the vine; nor will the cucumber wilt 
 so rapidly. A transverse section of the fruit should be 
 nearly round, before the cucumber is picked; but quite 
 green and perfect in shape. None of imperfect form, 
 short, round and contracted at the flower end, or with 
 the slightest tendency to turn yellow, or large and over- 
 grown, should be shipped, as they will affect the market 
 value of the whole package. The cucumbers should be 
 carefully laid in the crates, or be well shaken down, as 
 directed in the chapter on " Packing," and the crate be 
 over-full when nailed up 
 
 SEED SAVING. 
 
 The White-spined cucumber becomes white instead of 
 yellow, when ripe. The whitest, largest and longest 
 should be selected for seed. Cut them lengthwise into 
 
THE CUCUMBER. 
 
 173 
 
 halves, and take out the seeds and inner pulp by hand, 
 dropping them into a barrel or pail. The mass should 
 be stirred daily and allowed to remain four or five days, 
 to enable fermentation to remove the gelatinous matter 
 which surrounds the seeds. These are then washed out 
 in several waters, thoroughly dried, and stored away in 
 
 bags. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 The insects which infest the cucumber are: 
 
 j^st. The Cucumber Flea-beetle (ffalticacucumeris). 
 
 Second. The Striped Cucumber-beetle (Diabrotica 
 vittata). 
 
 Third. The Twelve-spotted Squash-beetle or Striped- 
 bug (Diabrotica 12-punctata). 
 
 Fourth. The Pickle- worm (Phacellura nitidalis). 
 
 Fifth. The Grass-worm (Laphrygma frugiperdd). 
 
 The little flea-beetle, like its kindred on the cabbage 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 CUCUMBER 
 FLEA-BEETLE 
 
 (HaJtica cu- 
 cumeris.} 
 
 IR I 
 
 Fig. 38. STRIPED 
 
 CUCUMBER-BEETLE 
 
 (Diabrotica vittata.) 
 
 Back. Side. 
 
 Fig. 39. LARVA OF STRIPED 
 CUCUMBER-BEETLE. 
 
 and other plants, may be driven off by freshly-slaked 
 lime or soot. 
 
 The Striped-bug appears early in the spring as a com- 
 
174 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 plete insect, destroying the young leaves. If numerous, 
 these insects may be poisoned by Paris green, one part to 
 ten of flour, before they can deposit their eggs for a new 
 brood, of which there are three at the 
 South. After hatching from the egg, the 
 duration of its larval existence is about 
 four weeks, during which time its injury 
 Fig. 40.' to tne roots of plants, by boring into them, 
 TWELVE-SPOTTED ma y k e considerable. The past season, 
 
 SQUASH-BEETLK J . r 
 
 (Diabrotica 13- an insect was reported to have been very 
 punctata.) destructive to cucumber vines near Savan- 
 nah, by injuring the roots. From the description it 
 must have been the larva of the DialroUca, or it may 
 
 Fig. 41. PICKLE- WORM (Phacettura mtiddlis). 
 
 have been the true wire-worm the larva of small snap- 
 ping beetles; but most probably the former. It lias been 
 said in a recent work, " Of all 
 the multifarious remedies pro- 
 posed against the attacks of this 
 insect, there is none so effectual, 
 or so cheap in the end, as in- 
 closing the young vines in boxes, 
 which are open at the bottom, 
 Fig. 42. MOTH OP PICKLE- and covered with millinet on the 
 top. Such boxes are made at a 
 
 trivial cost, and if properly stored away each season after 
 use, will last for many years." 
 
 The private gentleman, having half a dozen cucumber 
 vines in his garden, may avail himself of such a 
 
THE EGG-PLANT. 175 
 
 remedy, but the farmer, who fails to protect his crop by 
 destroying the first insects by poison, in case of their 
 visitation in devastating numbers, and to whom the 
 alternative is offered, would probably give up the cucum- 
 ber to Diabrotica, and betake himself to another crop, 
 rather than use from forty thousand to eighty thousand 
 boxes for the protection of from six to twelve acres. 
 The third of the beetles infesting the cucumber, the 
 
 Fig. 43. GRASS-WORM 
 (Laphrygma frugiptrda.) Fig. 44. LARVA OF GRASS-WORI 
 
 twelve-spotted Diabrotica is not so destructive as the 
 former species. 
 
 The cucumber is the regular food plant of the Pickle- 
 worm (Phacellura nitidalis) while the more omnivorous 
 Grass-worm (Laphrygma frugiperda) only occasionally 
 feeds upon it. Both these lepidopterous insects become 
 numerous too late in the season to affect the crop of the 
 truck-farmer seriously. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 THE EGG-PLANT, OR "GUINEA CQUASH." 
 (Solatium melongena.) 
 
 Aubergine, French ; Merpflanze, German ; and Melanzana, Italian. 
 
 The Egg-plant is of tropical origin, and was introduced 
 into England from Africa in 1597. It derives its common 
 name from a small white variety which is similar in shape 
 and appearance to the egg of a goose. 
 
176 
 
 TRUCK-FAKMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 Only a very few years since, the demand for egg-plants 
 (as the fruit is called), was so limited in the New York 
 market, that but a few could be sold, and it did not pay 
 to plant a crop for shipment. This was probably in part 
 owing to the fact, that the cultivation of this plant at 
 the North is attended with trouble, in consequence of 
 its tenderness, and a successful crop is doubtful. Lat- 
 terly a more general taste for the vegetable seems to have 
 
 been developed, and its 
 consumption has greatly 
 increased. As late as July 
 8th, last (and egg-plant 
 had been in the Savan- 
 nah market from Florida 
 since January), a ship- 
 ment of my own, averag- 
 ing about sixty-five fruits 
 to the barrel, sold in the 
 New York market at six 
 dollars per barrel. The 
 farmers of the southern 
 part of Florida, from 
 Tampa to Key West, be- 
 ing exempt from frost, 
 may produce such tropi- 
 cal vegetables at will, as far as season is concerned. 
 On Dec. let of last year, egg-plants and tomatoes 
 were mature afc Clear Water. The only variety cultivated 
 for market is the "New York Purple Improved." This 
 being a tropical fruit, or berry, it must reach its greatest 
 development and mature its seed most perfectly at the 
 South, for which reason it is not only possible, but ad- 
 visable to use seed of home growth in preference to that 
 produced at the North. 
 
 The seed and young plants require more of a tropical 
 heat (65 to 70) for their germination and continued ; 
 
THE EGG-PLANT. 177 
 
 healthy growth, than any other crop, and should, there- 
 fore, be sown by themselves under glass in cold frames. 
 After sowing, the bed should be well watered and the 
 glass placed on, and not removed until the seed is up. 
 In case of hot sunshine before germination, the sash 
 should be partially shaded. If ifc is contemplated to 
 prick out the plants into other frames, the sowing may 
 be as early as the middle of January; otherwise ten or 
 fifteen days later. The management while under glass 
 is about the same as with other tender plants, with the 
 exception that they require more careful exclusion of 
 cold air, and have more frequent protection from slight 
 variations of temperature by the glass, than the tomato, 
 pepper, etc. , and they will bear a greater degree of heat 
 without being drawn. No vegetable with which I am 
 acquainted, can withstand drouth better than the egg- 
 plant, which bears and matures its fruit under a degree of 
 heat and dryness that would be fatal to other crops. If 
 there be a sufficiency of decayed vegetable matter in the 
 soil, this crop may be allotted to the sandiest part of the 
 farm. If planted in low, although thoroughly drained, 
 land, the plants are apt to die off about the time they 
 commence to bloom or bear, a peculiarity more or less 
 common to all the Solanum family. To mature early 
 fruit of the size and quality required by the trade, a 
 shovelful or two of fermented stable manure, or compost, 
 should be mixed in each hill. The hills should be two and 
 a half by four feet apart. The cultivation is about the 
 same as that of any other hill crop. The earth should be 
 slightly drawn to the stems during the hoeing, not suf- 
 ficiently, however, to touch any of the lower branches. 
 The plow and horse-hoe, once each, run between the rows, 
 and two hoeings should be sufficient for the crop in light 
 unbaked land. 
 
 To cut through the tough stems, without disturbing 
 the plants, a thin-bladed, sharp knife, or a pair of nippers 
 
178 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 is necessary. To be marketable at good prices, the fruit 
 should be well grown, weighing from one to three pounds 
 but not old, nor light colored and tough; small ones 
 are not readily salable. They are to be carefully handled 
 to avoid bruising and injuring the gloss. Shorten the 
 stems to about half an inch and wrap each in paper. It 
 is then to be firmly and evenly packed in crates, or in 
 well ventilated double-headed barrels. The Flea-beetle 
 frequently attacks the plants when young, for which the 
 usual remedy of lime or soot is applicable, but rarely 
 necessary. 
 
 The large green Tomato- worm is sometimes found on 
 the egg-plant. Should these, the Tortoise-beetle ( Cassi- 
 da Texana) or the false Colorado-beetle (Doryphora junc- 
 ta), already mentioned, ever become destructive, Paris 
 green might be applied before the fruit, or berry, is 
 formed. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 KALE, BORECOLE, OR SPROUTS (Brassica oZeracea var. 
 sabellica.) 
 
 Ckouvert, French ; Kraushohl or BrjunkoM, German; Bxrerikool, Dutch; 
 Cavolo aperto, Italian; Col, Spanish. 
 
 Kale is a variety of the cabbage of great excellence for 
 the table. It is distinguished from the other varieties 
 by its open growth and its more or less curled or 
 wrinkled leaves. It is the most hardy of all, and with- 
 stands a severe degree of cold; indeed, it is not consid- 
 ered to have reached the perfection of flavor and tender- 
 ness, until it has been frozen. 
 
 Among the many varieties of kale some are dwarfish 
 in habit, while others grow from four to five feet high, 
 
KALE, BORECOLE, OR SPROUTS. 
 
 179 
 
 Kale is rarely grown at the extreme South for the 
 Northern markets, its extensive cultivation being con- 
 fined to Norfolk, Va. The price in the New York 
 market rarely exceeds two dollars and twenty-five cents 
 per barrel. The varieties cultivated are: a local one, 
 called the "Blue Curled/' and the "Green Curled 
 Scotch;" the former by far the most extensively. 
 
 The preparation and character of the soil, quantity 
 and kind of manure, and 
 the cultivation of the crop 
 muit be similar to that of 
 the other varieties of cab- 
 bage. The "Blue Curled". 
 is sown from August 10th 
 to September 15th, at Nor- 
 folk, in drills thirty inches 
 apart, at the rate of a 
 pound and a half of seed 
 to the acre; the plants are 
 eventually thinned to a 
 stand of from four to eight 
 inches in the row. The 
 "Scotch Curled," to a 
 much smaller extent, is 
 sown in seed-beds early in 
 August, and transplanted 
 in September from eight to ten inches apart in the row. 
 
 The crop is cut for shipment in March. The size of 
 the plants, when cut, varies from six inches to two feet 
 across, and, therefore, the number which will fill a barrel 
 varies greatly. It must be very firmly packed in well- 
 Ventilated barrels, as with the best care, it will shrink in 
 consequence of its loose growth. It is subject to the 
 same insects as the cabbage, and, sown as it is in the 
 open field in the fall, is affected by the young cut- worms. 
 See chapter on "Insects." 
 
 Fig. 46. -KALE. 
 
180 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 LETTUCE (Lactuca saliva). 
 
 Laitue, French ; Garten-salat, German ; Latuw, Dutch ; Lattuga, Italian ; 
 Lechuga, Spanish. 
 
 The Lettuce is a hardy annual which was first culti- 
 vated in England in 1562, but whence it was introduced 
 is not known. 
 
 Owing to its freedom from insect depredations (exclu- 
 sive of the cut-worm), its large consumption, and the 
 ease with which it can be grown, lettuce is one of the 
 most important crops of the Northern farm-gardener, 
 notwithstanding the fact, that, of late years, it has be- 
 come subject to a disease. In New York, the winter and 
 very early spring markets are supplied from hot-beds, in 
 which it is grown in and near Boston, where a specialty 
 is made of this vegetable. In consequence of this ex- 
 tensive supply of superior and fresh stock, the more 
 wilted condition of shipments from the South renders 
 the cultivation of it here unprofitable. It is grown, how- 
 ever, to a considerable extent at Norfolk. 
 
 A good sort should form a solid and large head. The 
 varieties used at Norfolk are: " White Cabbage " and the 
 ' 'Boston Market," or " Tennis Ball," the former for open 
 field culture, and the latter under glass. 
 
 The seed is sown under glass in September, the plants 
 put five or six inches apart, and the crop is ready for 
 market in February and March. 
 
 The trouble with this crop is the liability of the plants 
 to damp off under glass. 
 
 For the open field, the seed is sown about the middle 
 of September in a bed, and not quite as deep as cabbage 
 geeds, the plants are transferred to flat beds, setting then? 
 
THE OSTIOtf. 181 
 
 about nine inches apart each way, to be cultivated en- 
 tirely by the hoe, or in rows eighteen inches apart, the 
 plants standing eight inches in the row, which will ad- 
 mit the use of a. narrow cultivator between the rows. 
 
 This crop is marketable in April. 
 
 Any well-drained soil, made fine and mellow, and well 
 manured will produce good lettuce. 
 
 After cleaning, or trimming the heads of soiled, or 
 discolored leaves, they are firmly packed for shipment in 
 crates, barrels being unfit for this crop. 
 
 MUSKMELOK, or CANTALOUPE. See additional chap- 
 ters, pages 251, 252. 
 
 OKEA, or GUMBO. See additional chapters, page 253. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 THE ONION (Allium Cepa). 
 
 Ognon, French; Zwiebel, German ; Uijen, Dutch ; Cipolla, Italian ; Cebolla, 
 Spanish ; Alho, Portuguese. 
 
 The alliaceous esculents are of great antiquity and of 
 universal cultivation in every civilized country, some na- 
 tionalities preferring one variety, and others a different 
 one. The same genus includes the Leek (Allium Porrum), 
 the Chives (A. ScUcenopramm) , the Garlic (A. sativum), 
 the Shallot (A. Ascalonicum), and the Rocambole (A. 
 Scorodoprasum). The onion (Allium Cepa) is the only 
 species with which the truck-farmer has any concern. 
 There are many varieties of the onion, only a few of 
 which are grown for the Northern markets. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 According to Prof. C. A. Goessman, a crop of foul 
 hundred and forty-two bushels contained: 
 
TRTJCK-FABMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 Potassium oxide 38.51 Ibs. 
 
 Sodium oxide 1.90 
 
 Magnesium oxide 3.60 
 
 Calcium oxide 8.20 
 
 Sesqui-oxide of iron 0.58 
 
 Silicic acid 3.33 
 
 Phosphoric acid 1 15.80 
 
 Sulphuric acid 29.81 
 
 Nitrogen 48.63 
 
 The peculiar characteristic odor is due to a volatile or- 
 ganic compound containing sulphur. 
 
 Onions are used medicinally as stimulants, diuretics, 
 and anthelmintics (worm medicines). Boiled or roasted, 
 they form emollient poultices. The fresh root irritates 
 or reddens the skin, and the expressed juice is sometimes 
 used in ear-ache and in rheumatism. 
 
 It has generally been held, but erroneously, that the 
 onion could not be successfully grown from the seed, at 
 the South, and that, below about the fortieth degree, the 
 dry heat of our summers would dwarf the bulbs. Egypt 
 and the Barbary States produce, perhaps, the finest 
 onions in the world, several of the largest varieties having 
 originated in Tripoli. Large quantities are annually 
 exported from Portugal and Spain. The opinion pre- 
 vails in Germany that the seed, at least of some varieties, 
 will deteriorate, unless of southern growth; and those 
 of the Madeira onion, used in Bermuda for the crop so 
 popular in our Northern markets, are grown in the 
 south of France. I have grown most varieties of the 
 onion successfully for the past twenty-two years, having 
 produced, one season, the "Giant Rocca" at the rate of 
 ten hundred and fifty bushels per acre. The usual yield 
 is from three hundred to eight hundred bushels. At no 
 time of the year are the Northern markets entirely bare 
 of this indispensable vegetable, some variety in its green 
 or matured state being procurable. 
 
 The aim of the Southern grower should be to slip his 
 crop into the market at a time when the supply from 
 other sections is most deficient. The first matured bulbs 
 
THE OtftOST. 
 
 183 
 
 in the spring found in the Northern markets are the Ber- 
 muda grown ' ( Madeira " onions. Although it might be 
 possible to grow as fine onions in Florida from autumn- 
 sown seed, the attempt to compete with Bermuda onions 
 for favor would seem 
 fruitless at present. South 
 Florida might even antici- 
 pate the Bermuda crop. 
 The next onions, other 
 than from this section and 
 from Florida, offered in 
 market, are the "Potato 
 onions," grown near Nor- 
 folk and in Maryland. 
 Southern onions will be 
 apt to bring the most sat- 
 isfactory prices about the 
 time the supply from 
 Bermuda is becoming ex- 
 hausted, which occurs 
 about June 15th. While 
 no variety of Southern- 
 grown onions will keep Fig. 47.-owoH-4HT BOOOA." 
 
 during the winter, should they ripen a little premature- 
 ly, they may be preserved sufficiently long to allow the 
 shipments to be so timed as to meet this demand. 
 
 VARIETIES A^D SEED. 
 
 Of more than one hundred varieties, the common 
 "Red Wethersfield " and "Yellow Danvers" are the best 
 keepers. The beautiful white "Italian Queen" is the 
 earliest and surest, but is too small. The " Giant Eocca " 
 makes an enormous yield, but is too large for market. 
 The now popular " Globe Madeira" will be the best to 
 succeed the Bermuda crop of the same variety. 
 
 Of no other vegetable, save the cauliflower, is it so im- 
 
184 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 portant to have a good strain of seed. If saved from bulbs 
 of objectionable form, or imperfect development, seal- 
 lions, instead of the desirable globular onions, will be 
 the result. 
 
 No seed older than of the previous crop should be used, 
 as it rarely retains vitality over one year; it is also well 
 to put it to the preliminary test recommended in the 
 chapter on " Seeds," in order to gauge the drill in accord- 
 ance with the percentage of sound seed. It will germi- 
 nate in three or four days, if kept warm and moist. The 
 seed is frequently soaked from one to four days, but I 
 cannot recommend the practice. If it is found to be of 
 fair quality, to be perfectly reliable, the drill may be 
 gauged to drop a seed every quarter to half an inch, at 
 which rate it will require from three to four pounds to 
 the acre. If sown too thickly, great labor is required to 
 thin the plants, as it must be done early enough in their 
 growth to prevent injury by crowding, and to avoid 
 breaking the roots of those to be left. 
 
 SOIL AND SOWING. 
 
 Onions may be sown at any time in the fall, the weather 
 being favorable, but there is nothing to be gained by 
 such very early planting. In the latitude of Savannah, 
 and northward, the young plants ot* October or Novem- 
 ber sowing may be exposed to injury from heavy rains, 
 or, notwithstanding the very hardy nature of the onion, 
 from severe freezing in December. The crop from seed 
 sown about January 1st escapes these dangers, comes in 
 early enough for the better demand, and, growing through 
 a shorter and warmer period, will require less extended 
 care. 
 
 The onion is intolerant of the vicinity of trees, and 
 requires an open exposure. 
 
 The soil best adapted to this crop is a deep, rich, fria- 
 ble warm mould, full of vegetable matter, such as is f re- 
 
THE OHIOK. 185 
 
 quently found in river bottoms and drained ponds. On 
 heavy land, the bulbs are apt to remain small, and ac- 
 quire a greater pungency of taste. If the soil is loamy, 
 sand should be the predominating constituent. Land 
 recently cleared, and therefore free from grass and weed- 
 seed, provided it is made perfectly mellow, is always to 
 be preferred to old land, particularly unless the latter 
 has been kept clean of weeds and grass, in order that 
 none of their seeds may have been self-sown for several suc- 
 cessive years. Although the onion is a very shallow-rooted 
 plant, it delights in a well-drained, deeply-stirred, and 
 finely-pulverized soil. No plant requires a more care- 
 ful preparation of the land, and a proper piece, once se- 
 lected for this crop (it being an anomaly in regard to 
 rotation), it should always remain appropriated to the 
 same purpose; for, with proper and efficient manure and 
 management, the crop may be increased in quantity each 
 successive year. The land should be allowed to mature 
 no second crop. As soon as the onions are removed, it 
 should be sown down to cow peas. If recently cleared 
 land is selected, it should also be sown with peas in July 
 or August. They will not only keep down the weeds, 
 and tend to mellow the soil by the decaying mass of vege- 
 table matter, but maintain and increase the fertility of 
 the soil. 
 
 The first of December is early enough to plow under 
 the dead pea vines, which should be deeply buried. 
 
 The analysis shows that the onion requires a rich 
 nitrogenous manure, and that it also contains much pot- 
 ash and phosphoric acid. The manure of the hog is gen- 
 erally considered the best for this crop. If stable manure 
 is used, it should not be coarse enough to prevent its be- 
 ing plowed under shallow. There is no objection to fine, 
 green stable manure, provided it contains no seeds of 
 weeds. If the animals have been fed on hay, the manure 
 must be thoroughly fermented to destroy the vitality of 
 
186 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 the grass seed. The onion is a gross feeder, and, with- 
 out adequate manuring, there will be no satisfactory 
 crop. The plants will not form bulbs properly if poorly 
 fed. The yield will be in proportion to the quantity and 
 quality of the manure. Thirty loads, of thirty bushels 
 each, sufficiently compressed, or fermented, to weigh forty 
 pounds to the bushel, is not a heavy application. Twenty- 
 five loads of night-soil would do as well. If other fertil- 
 izers, such as bone-meal (which is excellent), or guano, are 
 used, they should be harrowed in so as to permit the 
 roots of the young plants to reach them. A top-dress- 
 ing of a hundred bushels of ashes per acre is beneficial. 
 
 After several years of manuring with stable manure, a 
 change to a half ton of bone-flour, ammoniated super- 
 phosphate, guano, or five hundred pounds of sulphate of 
 ammonia would be advisable. If the land is new, or 
 loamy, a cross plowing and double harrowing may be 
 necessary to put it in proper trim to receive the manure. 
 It should be level, lest heavy rains may wash out the 
 seed on the higher points, and cover the plants in lower 
 ones too deeply. At the South, where we are visited by 
 heavy rains, onions, on a small scale, are best planted on 
 four-feet-wide " lazy beds," the intervening paths acting 
 as auxiliary drains. The seed may be sown upon these beds 
 by hand, in drills half an inch deep, twelve inches apart, 
 across the bed. On a larger scale,where machines must be 
 used, making two drills at a time, the sowing had better 
 be done on narrow lands, fifteen or twenty feet wide, the 
 rows running lengthwise, twelve or fifteen inches apart. 
 Beds, or narrow lands, are formed in plowing under the 
 manure, previously applied broadcast, as shallow as pos- 
 sible, and, if the furrows intervening between the lands 
 are too shallow to act as drains, the loose soil is to be 
 thrown out upon the beds with hoes or shovels. The 
 surface must be thoroughly fined with harrow and hand- 
 rake. In fair weather, the seed will be up in two weeks. 
 
THE ONION. 187 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 The only sure road to success in onion culture, even 
 when all other conditions are favorable, is clean cultiva- 
 tion, and as soon as the lines of young plants are dis- 
 tinguishable, hoeing should be commenced, and repeated, 
 with hand-weeding, whenever necessary, no weed being 
 allowed to grow large enough to disturb the roots of the 
 onion, when pulling it, and be continued to within about 
 a month from the time the crop matures. The soil 
 should be stirred between the plants in the row. 
 
 The chief objection to this crop is the amount of care- 
 ful labor required to keep it clean, at least four or five 
 hoeings being necessary, for which the scuffle, push, or 
 Dutch hoe is the best implement. 
 
 Onions grow best upon the surface, as their roots do 
 not penetrate the soil deeply; therefore, the hoeing must 
 be superficial, and no soil should be drawn to the rows. 
 They should be thinned to four' inches in the row, if only 
 large bulbs are wanted, but in case a large yield is de- 
 sired, irrespective of size, the stand may be closer. 
 Transplanted onions take root very readily; therefore, any 
 vacant spaces may be supplied, or new beds made with 
 the plants removed in thinning, cutting back the roots 
 to about an huh, and the leaves one-half their length. 
 The roots should be put down straight, and the plants 
 deeper than they grew originally. If onions have room 
 laterally, groups of four or five may be left together, be- 
 cause in their efforts for survival, they will push one 
 another sidewise, and mount on top of each other, and 
 still form round, marketable bulbs. 
 
 HARVESTING AND MARKETING. 
 
 At the North, where the onions are to be stored for 
 winter use, the whole crop is pulled when three-fourths 
 of the plants have turned yellow, shrivelled and dried in 
 
188 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 the neck sufficiently to topple over. At this time, some 
 of the roots are dead, and have lost their hold upon the 
 soil. The onions are allowed to remain spread upon the 
 ground for two or three weeks to dry, before being housed. 
 They are in fit condition for storing, when no moist- 
 ure is visible upon strongly twisting the necks. Here, 
 the crop being wanted for an early market and immediate 
 use, the onions are pulled, as they successively indicate ma- 
 turity by toppling over, and are left on the ground a day 
 or two, or they are removed at once, and the necks cut off 
 with a sharp knife, an inch or so from the bulb, when 
 they are carefully packed in bushel crates and shipped. 
 
 A vegetable, not a luxury, and rarely, if ever, out of 
 market, cannot be expected to bring high prices. Onions 
 range between one dollar and two dollars and fifty cents 
 per bushel crate. In our local market they brought last 
 June from two dollars and twenty-five cents to two dol- 
 lars and seventy-five cents per bushel crate. 
 
 A globular-shaped onion will produce a crop one-third 
 larger than one that is flat in form. 
 
 RAISING ONION SEED. 
 
 If properly matured, and carefully preserved, South- 
 ern-grown seed is as good as any. The onion being a 
 biennial plant, it produces seed the second season. The 
 bulbs from which it is contemplated to save the seed 
 should be selected, choosing those which combine the 
 distinguishing peculiarities of the variety, in order that 
 the seed may remain true. If planted in the fall, the 
 seed will be ripe the following July or August. The soil 
 should not be as rich as for the crop of bulbs, lest the 
 flowers may blight and form no seed. The rows should 
 be about eighteen inches apart, and the entire bulbs 
 pressed into the soil below the surface, about eight inches 
 apart in the row. The seed stalks of some of the va- 
 rieties are five feet high, and unless they are supported, 
 
THE ONION. 189 
 
 they will break or bend over, until the seed heads either 
 touch the ground, or approach it so closely as to be dam- 
 aged by the moisture. This support is most easily given 
 by stretching twine a few inches below the seed heads, 
 one along the middle of the bed, and another on the 
 outer edge of every bed. The seed is ripe enough for 
 gathering, when the pods commence to burst open, and 
 heads and stalks turn yellow. The stalks are carefully 
 cut six or eight inches from the heads, which are allowed 
 to fall into a bucket or open bag, otherwise some of the 
 seed may shell out and be lost. Partly-matured seed 
 will not ripen fully, if the stalk is cut close to the seed- 
 cluster. 
 
 These must be spread out upon the close floor of a dry 
 loft, or hung up to dry thoroughly, when they may be 
 thrashed out, winnowed, and washed. The false seed 
 and husks will float upon the surface of the water, 
 while only the good seed will sink to the bottom of the 
 vessel. The seed must be quickly and thoroughly dried 
 in the sun before being stored away. 
 
 ONION SETS. 
 
 At Norfolk, onions for the Northern markets are not 
 grown from the seed, as the crop would not sufficiently 
 anticipate those of more northern latitudes; but from 
 sets* or small onions. Those of the " Potato-onion " are 
 put out in August and September, and sets of the " Silver- 
 skin" and " Yellow Danvers" in February. 
 
 The " Potato-onion " produces no seed, but forms from 
 three to ten small bulbs around the old one, from which 
 it is propagated. These small bulbs, when planted out, 
 increase in size, and form a large and marketable onion. 
 These produce the earliest crop of local growth, and even 
 survive the winter as far north as Vermont. The prep- 
 
 * The English word "sets" may have come over from the German 
 " Setz-2wiebeV that js: planting- onions, 
 
190 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 aration of the ground for these and for other onion sets 
 is the same as for the crop from seed. 
 
 The sets are pressed into the soil at the distances the 
 crop is to mature, the tops about level with the surface, 
 care being taken to have the root end down. The sets 
 should range in size from that of a pea to a common- 
 sized marble. The smaller the better. When the bulbs 
 are too much developed, they are apt to run to seed in- 
 stead of producing good onions. Onion sets are often 
 high-priced, costing from five to ten dollars per bushel; 
 but they may be grown at the South with proper manage- 
 ment. The land should certainly be free from weeds and 
 grass, lighter and less richly manured than for the crop. 
 The rows may be ten inches apart, and the seed should 
 be sown late in the season, about May 1st, and much 
 thicker than when intended to produce large bulbs. 
 From fifteen to twenty pounds to the acre are required. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 The larvae of the Dipterous, or Two-winged insects, 
 which at present infest the onion in this country, pene- 
 trate it at the root; and the first indication of their pres- 
 ence are symptoms of disease and approaching death. 
 There is no remedy, but to dig up every wilted and 
 yellow plant, and to hunt for and destroy the grub with- 
 in the rotting bulb, with a view to curtail future depre- 
 dations. 
 
 The black Onion-fly (Ortalis flexa), is a native of 
 this country, while (Anthomyia ceparum,) is an im- 
 ported insect. 
 
THE PEA. 191 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE PEA (Pisum sativum.) 
 
 Tin's, French ; Erbse, German ; Erwat, Dutch ; Pisetto, Italian ; Rsoles, 
 Spanish ; and hlrvilha, Portuguese. 
 
 The pea is a hardy annual, a native of the south of 
 Europe, and has been cultivated from time immemorial. 
 We are told that, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, peas 
 not being very common in England, they were brought 
 from Holland, and that they were " fit dainties for ladies, 
 they come so far, and cost so dear." Where labor for 
 picking the crop is plentiful, it is one of the indispensable 
 crops of the truck-farmer, bringing in the first proceeds 
 of the season. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 A good market variety should be productive, of good 
 flavor, form full, pods plump, and be of uniform growth. 
 Frequently a gardener plants poor seed, which runs to 
 vine, and produces but few good pods. The varieties 
 themselves are subject to change, and will deteriorate, 
 unless constant care is exercised in growing them for 
 seed. The varieties at present preferred, enumerated in 
 the order of their earliness and value are : 
 
 First. The "Early Alpha." This is, exclusive of the 
 "American Wonder," the only wrinkled Dwarf Pea. It 
 grows three feet high, is very productive, and produces 
 large pods of dark green color. The objection to all the 
 wrinkled peas is, that they must be sown thicker than 
 the round varieties. 
 
 Second. The "Philadelphia Extra Early." This is 
 very uniform, when the seed is pure, and is productive, 
 
192 TRUCK-FAKMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 Third. The ' ' Daniel O'Rourke." This is an excellent 
 early pea, and is very popular with Northern growers. 
 Its height is about three feet. 
 
 Of the later kinds, the " Black-eyed" and "White- 
 marrowfat " take equal rank, and grow about four and a 
 half feet high. 
 
 SOIL AND SOWING. 
 
 The large, later and more hardy marrowfat varieties 
 may be planted in the vicinity of Savannah as early aa 
 November 20th, following with the earlier kinds; but in 
 usual seasons December 1st is early enough for the first 
 sowings. In the case of a plant so hardy as the pea, it is 
 possible to grow it, in middle to south Florida, to mature 
 at any time during the winter. It is well, if a large crop 
 is to be planted, to make separate sowings at intervals ot 
 a few days, in order not to have the whole planting subject 
 to unfavorable contingencies at the same stage of growth. 
 No usual degree of cold in this latitude will hurt the pea, 
 unless it be in bloom or pod. 
 
 A dry, rich, warm, sandy loam is the best soil for this 
 crop. For the wrinkled varieties, it is especially neces- 
 sary that the soil should be warm and dry. These do 
 not seem to be so well matured as the round sorts, and in 
 moist, or wet and cool soils they may fail to germinate, 
 and may rot in the ground. Good stable manure is the 
 best. The field being in proper condition, it is manured 
 in the furrow at the rate of twenty-five or thirty loads, of 
 thirty bushels each, to the acre, the rows being five or six 
 feet apart, according to the variety. The seed is sown 
 in double drills, about ten inches apart, on flat beds or 
 ridges over the manure. The quantity of seed required 
 for an acre is about two bushels. As regards the distance in 
 the row, the peas are distributed according to size, about 
 half an inch to an inch and a half, by hand, or by means 
 of a drill, which sows both parallel drills at the same time. 
 
THE PEA. 193 
 
 The opinion, I believe, generally prevails that the deep- 
 er peas can be sown, the more productive will be the 
 crop, and the longer will it remain in bearing. One and 
 one-half inch is the usual depth in a sandy loam. 
 
 CULTIVATION". 
 
 As the growth of the pea crop extends through the 
 winter and early spring, when weeds are not abundant, 
 cultivation is only, or chiefly, necessary as a promoter of 
 growth. The soil between the ridges may be stirred 
 twice, or more frequently in an unfavorable season; but 
 as soon as the plants grow to two or three inches, the 
 earth should be hoed to the stems, when dry, gradually 
 earthing higher up, as the peas increase in hight. All 
 peas, save the dwarfs, not only fruit better, but continue 
 longer in bearing and mature better, if they are bushed. 
 As soon as they commence to " run " to vine, or to put 
 out their clasping tendrils, which will be when about ten 
 or twelve inches high, according to variety, they should 
 be bushed or stuck. Branching sticks are thrust between 
 the drills so firmly into the ground as not to be blown 
 down, and near enough to be a sapport for all the plants. 
 This will not only be facilitated, if the sticks cross each 
 other in the row near the surface, but they will be a mu- 
 tual support. When the bushes from which the sticks 
 are to be cut are more or less convenient, the expense 
 of this sticking will be from three to five dollars per 
 acre. The first shipments are usually made from Savan- 
 nah about March 10th. The early varieties admit of 
 about five pickings; the later, one or two more; one hun- 
 dred and fifty to two hundred crates being the yield per 
 acre. 
 
 Peas were sold the past season at from one dollar and 
 fifty cents to five dollars and fifty cents per bushel crate, 
 while fifteen years ago I received twenty dollars per barrel 
 on April 5th. 
 9 
 
194 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 No pod should be picked or packed which is yet flat, 
 for the reason that the peas are not sufficiently developed; 
 and none that are discolored or rough from over-ripeness 
 should be marketed. The ordinary bushel crate is the 
 only package used at present. The contents should be 
 thoroughly shaken down, and the crate be more than full, 
 when ready to be nailed up. 
 
 The two weevils, Bruchus pisi and Bruchus granarius, 
 which 'are principally injurious to the pea, affect the 
 farmer only in so far as they are destructive to his seed, 
 the larvae inhabiting it and feeding on its substance. 
 
 Though they usually leave the germ untouched, and 
 buggy-peas will germinate, yet the plant, being without 
 
 Fig. 48. PEA-WEEVIL (Bruchus pm). Fig. 49. GHAIN BRUCHUS 
 
 a, Beetle, enlarged ; 6, Pea, with spot. (Bruchus gratiarius). 
 
 the nutriment provided for its early growth, is weak at 
 the start, and is never so vigorous and productive as 
 those from sound seed. Our common Pea- weevil (Bruchus 
 pisi) is given in fig. 48, much enlarged, its real size 
 being shown in the outline at the left. The Grain 
 Bruchus or Barn-beetle of Europe (Bruchus grananus), 
 fig. 49, infests both peas and beans. It is sometimes 
 imported with foreign seeds, but has not yet become 
 naturalized. It is somewhat smaller than the Pea- 
 beetle, and the markings of the two are very different. 
 The Cotton Boll- worm (HeliotMs armigera) is some- 
 times found feeding upon the pea, but too seldom to do 
 much harm. 
 
THE POTATO. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE POTATO (Solanum tuberosum.) 
 
 Jbmme de terre, French; Kartoffel, German; Aardappel, Dutch; Tartvfi 
 bianchi or Rmo di terra, ital ; Papas, Spanish. 
 
 The active principle, Solanin, characteristic of the 
 family Solanacece, to which the potato belongs, has been 
 found, but in much smaller proportions than in other 
 members, in the sap, in the berries, and also in tubers of 
 the potato after they had sprouted. For this reason 
 sprouted potatoes are less valuable for food than before 
 the development of sprouts, although in the process of 
 Booking a change is effected in the composition. 
 
 The chief organic ingredient of the potato is starch, 
 which forms about one-tenth of its weight. It has gen- 
 erally been admitted, that the potato was first introduced 
 by the Spaniards into Europe from South America (it is 
 still found in its wild state in the mountains of Chili), 
 and that Sir Walter Raleigh introduced it into England 
 from Virginia. Whether this is strictly the history of 
 its appearance in Europe, or not, the potato has been 
 found indigenous in Mexico and Arizona. Johnson 
 wrote: " The potato is one of the greatest blessings be- 
 stowed upon mankind; for, next to rice, it affords sus- 
 tenance to more human beings than any other gift of 
 God." Unlike the latter (the continuous use of which 
 sometimes affects the eyes), it may be the exclusive food 
 of man for an extended period without injuring the 
 system. And it is owing to the absence of any distinct 
 peculiarity of taste, to its wholesomeness and to its con- 
 sisting largely of starch, in every particular resembling 
 the flour of grain, that it may be continuously used as 
 
196 TRUCK-FAKMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 a chief article of food for a longer time than any other 
 vegetable. It is somewhat strange, that the family 
 which embraces the deadly nightshade, and other very 
 poisonous plants, should also have among its members 
 this most useful vegetable, besides a few others that are 
 mentioned in this book. 
 
 Of all the crops of the truck-farmer, the potato is the 
 one which is always salable at more or less remunerative 
 prices; its general use among all classes and nativities of 
 the population, precluding a glut in the market. 
 
 Owing to the prevalence of drouth at the North dur- 
 ing the summer of 1881, the staple crops of potatoes and 
 cabbages having been failures, the winter stock was so 
 nearly exhausted, that extensive importations were made 
 from Europe; and when our Southern crops came into 
 market, they enjoyed an unprecedented demand and high 
 prices. My own small crop sold at from six to seven 
 dollars for No. 1, averaging six dollars and sixty cents 
 per barrel, and "culls" from three dollars to four dol- 
 lars and fifty cents, averaging three dollars and forty-five 
 cents per barrel. 
 
 Those farmers who planted largely and had good crops 
 of these vegetables made a "hit" in their operations. It 
 is likely that others, induced by this success, will plant 
 potatoes and cabbages more heavily than usual, and re- 
 duce the acreage of other valuable products. I embrace 
 this occasion to advise truck-farmers, that they will 
 probably thrive better in the course of time, by confin- 
 ing themselves to their usual areas of each crop, and by 
 not allowing themselves to be influenced by periodical 
 successes with any one vegetable. 
 
 VAKIETIES. 
 
 A variety of potatoes to be cultivated by the Southern 
 truck-farmer should be productive in our climate of large 
 and even-sized tuber?, growing close together in the hill, 
 
THE POTATO. 19? 
 
 with few or no small ones, it should be early and be 
 popular enough in the Northern market to command the 
 highest prices. At present the " Early Rose " meets these 
 requirements and is generally the favorite, but the 
 " Early Sunrise," "Beauty of Hebron," and the "Bur- 
 bank," are also planted. The potato grown in Bermuda 
 is the "Chili Red." Recently some Charleston farmers 
 have planted this variety in preference to the " Early 
 Rose," the latter not having given satisfaction. 
 
 SIZE OF SEED. 
 
 One of the mooted questions in gardening is : shall we 
 plant the whole potato or cut it up into sets ? Experi- 
 ments have failed to establish any certain rule ; and the 
 intelligent farmer will understand that circumstances 
 must govern the case. 
 
 The potato tuber is not a root, for it has neither root- 
 hairs itself, nor has the stem which connects it with 
 the parent stock either fibrous roots or root-hairs and, 
 therefore, provides the plant with no nourishment; nor 
 is it a seed any more than is a stick of sugar cane a seed. 
 The tubers are nourished by elaborated sap descending 
 from the leaves through the bark. The formation of 
 abnormal tubers above the ground at the point where 
 the stem of a plant has been injured by a cut- worm, or 
 otherwise, or in the axils of branches, is, among others, 
 a proof of this. The potato is an enlarged underground 
 stem, and the eyes are buds. These buds are more numer- 
 ous at the point furthest from the plant, just as the buds 
 are closer together at the end of a branch of the fig or 
 any other tree. When the potato has dried out suffi- 
 ciently and is surrounded by favorable conditions of 
 warmth and moisture, the eyes or buds begin to grow; 
 and until roots have been emitted for their nourishment, 
 the shoots are dependent upon the starch of the sur- 
 rounding substance for their support; resembling a seed 
 in this respect. The eyes are independent of each other, 
 
198 TRUCK-FAKMItfG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 having no vital connection. If both eye and tuher be 
 sound, the shoots will grow to be healthy plants, if condi- 
 tions are favorable, whether they be planted with the en- 
 tire tuber or only connected to a small piece of its de- 
 tached substance. 
 
 The following rule has been given: cut large potatoes 
 to single eyes; small potatoes will produce as good a crop 
 if cut in pieces corresponding in size, for the young 
 sprout requires substance to push it forward. The intel- 
 ligent farmer should have an object in view, and his 
 operations should be undertaken to attain it. In this 
 case his purpose is to procure a crop of as many large 
 potatoes as possible. It will not be secured, if many 
 stalks grow from each set, any more than four or five 
 stalks of corn to the hill will produce large ears of corn, 
 though single stalks may. Whatever be the size of the 
 potato, it should be fully matured. If any Irish or Sweet 
 potatoes are found rotten in the hill, they are always the 
 largest, which have decayed after becoming over-ripe. It 
 is, therefore, safest, for fear of having many stalks in the 
 hill, to use a medium-sized tuber, cut to single eyes, pro- 
 vided the buds show signs of development. If none of 
 the eyes are developed, or only one is, that one only, 
 from the whole potato, is apt to grow, the rest re- 
 maining dormant. The eyes upon seed potatoes procured 
 from the North are very apt to sprout upon arriving in 
 our warm climate, and these should always be cut to 
 single eyes. Northern seed potatoes should not be im- 
 ported, until the farmer is ready to plant them. If the 
 first shoots are rubbed off or killed by frosts, the suc- 
 ceeding ones will be weaker and are apt to be more 
 numerous. 
 
 In cutting potatoes to single eyes, the cutter com- 
 mences at the stem end, where the eyes are less abun- 
 dant, and slices off pieces with a single eye to each, in 
 such a manner as to distribute the substance of the tuber 
 
THE POTATO. , 199 
 
 as equally as possible. If rules are to be given, they 
 should be: cut a large potato to single eyes, whether 
 sprouted or not. Small potatoes may not be ripe enough 
 to grow strong shoots; but if a small potato is enough 
 matured to put forth sturdy sprouts, cut it also to single 
 eyes; for very little substance will suffice for their sup- 
 port; but, if the potato has not sprouted, it may be 
 planted whole, without much danger of its pushing up 
 more than one stalk. Of late years, Southern truck- 
 farmers have found that home-grown seed of the second 
 crop of Irish potatoes, maturing late in the fall, whether 
 cut or not, gives the best yields, and southern seed are 
 now preferred from Norfolk to the Gulf. The tubers, 
 being a shorter time out of the ground, are not so dry, 
 and put forth only single shoots. There is no fear that 
 their first sprouts have been rubbed off before planting. 
 If frost cuts down the young plants, unlike northern 
 seed, only single shoots will appear, yielding large pota- 
 toes, instead of many too small for market. 
 
 SOIL AND CULTIVATION. 
 
 In an open, warm, sandy soil, the sets may be planted 
 soon after being cut ; but for a cool, moist and heavier 
 soil, the cut surfaces should be dried by spreading the 
 sets in the shade for a day or two, or, if put up in bulk, 
 sprinkle with lime or land-plaster. 
 
 The quantity required to plant an acre will be about 
 three to four barrels, according to the size, and the man- 
 ner of cutting the potatoes. While the plant is indig- 
 enous to Southern latitudes, it is found at considerable 
 altitudes above the level of the sea, and partakes of the 
 peculiarities of those of cool climates, generally suc- 
 ceeding better at the North than at the South. IJnlike 
 its relatives, the egg-plant and tomato, it is intolerant of 
 dryness and heat, and should therefore be planted as 
 early as the season will admit, in order to escape warm 
 weather. About February 1st is soon, enough for the 
 
200 TKUCK-FARMIHG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 " Early Kose." Some varieties start even earlier than 
 this, and a week later would better suit the " Beauty of 
 Hebron," for instance. If Southern stock is offered in 
 the Northern markets while the Northern winter supply 
 is abundant, and still of good quality, very good prices 
 can not be expected. It will, therefore, not be the pol- 
 icy of Florida growers to put in their crops much earlier 
 than the date named. 
 
 On account of its native habitat the potato requires at 
 the South a cool, moist soil. Low, black moulds in 
 river bottoms, if well drained, may give enormous yields; 
 but the product is apt to be of inferior quality and decay 
 readily, the gluten predominating over the starch in its 
 composition. No vegetable varies more in quality on 
 different soils. A variety may be fine on a good soil arid 
 nearly worthless for table use on one not adapted to it. 
 The mealiest and best-flavored potatoes are grown on 
 sandy soil, but for a satisfactory yield, a good, rich, 
 sandy loam, with an abundance of vegetable matter is 
 indispensable. 
 
 Whatever be its character, the soil should be broken 
 up deeply and thorougly mellowed, in order that it may 
 absorb and retain moisture. Freshly cleared ground, of 
 good quality, produces better crops than old land, prob- 
 ably in consequence of its greater content of potash. The 
 soil should have been previously enriched for a preced- 
 ing crop. The roots will extend beyond the drill, and 
 poor land fertilized with the same amount and quality 
 of manure in the furrow will, therefore, not produce 
 satisfactorily. 
 
 Stable manure or barn-yard manure is chiefly to be 
 relied upon by the potato grower. Composts of good 
 commercial fertilizers with leaves or leaf-mould with the 
 specially adapted potash salts, or ashes and bone-flour, 
 may be used where a sufficiency of stable manure cannot 
 be had. As a rule, land can scarcely be made too rich 
 
THE POTATO. 801 
 
 for the potato. The new varieties, unlike old ones, will 
 not run to vine from heavy manuring; but will yield in 
 proportion to their food, probably in consequence of 
 their greater, and yet undiminished vigor. Fresh, dry 
 stable manure, especially in dry, light soil, should not 
 come in contact with the sets, lest the heat destroy their 
 vitality. The same applies to Peruvian guano, fish scrap, 
 hen manure, etc. Rich animal manures may render the 
 tubers rough, ill-shaped and knobby. If the common 
 German kainit is used, it should be sown broadcast, or 
 harrowed in, two months before planting time, for fear 
 the chloride of magnesium it contains may otherwise 
 injure the crop. 
 
 The enormous prize crops reported some years ago to 
 a New York house, for instance of ten barrels, or four- 
 teen hundred and seventeen pounds from a single pound 
 of seed potatoes, nineteen pounds from a single hill of 
 two sets, prove the astonishing effects of heavy manur- 
 ing, and at the same time the possibility of the use of 
 very small sets. In some cases a single eye was subdivided 
 into ten pieces, a single pound furnished two hundred 
 and forty sets. The largest crop, per acre, upon record 
 was made about forty years ago by Mr. Knight, the cele- 
 brated horticulturist, and President of the Royal Hor- 
 ticultural Society (Eng. ), of thirty-four tons (English) 
 and nine cwt., equal to twelve hundred and eighty-four 
 bushels of sixty pounds each. 
 
 From sixty to one hundred barrels per acre is quite a 
 satisfactory crop for the Southern truck-farmer. The 
 usual mode of planting is in the drill. When in hills, 
 they are made three by two, or three by three, feet apart, 
 and two or three sets are planted in each, so that they 
 may be cultivated both ways. The land being in proper 
 condition, furrows are made by the plow three or three 
 and a half feet apart, into which the manure, if planting 
 is on a large scale, is distributed, at the rate of forty 
 
202 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 loads to the acre, by a manure-spreader, and the sets are 
 placed directly upon the manure, at from about twelve 
 to fifteen inches apart. In light, warm land, the sets may 
 at once be covered by the plow to the depth of six inches, 
 and in the subsequent cultivation no hilling up is neces- 
 sary or advisable. On cool, heavy land, it is advisable to 
 cover at first to the depth of three or four inches, and so 
 early in the stage of growth, as not to injure the roots, 
 an additional inch or two may be drawn to the plants by 
 the hoe. Subsequently the workings by plow and hoe 
 should be superficial. As soon, however, as the first 
 shoots become visible, the surface of the rows should be 
 raked over, to loosen the soil and destroy any germinat- 
 ing or young weeds, or a light harrow may be used some 
 time before the sprouts appear above the ground. A 
 single section of the Thomas-harrow with slanting teeth 
 answers the purpose admirably. 
 
 HARVESTING THE CROPS. 
 
 A potato is immature and unfit for food, so long as 
 the skin can be readily slipped from the surface. If 
 dug prematurely, they will be bruised and blackened 
 in the barrels, and be unsalable at fair prices. When 
 the plant dies, and not before, the crop may be gathered. 
 
 A good plowman may be able with a double-mould 
 plow, or potato-digger, to throw out an extensive and 
 less valuable crop than that of the truck-farmer, without 
 too much loss and bruising, but here a plow should only 
 be used to side the rows and the potatoes be dug out with 
 steel-pronged hoes, or potato-drags. 
 
 To avoid unnecessary handling, the potatoes should be 
 assorted as first quality and culls (too small tubers being 
 rejected) in the field. Cloudy weather is the best suited 
 for digging the crop. Potatoes will not endure exposure 
 to the hot sun. If packed while warmed by the sun, they 
 are apt to rot before reaching market. If dug during 
 
THE POTATO. 203 
 
 sunshine, they should be gathered as dug, carefully 
 emptied into barrels already ventilated, and either 
 promptly hauled from the field, or each barrel shaded 
 by potato vines. 
 
 The diggers should not be permitted to bruise the po- 
 tatoes by pitching them upon piles or distant rows; nor 
 the pickers by throwing them roughly into their baskets. 
 The more carefully a vegetable is handled, the better will 
 it strike the buyer's eye, and consequently, the more 
 money will it bring the grower. Whatever be its size, 
 no cut or bruised potato should be shipped in the first 
 quality, but may be included in the " culls." The bar- 
 rels must be well shaken down, and so full that the heads 
 have to be pressed upon the contents, and they should be 
 double-headed and strongly coopered. 
 
 The crop generally matures in this latitude about the 
 middle of May. An unripe potato in which the starch 
 has been imperfectly formod is slow to dry out and slow 
 to sprout. 
 
 THE SECOND CROP. 
 
 A sufficient quantity of the " culls" should, there- 
 fore, be reserved from the ripest portion of the field 
 for seed of the second crop, and stored in a cool, dry 
 place, excluded from the light. They may be covered 
 on a barn floor in alternate thin layers with very dry 
 sand, or put away in bushel crates. 
 
 If exposed to warmth and moisture two or three 
 weeks before planting time, sprouting may be hastened 
 and a better stand be secured. The time to put in the 
 second crop is from the latter part of July to August 
 10th. If the eyes have sprouted, the tubers should be 
 cut, but otherwise planted whole. 
 
 As at this time the weather is warm and the season 
 of growth short, they should be well manured and the 
 land deeply broken up and pulverized to retain mois- 
 
204 TRtTCK-FARMtsrG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 ture. The crop will be matured before frost, which 
 generally occurs about November 1st, when it should 
 be dug and the seed stored away, as recommended above. 
 
 DISEASES AND IKSECTS. 
 
 The fungoid disease, sometimes so destructive to the 
 potato crops of Europe, and of the northern part of this 
 continent, will rarely, if ever, affect our early crops of 
 early varieties, and the later ones must be exempt in 
 consequence of the heat, as cool moisture seems neces- 
 sary for the development of this disease. 
 
 TJie earliest crops at the North escape great injury 
 from the Colorado Potato-beetle (Doryphora 10-lineata), 
 and ours will therefore remain exempt from that pest, 
 should it come South. The insects infesting the potato 
 at the South are of the Lepidoptera: 
 First Gortynia nitela (the Potato-stalk borer). 
 Second Sphinx quinquemaculata (the Potato-worm). 
 
 Among the Coleoptera. 
 
 Third Baridius trinotatus (the Potato-stalk weevil). 
 Fourth Lema trilineata (the Three-lined Leaf -beetle). 
 Fifth Laohnosterna quercina (the White-grub). 
 Sixth Deloyala, clavata (the Clubbed Tortoise-beetle). 
 Seventh Lytta marginata (Margined Blister-beetle). 
 Eighth Lytta vittata (Striped Blister-beetle). 
 Ninth Lytta cinerea (Ash-grey Blister-beetle). 
 The first three of these attack the plant only in the 
 larval state. 
 
 Numbers 1 and 3 are more injurious than any 
 others, as they devour a vital part, and live within the 
 stalks. The Potato-stalk Borer lives within the stalks 
 of several plants including the Dahlia and other flowers, 
 and attacks the tomato as well as the potato. When 
 full grown, it enters the earth, and in about two months 
 comes out as a small moth, fig. 50. 
 
THE POTATO. 
 
 205 
 
 The Potato-stalk Weevil lives within the stalk in a 
 similar manner to the borer, but it undergoes its changes 
 
 Fig. 50. THE POTATO-STALK BORER. 
 Moth. Larva. 
 
 within the stem, and finally appears as a small beetle. 
 The different stages are shown in fig. 51. When a vine 
 
 Fig. 51. THE POTATO STALK WEEVIL. 
 a, Larva ; b, Pupa ; c, Beetle. 
 
 is seen to wilt, or to be dying, the stems should be ex- 
 amined for the larvae, and burnt to prevent an increase of 
 
 the insect. The worms 
 of the potato and to- 
 mato-moth and the 
 other insects, exclu- 
 sive of the blister- 
 beetles, are not numer- 
 ous enough to inflict 
 much injury. The 
 Three-lined leaf-beetle 
 
 feeds UpOU the plant 
 j n | tg ] arva ] an fl per . 
 
 feet state. The larvae can be distinguished from any 
 others, by being covered, like the larvae of the Tortoise- 
 
 Fig. 52. THREE-LINED LEAP BEETLE. 
 a, Larva; ft, End of Body; c, Pupa; a, Eggs. 
 
206 TKUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 beetles, by its own excrement, as shown in fig. 52. The 
 perfect insect has a general resemblance to the Striped 
 Cucumber-beetle. 
 
 The White Grub is a general feeder, and destroys the 
 roots of many different plants. The larva is shown at 
 fig. 53, and the perfect beetle, the well-known June-bug, 
 in fig. 54. 
 
 The principal insect enemies of the sweet-potato are 
 the Tortoise-beetles, of which there are several, some of 
 
 Fig. 55. 
 
 "Fig. 53. Fig. 54. CLUBBED TOR- 
 
 WHITE GRUB. JUNE-BUG. TOI8E-BEETLE. 
 
 them of singular beauty. One of them, the Clubbed 
 Tortoise-beetle (Deloyala clavata, fig. 55), forms an ex- 
 ception, and selects the common or Irish potato as its 
 food plant, feeding upon it in its perfect state, the larva 
 of this species being unknown. 
 
 The Blister-beetles feed upon the foliage in the perfect 
 state only. They are sometimes quite abundant, particu- 
 larly upon the second crop. Some of the farmers near 
 Savannah were compelled to use Paris green last season, 
 to stay the ravages of Lytta mdrginata. 
 
THE EADISH. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE RADISH (Raphanus sativus). 
 
 Radis and Rave French ; EetHg, German ; Tamme radijs^ Dutch ; Rofan(\ 
 Italian ; and Jlabano, Spanish. 
 
 The Radish is not known in the wild state, and its 
 native country is doubtful. It is mentioned as being 
 cultivated in England in 1584. 
 
 The radish, to be marketable, should not lose its ac- 
 ceptable crispness, and I have, therefore, never heard of 
 its satisfactory cultivation for the Northern markets 
 south of Norfolk. 
 
 The varieties there used are: "Th? Long Scarlet Short 
 Top," and "The Scarlet Tur- 
 nip," which are sown, as the 
 season will admit, at any time 
 from Christmas to the last 01 
 February. A light, mellow soil 
 is best adapted to this crop, as 
 it produces cleaner, nicer rad- 
 ishes, and of better flavor, than 
 a heavier soil. This applies 
 particularly to the longer-rooted 
 va-ieties. The manure should Flg 56._ SCARLET ' TUUNIP , 
 be deeply plowed under. The BADISH. 
 
 field having been plowed in narrow lands and finely 
 harrowed, the seed is sown broadcast at the rate of 
 about twelve pounds to the acre, and covered with a 
 light harrow. The crop is sometimes large enough 
 to be marketable in March, but it is generally shipped 
 throughout April. The radishes are washed, bunched, 
 and packed tightly in ventilated barrels, generally 
 holding about two hundred bunches. The price 
 
208 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 ranges low; but these vegetables sometimes sell as high 
 as eight dollars per barrel. In case of very warm weather, 
 a lump of ice is of late years sometimes packed in the 
 centre of the barrel. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 SPINACH (Spinacia oleraced). 
 
 Epinard, French ; Spinat, German ; Spinagie, Dutch ; Spinaci, Italian ; 
 Espinaca, Spanish. 
 
 The common Spinach is an annual plant, supposed to 
 be a native of Western Asia and to have been introduced 
 into England about the commencement of the sixteenth 
 century. Spinach is very extensively used at the North, 
 and when the supply of other green vegetables has been 
 short, that grown at Norfolk has sold for eight dollars 
 per barrel; but the price is very variable. I have never 
 heard of its being grown for the Northern markets, as far 
 south as Charleston. The variety raised at Norfolk is 
 the " Improved Curled American Savoy." The seed is 
 sown from September 10th until October 15th, in drills 
 thirty inches apart, requiring from ten to twelve pounds 
 to the acre. The land must be warm and strong, and 
 the plant requires exceedingly rich manuring. The gar- 
 deners at Norfolk supplement their stable manure with 
 Peruvian guano. Some of them add to the heavy ma- 
 nuring given in the fall a top-dressing of a ton to the acre 
 of the best guano. The crop occasionally pays well, but 
 costs the best growers one hundred and fifty dollars per 
 
THE SQUASH. 20H 
 
 acre to raise it. When the land is very good, the rows 
 may be only eighteen inches apart. This plant, like the 
 cauliflower, must never be stunted, but be pushed from 
 the start. 
 When the leaves are about an inch broad, the plants 
 
 Fig. 57. SPINACH. 
 
 are thinned to from six to eight inches. The crop must 
 be frequently hoed. The Norfolk crop is marketed ID 
 March, and is packed tightly in ventilated barrels. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVI. 
 
 THE SQUASH (CucurUta Pepo.) 
 Courge Melonee, French ; Melonenkurbis, German. 
 
 The Squash is a native of the Levant, and was first 
 introduced into England in 1597. The Summer Squash 
 is an early vegetable, bears transportation well, if picked 
 at a proper stage of growth, and brings satisfactory, 
 though never fancy prices. Sometimes, however, a part 
 of the crop may be left on the farmer's hands, With the 
 
210 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 large, but late and unproductive winter squashes, the 
 truck-farmer has no concern. Of the early summer 
 squashes the two varieties cultivated for the Northern 
 
 Fig. 58. SQUASH WHITE BUSH SCALLOP. 
 
 markets are: the "Early White Bush Scallop," fig. 58, 
 and the " Early Summer Crook-neck," fig. 59. 
 
 The latter is much the best flavored of all the bush 
 squashes. It is of a dark orange color and is covered 
 with warty excrescences. When sufficiently grown for 
 
 Fig. 59. SQUASH SUMMER CROOK-NECK. 
 
 shipment, it is about ten inches long. Although this 
 may sometimes be preferred, and occasionally command 
 a better price, the scallop squash is the favorite, as it 
 bears transportation and is packed much better, The 
 
THE SQUASH. 211 
 
 "Boston Marrow" and "Hubbard" have recently been 
 grown for shipment. These are winter, running varie- 
 ties, and must be planted from eight to ten feet apart. 
 If one saves his own squash seed, he must avoid having 
 any others of the same family growing near by. 
 
 SOIL AND CULTIVATION. 
 
 The squash is a little more hardy than the melon and 
 cucumber, and is planted from about the last of February 
 up to the middle of March, in the latitude of Savannah, 
 and, of course, earlier to the southward. This crop re- 
 quires a light, warm soil, and liberal manuring, particularly 
 when planted so early. It is usually grown in hills four 
 or five feet apart each way, the manure being dug in 
 somewhat, as recommended for melons, at the rate of 
 two shovelfuls to the hill. From six to ten seeds are 
 sown to each hill, and the plants thinned to a stand after 
 the development of a couple of rough leaves. 
 
 Instead of growing in the hill, and leaving two plants 
 in each as is usually practised, I prefer to manure in the 
 drill, to sow the seed at two feet apart, and to leave, final- 
 ly, but a single plant every two feet. If sown as early as 
 March 1st, it is advisable to make at least a second sowing. 
 The cultivation is the same as for cucumbers. 
 
 MARKETING. 
 
 If squashes intended for shipment to the Northern 
 markets, were to be picked, or rather cut (for they 
 should never be broken from the plant) in as green and 
 tender condition, as for the local demand, they would 
 arrive at their destination, bruised, blackened, and unsal- 
 able. Even if they could be delivered in sound condition, 
 squashes in such an early stage of growth would not suit 
 the trade. The proper time to pick them is when they 
 have nearly attained their full growth, and for the scallop 
 variety, just as they h^ve lost the green, and are acquiring 
 
TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 a white and glossy appearance. At this time the rind is 
 still penetrable by the finger nail. 
 
 Squashes may be shipped either in barrels or crates, 
 and they must be so carefully packed as not to be bruised 
 during transportation. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 The insects infesting the squash plant, besides the al- 
 ready mentioned striped-bug (Diabrotica vittata), which 
 is more frequently on the cucumber, are: 
 
 First The Twelve-spotted Squash-beetle (Diabrotica 
 12-punctata). 
 
 Second The Squash-bug (Anasa trislis). 
 
 Third The Squash vine-borer (JZgeria cucurUtce). 
 
 Fourth The Melon- worm (Phacellura Jiyalinitalis). 
 
 Fifth The Squash Lady-bird (Coccinella borealis). 
 
 The injuries inflicted by, and the remedies applicable 
 to the twelve-spotted squash-beetle, and the cucumber- 
 beetle or striped-bug, are identical and are described un- 
 der " Cucumber." 
 
 The offensively smelling, rusty-black colored, hemip- 
 terous "squash -bug" affects the plant in the larval 
 and perfect state. It destroys the leaves in a manner 
 similar to the harlequin cabbage-bug, by sucking out 
 their juice. The yellowish brown eggs are laid in little 
 clusters on the underside of the leaves. Both eggs and 
 insects are readily detected, and may be hand-picked. 
 The squash vine-borer lives, and inflicts its injury within 
 the stem of the plant. The first indication of its presence 
 is the wilting of the vine. The larvae may be killed by 
 destroying such vines, to prevent the increase of the in- 
 sect. The melon- worm (see "Melon") only attacks the 
 later crop of squashes, and should be destroyed whenever 
 found. The squash lady-bird, is the only species of the 
 Coccinellidae which does not befriend the farmer. This 
 insect feeds both in its larval and perfect state upon the 
 
SWEET-POTATO. 213 
 
 leaves of the squash. The eggs are deposited in groups 
 on the under surface of the leaves. The color is dull 
 yellow with nineteen black spots on the thorax and wing 
 covers. Hand-picking is the remedy. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 SWEET-POTATO (Ipomcea Batatas). 
 Ibtate, French ; Susze Kartoffel, German. 
 
 The native country of the Sweet-potato is unknown, 
 some authors accrediting it to America, and others to the 
 East Indies. It was used as a delicacy in England, long 
 before the Irish potato was known, it having been im- 
 ported from Spain. The plant was introduced into Eng- 
 land by Gerarde in 1597. Were it not for the fact 
 that the taste for this potato and the manner of cooking 
 it at the North differ so much from that common at the 
 South, the sweet-potato could be made a very profit- 
 able crop. Here it is baked, while at the North it 
 is usually boiled. The most salable, and, in fact, the 
 only extensively marketable variety in any of the North- 
 ern markets, is the "Delaware," "Jersey," or, more 
 correctly, the (( Nansemond," (at one time called the 
 "Brimstone "), which at the South is regarded as a most 
 inferior sort, unfit for the table, unsalable in local mar- 
 kets, and, in consequence of its unproductiveness, un- 
 suitable for cultivation. While boiling will make any of 
 the Yam varieties mushy, baking renders the Nansemond 
 like so much dry flour. Although I have several times 
 received nine dollars and ten dollars per barrel for the 
 Nansemond of the first quality, in Boston and Baltimore, 
 
214 TRUCK-FARMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 I have for years abandoned the crop. Many of the tubers 
 do not attain a marketable size in time to anticipate the 
 Virginia crop, or before August 1st, and therefore the 
 whole fails to be remunerative. The other varieties pro- 
 duce few, but uniformly large, potatoes, while the Nan- 
 semond has a great number of small ones. Still, circum- 
 stances may alter the case, and others may succeed better 
 with this variety than I have done. The sweet-potato 
 would be then a profitable crop. The other varieties may 
 produce from two hundred to eight hundred bushels to 
 the acre; but several of the Yam varieties split open and 
 become useless when highly manured and grown to a large 
 size, say from two to six pounds. This objection does 
 not apply to the Pumpkin Yam, which is also a produc- 
 tive and good table potato for home use. 
 
 KAISINQ THE "DBAWS" OB SETS. 
 
 The sweet-potato is propagated by " draws " (or 
 " slips " in the up country, and " sets " or plants at the 
 North), by " roots," as the Irish potato, and by " slips" 
 or cuttings of the vines taken from the growing plants. 
 
 The crop of the truck-farmer is grown only by 
 "draws." The chief danger in producing these consists 
 in killing the eyes by exposing them to too much heat. 
 In this latitude, and further South, they are more safely 
 grown in cold-frames, prepared about the last of Janu- 
 ary. The light, warm soil of a cold frame having been 
 dug up, raked, and leveled, the seed potatoes are placed 
 on the surface, a half-inch or so apart. Specimens of 
 more than about two and a half inches in diameter may 
 be divided in two, lengthwise, and the halves laid on the 
 bed with the cut surface down. 
 
 If the weather and the soil are dry, the potatoes may 
 be watered and then covered evenly with about three and 
 a half inches of light soil. The soil will settle a little. 
 The frames should never be closely covered with the sash, 
 
SWEET-POTATO. 215 
 
 even at night, except in cold weather, and never in 
 bright sunshine. In dry weather, the soil may require 
 watering. 
 
 In case the draws are well grown, even commencing to 
 " run" and crowd each other, hefore the season admits 
 of their being transferred to the open ground, they may 
 be drawn and heeled-in closely in another cold frame, to 
 await favorable weather. In the meantime other sprouts 
 will form for another pulling. To heel them in most 
 expeditiously, a wedge-shaped opening is made across the 
 bed, by plunging the spade into the moist soil to its full 
 depth, and pushing it backwards and forwards. Such a 
 drill will hold several hundred plants. The opening of 
 the next drill, five or six inches distant, will press the 
 soil to the roots of the plants in the first drill. They 
 may be put out as soon as danger from frost is supposed 
 to be past; in this latitude about April 1st, and earlier at 
 the Southward. They may, however, precede other ten- 
 der plants, for a hoar frost will not kill potato draws out- 
 right if they were properly transplanted. The soil best 
 adapted to the sweet-potato is a warm, well-drained, 
 light, sandy loam, or pure sand. 
 
 PREPARING THE SOIL. 
 
 This is an exception to all other vegetables, inasmuch 
 that the soil should not be deeply stirred. A hard bot- 
 tom to the row is needed to induce a short, plump growth 
 of the potatoes. On deeply plowed, sandy soil, on a 
 porous subsoil, the " Yellow Red" variety has grown 
 over a yard in length and but an inch or less in diameter, 
 and very few well-shaped potatoes were in a crop. If the 
 surface is to be stirred, it should be done by a small plow 
 as superficially as possible, or by means of a horse-hoe. 
 The old-fashioned "listing," where the plants are to be 
 put out on an elevated ridge, or bed, is the best prepara- 
 tion, the only objection being, that in case it is necessary 
 
#16 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 to cover in much vegetable matter, the beds must be 
 made high, in order to furnish soil enough in which to 
 set the plants. Further North such beds are necessary; 
 but for this latitude and to the Southward, on light, 
 warm, ^ell-drained soils, I disapprove of high, pointed 
 beds, because of their drying out so rapidly. The Nan- 
 semond will not thrive in heat and dryness. Well-rotted 
 stable or cow-pen manure, or a good compost, should be 
 spread upon the list at the rate of twenty-five loads to 
 the acre, and covered by the plow. On clean land, with- 
 out any list, it is spread on the surface in rows, three and 
 a half feet apart, and covered with soil. The ridges 
 should be raked down to within a few inches above the 
 general surface. 
 
 Potash is especially needed in the soil for this crop. 
 The best manuring that can be given to land for the 
 sweet-potato is by cow-penning it. Apart from the 
 adaptability of the manure for the needs of the crop, a 
 special benefit results from the compacting of the soil by 
 the trampling of the cattle. 
 
 No variety produces a more satisfactory draw than the 
 Nansemond. It has more abundant and longer roots 
 than any other, which may be more readily pulled from 
 the potato without disturbing it in the bed. 
 
 TRANSPLANTING. 
 
 The draws are put out with a trowel, or a flat or round 
 dibble, on the tops of the ridges, about fifteen inches 
 apart, and inserted one or two joints deeper than they 
 originally grew. They are thus not only likely to bear 
 better, but are safer from injury by a severe white frost; 
 they will not be killed outright, but will sprout again 
 from the buds on the stems that are below the surface. 
 In subsequent culture, superficial hoeing, with one plow- 
 ing, as the vines commence to run, will suffice, care being 
 observed never to cover any part of a vine. 
 
SWEET-POTATO. 21? 
 
 DIGGING THE CROP. 
 
 When the crop is to be dug, if the vines are not very 
 abundant (a luxuriant growth above ground is by no 
 means a sure indication of a good crop below it), they 
 may be torn away by the plow, the point not being 
 permitted to enter the ground. This is only practi- 
 cable with the Nansemond and other small-vined varie- 
 ties. The " Peabody," " White Yam," and some others, 
 have vines that are too thick and strong. If the growth 
 is too heavy, they must be stripped with sharp hoes; 
 when the rows may be sided by the plow and the crop 
 dug with steel prong-hoes. The gathering, assorting, 
 and packing are the same as in the case of the Irish 
 potato, with the exception that sweet potatoes are less 
 susceptible of injury by sunshine, and they may be ex- 
 posed long enough for the soil to become dry and rub off 
 in the handling. 
 
 POTATOES FOR SEED. 
 
 The proper time to put up seed potatoes for the next 
 crop is as late as possible in the fall, or after the first 
 white frost has touched the leaves. The opinion gen- 
 erally prevails that potatoes grown from draws will not 
 keep well. Probably it is so, only because such are 
 over-ripe. Seed potatoes are saved from plantings of 
 slips or cuttings. The earlier they can be made, as soon 
 as the vines have grown long enough and the weather 
 is sufficiently wet, generally in this latitude about June 
 1st, the better. The longest, and, therefore, hardiest 
 vines being selected, an evenly laid bundle as large as 
 the hand can grasp is placed on a board, and cut with 
 a sharp hatchet in lengths of about fifteen or eighteen 
 inches, rejecting the delicate end pieces. These cuttings 
 are laid across the ridges at twelve or fifteen inches 
 apart, and pressed down into the soil by means of a 
 10 
 
218 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 notched dibble (figure 60). The vine is fixed about 
 its middle in the notch, thus making, as it were, a 
 double cutting. If vines are scarce, single cuttings may 
 be made of four or five joints, the lower three leaves 
 being cut away. These may be planted with a com- 
 mon dibble. 
 
 The cultivation is the same as before. The seed may 
 be preserved in a dry cellar, but is usually put up in po- 
 tato banks. The surface in a dry situation 
 is leveled and covered to the depth of four 
 of five irfches, with dry pine straw; the po- 
 tatoes are placed upon this, storing not 
 more than fifteen or twenty bushels in each 
 bank. Pile them in as sharp a cone as pos- 
 sible, and cover first with pine straw, then 
 closely with corn stalks, in order to shed 
 Fig. 60. SWEET- tne ra j ns an( j finally with five or six inches 
 
 POTATO DIBBLE. ' . ? 
 
 of soil. This covering will absorb the mois- 
 ture which escapes from the potatoes, but large banks 
 should be provided with a ventilating hole at the top, 
 the admission of rain water being prevented by a cover. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 The insects that attack the sweet-potato are: 
 
 First. Haltica cucumeris, (Cucumber Flea-beetle). 
 
 Second. Sphinx cingulata, (Sweet-potato-moth). 
 
 Third Cassida bivittata, (Two-striped Tortoise-beetle). 
 
 Fourth. Cassida aurichakea, (Golden Tortoise-beetle). 
 
 Fifth. Cassida guttata, (Mottled Tortoise-beetle). 
 
 Sixth Cassida nigripes,( Black-legged Tortoise-beetle). 
 
 Seventh. Chelymorpha cassidea. 
 
 The first-named and smallest of these (described under 
 "Cucumber") is the most injurious, attacking the few 
 leaves of the young plants as soon as they are put out. 
 The remedy for the flea-beetles, dusting with lime, soot, 
 or Paris green if very abundant, may be resorted to. 
 
SWEET-POTATO. 
 
 219 
 
 The large green worm of the sweet-potato-moth 
 (Sphinx cingulatd) very much resembles the tomato- 
 
 Fig. 61. TWO-STRIPED TORTOISE-BEETLE ( Cassida bivittato). 
 1: Larva, natural size .- 2, Larva ; 3, Pupa ; 4, Beetle, all magnified. 
 
 worm, but is not in sufficient force to do much injury. 
 The moth is especially distinguished from Sphinx Carolina 
 
 Fig. 62. GOLDEN TORTOISE-BEETLE ( Cassida auricMlcea). 
 a, Larva, natural size ; b, enlarged, with dung removed ; c, Pupa ; d, Beetle. 
 
 and Sphinx quinquemaculata by its pink-striped under- 
 wings. The larvae of the tortoise-beetles, although some- 
 
 Fig. 63. MOTTLED TORTOISE-BEETLE ( Cassidci guttata). 
 a, Larva ; b, Pupa. 
 
 times abundant, are not sufficiently so to diminish the 
 crop of the truck-farmer. They have, like those of 
 
TRUCK-PARMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 Lema trilineata, the peculiar habit of covering themselves 
 with their own excrement. 
 
 The past season, I noticed, for the first time, a number 
 of the perfect insects of Clielymorplia cassidea feeding up- 
 on the sweet-potato. It is said to feed upon the milk- 
 weed, and, I believe, has been found on the wild convol- 
 vulus, or morning glory. It is a yellow, oblong-oval, 
 beetle, somewhat similar to the tortoise-beetle in form, 
 about three-eighths of an inch long, with a pair of black 
 dots on each side of the thorax, and six black spots on 
 each wing-cover. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE TOMATO (Lycopersicum esculentum). 
 
 Tomate, French ; Liebes-Apfel, German ; Appeltjes des liefde, Dutch ; 
 Ibmo cToro, Italian ; Tomates, Spanish. 
 
 The order Solanacece or Nightshade family contains 
 over twelve hundred species, among which are three of our 
 most wholesome and important vegetables the Irish 
 potato, the tomato, and the egg-plant. It also includes 
 the red pepper and the narcotics, bittersweet, belladonna, 
 Jamestown or " Jimson weed," the tobacco and others. 
 
 The Tomato was first introduced into Europe from 
 South America in 1596; but for many years it was ex- 
 clusively cultivated as an ornament to the flower-garden. 
 It came very gradually into use in the preparation 
 of sauces and in soups, having attained popularity only 
 within the last forty years. In the north of the European 
 continent and in England it is not yet popularized; while 
 in France and Italy, particularly near Home and Naples, 
 
THE TOMATO. 
 
 it is produced in large quantities. It is a strange fact 
 that, in Sicily, the tomato, when ripe, becomes sour and 
 so unfit for use that the island has to be supplied from 
 the vicinity of Naples on the neighboring mainland. 
 
 Like all vegetables, grown on such an extensive scale, 
 and so well adapted for transportation to distant markets, 
 the prices the tomato commands are very variable. The 
 farm-gardeners on Long Island and other points in the 
 vicinity of New York rarely receive better prices than 
 from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel, while 
 fine stock arriving early on a bare market, has occasion- 
 ally brought very high prices. Thus, some years ago, I 
 received sixteen dollars per bushel-crate in Baltimore 
 (a,t the rate of eight cents each), and in Boston and Balti- 
 more, which are the best markets for this vegetable, I 
 have frequently received eight and ten dollars per bushel- 
 crate. Now that Florida anticipates more Northern 
 localities in shipping tomatoes (though very frequently 
 of inferior quality, sufficient care not having been paid 
 to assorting and packing), these prices are past. The 
 returns no\v range between one dollar and fifty cents and 
 five dollars per crate, according to the length of the ship- 
 ping season. The yield is from one hundred to two hun- 
 dred crates per acre. At the North, where five thousand 
 plants are required to the acre, and where the bearing 
 and picking season is longer, four hundred bushels are 
 obtainable. 
 
 VAKIETIES. 
 
 The great number of varieties enumerated in seed cata- 
 logues has only interest for the amateur. There is little 
 or no difference in the time of maturing the fruit, what- 
 ever claim may be made in the advertisements. This is 
 probably owing to the neglect to save seed repeatedly from 
 the choicest and earliest fruit. A good market variety 
 should be of medium size, round and smooth, with e^ 
 
222 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 seeds ; it must be firm, must ripen evenly and have a 
 bright red color. The " Acme," " Livingston's Beauty" 
 and "Perfection," the " Bound Smooth Red," and the 
 " Hathaway " fill these requirements ; the first-named 
 is at present preferred. The "Trophy" and "Fejee 
 Island " are both of excellent quality and appearance, but 
 the first is objectionable on account of its too great size 
 (not satisfactorily measurable by the quart), and the lat- 
 ter on account of its shape. The "Pear-shaped" and 
 the "Yellow" and "Ked Cherry" are only used for 
 pickles and preserves. 
 
 SELECTION OF SOIL. 
 
 The tomato will better resist drouth than it will too 
 much rain, and indeed better than most vegetables; the 
 soil, therefore, best adapted to this crop is a sandy 
 one, or a high sandy loam. On low ground, well 
 drained or not, in dry or wet seasons, the plants 
 are liable to die out about the commencement of 
 bearing. The fruit will even rot on high sandy 
 soil, when the plants are manured with muck that has 
 been exposed to the atmosphere for eight months. The 
 tomato is not a gross feeder; it prefers a poor soil to one 
 that is too fertile, nor will the plant bear any considerable 
 application of stimulating fertilizers, such as Peruvian 
 guano, hoof -trimmings, fish scrap, etc., which will 
 certainly cause it to run to vine, and to make the fruit, 
 particularly the first, decay before attaining full size. 
 Those which do mature will be watery and not carry well. 
 A good crop can be made with one shovelful of well -rotted 
 stable or cow manure, or good compost, to the hill, or 
 upon a soil which has recently produced a well manured 
 crop. In the last case no manuring would be needed. 
 
 SOWING THE SEED. 
 
 Slow growth being requisite to produce good stocky 
 plants, the seed should be sown about January 1st on un' 
 
THE TOMATO. 223 
 
 manured soil, in cold frames, in drills across the beds four 
 inches apart ; and earlier or later, according to the de- 
 gree of latitude south or north of Savannah. On heav- 
 ier soils, use a slight bottom heat, light manuring, and 
 sow ten days earlier. If, after sowing, the weather 
 should be cold and cloudy, the ground should be kept 
 warm by means of the glass; but if warm, with much 
 sunshine, the frames must be kept open or shaded, and 
 the soil moist, until the plants have come up. Under 
 the shade and moisture of the front boards of the frame 
 the plants are apt to damp off, and to grow small and 
 slender under the reflection of the sun near the back. It 
 is therefore advisable to sow the seed more thinly near 
 the front and back than in the middle of the bed. To 
 avoid a too spindling and crowded growth, the plants 
 should be thinned as soon as they are large enough to be 
 handled with safety, and transplanted to fill vacant spaces 
 in other cold frames, or thrown away. A tomato plant 
 should never be put out in the open field, if avoidable, 
 without having been previously transplanted. When the 
 plant is pricked out deeper than it stood in the seed bed, 
 it will throw out numerous small fibrous roots along the 
 stem and at the root, to which the soil will adhere, when 
 again taken up; and will therefore be apt to suffer less 
 check at the final transplanting. When about four inches 
 high, near the middle of February, pricking out into 
 other cold frames, with the soil as in the seed bed, should 
 be commenced. Set the plants down to the seed leaves 
 at three or four inches apart, or if very large plants are 
 desired, more space may be allowed to each. At those 
 distances, each three by six-foot sash will cover from one 
 hundred and sixty-five to two hundred and ninety plants, 
 and an acre will require the use of at least eleven sashes. 
 A very stocky growth can be obtained by stopping or 
 cutting off the tops of the plants just above the seed 
 leaves, as soon as vigorous growth has commenced. They 
 
224 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 will throw out a stem at the axil of each seed leaf ; 
 thus producing, as it were, two plants from each root, 
 which, when planted out deeply, will support each other 
 and tend to increase the yield. If this is done before the 
 plants have taken root, only one bud is likely to develop. 
 If the pricked out plants become too crowded, pinch 
 
 Fig. 64. BOX FOR TOMATO PLANTS. 
 
 off some of the lower leaves to promote a stockier growth 
 and cause side shoots to push. It may pay those, who 
 can ship the earliest tomatoes, to prick out into pots or 
 into boxes, plunging the boxes in cold frames. 
 
 BOXES FOR TOMATO PLANTS. 
 
 Before shipments from Florida by their greater earli- 
 ness anticipated my crops of Tomatoes, I used boxes like 
 
THE TOMATO. 
 
 those in fig. 64, holding twenty plants each. These 
 measured twenty-three and three-fourths by eighteen 
 inches by seven inches high; they were made with two 
 end boards eighteen by seven inches, and three-inch laths 
 twenty-three and three-fourths inches long. When made 
 of these dimensions and placed in contact in rows of three 
 boxes across the bed, a cold frame six feet wide will rest 
 with its upper and lower edges upon the adjoining end 
 boards of the boxes. The boxes may be less than seven 
 inches deep. They are filled with soil which has 
 been screened or is naturally free from roots, sticks, peb- 
 bles, etc. Before removal from the frames, the soil must 
 be saturated with water, when the plants can be cut out 
 :n the field with a sharp-edged brick-layer's trowel and 
 placed with blocks of soil adhering to the roots, in 
 squares previously made by the plow, using a double 
 mould-board. A hoeful of soil drawn to each side of 
 the plant finishes the planting. In this manner plants 
 may be put out on the highest ground, in the driest 
 weather, and during the hottest midday sunshine, without 
 wilting or the slightest apparent check to growth. 
 
 TKANSPLANTING. 
 
 If, however, the plants pricked out into cold frames 
 are taken up carefully, with as much moistened soil ad- 
 hering to the roots as possible, they may be planted out 
 with the dibble or trowel, without loss, when the soil is 
 only moist enough for the holes to be made, the recom- 
 mendations given in the chapter on " Transplanting," 
 being closely observed. 
 
 The distances at which the plants are put out will de- 
 pend upon the fertility of the land and the variety ; the 
 usual distances are three to three and one-half feet in the 
 rows, which are from four to six feet apart. The season 
 and danger of frost will determine when to put out 
 the plants, which is about April 1st. A tomato plant, 
 
226 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 however, if of stocky growth, will resist a slight frost, 
 and the earlier it can be put out the better. If white frost 
 be apprehended, the plants may be protected when grown 
 on a small scale, by means of boxes or any other screen, 
 or by smoke; but when on a large scale it is cheaper 
 to have a surplus on hand, in case of loss by frost. 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 The first workings are done with a cultivator or a horse- 
 hoe, running both ways. The plow and hoe leave the crop 
 free from weeds, and on wide beds, at the time picking 
 commences, the soil will be well drawn up to the stems, 
 but without having covered up the young shoots issuing 
 from the main stem, and which will bear fruit. Train- 
 ing the vines to a single pole or to two placed parallel, 
 or to a trellis, may be practiced on a small scale. Prun- 
 ing the vines is not advisable. The fruit matures in this 
 latitude about June 1st. Below is a table showing the 
 dates of sowing, pricking out, planting and harvest for 
 seven consecutive years: 
 
 Dates of sowing. 
 Jan. 14. 
 Jan. 14. 
 Jan. 9. 
 Jan. 4. 
 Jan. 5. 
 Jan. 8. 
 Dec. 19. 
 
 of pricking out. 
 Feb. 15. 
 Feb. 17. 
 Feb. 20. 
 Feb. 26. 
 Feb. 28. 
 Feb. 12. 
 Feb. 12. 
 
 of planting. 
 March 27. 
 March 16. 
 March 26. 
 April 1. 
 March 24. 
 April 1. 
 March 19. 
 
 of harvest. 
 June 5. 
 June 7. 
 June 3. 
 May 30. 
 May 22. 
 May 28. 
 May 31. 
 
 PICKING AND PACKING. 
 
 The distance from market, or time required in trans- 
 portation, will determine the stage of ripeness at which the 
 fruit is to be picked. Fruit exposed fairly to the sun will 
 show the commencement of the ripening process on the 
 upper surface, while that in the dense shade of luxuri- 
 ant foliage will first rsdden on the flower end. In the 
 vicinity of Charleston and Savannah, the proper stage has 
 been reached, when the tomato has attained a yellow 
 cast; and in Florida, as soon as it is full-grown and 
 
THE TOMATO. 227 
 
 shows the least sign of " turning." Generally the pick- 
 ing is done there, when the tomato is much too green to 
 ripen properly, and at the cost of the producer. The 
 pickers should not place leaky or decaying fruit in their 
 baskets to soil the rest. Tomatoes, like all other stock 
 for which good prices are expected, should be carefully 
 assorted, both as to quality and degree of ripeness, all 
 inferior or worm-eaten fruit being strictly excluded. To- 
 matoes should not be emptied out of the baskets into 
 the crates and shaken down like potatoes, but packed 
 singly, in order that they may lie compactly, so that 
 upon arrival in market, each package may present a full 
 and unshaken appearance. In the moie careful packing 
 practised in later years, the fruit has been wrapped in 
 paper. This wrapping protects the remainder of the 
 fruit from leaking or decay in the crate. Paper for the 
 purpose should be porous, soft and strong. Pieces seven 
 inches square (forty-nine square inches) will answer for 
 fruit of medium size. 
 
 A tomato as it is picked from the plant may fre- 
 quently present a perfectly sound appearance, until the 
 stem is removed, when it is found to contain a well- 
 grown worm of Heliothis armigera the Cotton-boll 
 worm ; the insect, while very small, having penetrated 
 the fruit under the calyx. A reason for rubbing off all 
 the stems, is, the danger of their bruising other fruit or 
 tearing the wrapping paper. In our Southern climate, 
 an early tomato plant will not continue in bearing be- 
 yond the first part of August ; but a succession may be 
 secured by putting out plants in July from seed sown in 
 May, or early in June. From this crop, grown in hot 
 weather, however, neither the yield nor the size of the 
 fruit will be as satisfactory as the earlier one. Plants 
 may also be propagated from cuttings of old vines, if set 
 out in moist ground ; but many frequently fail to take 
 root. 
 
228 TBUCK-FAKMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 SAVING THE SEEDS. 
 
 For seed, the earliest well-matured, and in every re* 
 spect, the choicest fruit should be selected, and those 
 which were grown on soil best adapted to the tomato. 
 As the objectionable knobby fruit is produced from dou- 
 ble flowers, and these are said to result from the use of 
 old seed, the fruit from which to save seed should only 
 be gathered from plants raised from fresh seed. The 
 fruit, when soft arid over-ripe, should be mashed in any 
 convenient vessel and stirred daily for three or four days, 
 when the seed may be washed from the pulp and dried. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 Young tomato plants are liable to be cut down by sev- 
 eral kinds of cut-worms.* During the Spring of 1882, 
 the green larvse of Sphinx Carolina, and Sphinx quinque- 
 maculata were very numerous and destructive; but gener- 
 ally, owing to paucity of number, the damage is slight. 
 More severe injury is done, and particularly to the 
 earlier and therefore most valuable part of the crop, by 
 the caterpillar of the Cotton-boll worm, (or the " Corn- 
 seed worm," Heliothis armigera.) They rarely, and 
 only when very young, touch the leaves ; but penetrate 
 the green fruit, one worm often boring into several. 
 Hand-picking in either case is the only remedy. Just 
 before the first picking for market, all the punctured 
 fruit should be gathered and either fed to the stock or 
 destroyed. 
 
 Sometimes a large green worm may be found with one 
 or two of what appear to be very minute eggs, adhering 
 tightly to the skin at one of the rings of the body, 
 or covered apparently, with eggs. Such a worm should 
 not be destroyed. The supposed eggs are the chrysalides 
 of an Ichneumon fly, its appropriate insect enemy. 
 
 *See Chapter on Insects. 
 
THE WATERMELON. 229 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE WATERMELON (Citrullus vulgaris). 
 
 Ibsteque, French ; WJassr-Milons* German ; Water meloen, Dutch 
 Cocomero, Italian. 
 
 The Watermelon was probably the melon of the Bible, 
 and, as has been incidentally stated, was known to the 
 Jews in Egypt. 
 
 Watermelons may be more or less successfully grown 
 from Key West to New Jersey, and from as far south in 
 the interior of Florida as transportation facilities enable 
 the farmers to ship the crop profitably. Commencing 
 about May 15th, they are forwarded to the North by 
 steamships and to the North-west by rail. 
 
 Owing to the size and nature of the fruit, it has to be 
 shipped in bulk, and, even with careful handling, in 
 transit, accidental breakages will occur; but, if the en- 
 tire crop, exclusive of losses by unavoidable causes, could 
 reach the market, none would, under favorable circum- 
 stances, pay better.* 
 
 * The losses upon watermelons shipped to Boston have been so genera^ 
 that the subject has been discussed by the " Vegetable and Fruit Grow- 
 ers' Association," with a view to provide a remedy. G, R. McRee. Esq., 
 of Lowndes County, Georgia, one of the largest growers of melons for 
 shipment to the North, wrote to the author in September last as follows: 
 " I have almost quit shipping to Boston ou account of the heavy losses. 
 I have lost as much as fifty per cent, of some of my consignments, and 
 never expect to get off with less than twenty per cent." In December 
 last Mr. McRee wrote: " You are at liberty to use any statement from 
 me, in reference to the loss on steamers, in your forthcoming work. My 
 losses by the Boston ships have been so heavy that I have very nearly 
 quit the line. I sent only two or three consignments by it the past sea- 
 son, and these were shipped by the forwarding agent of the railroad be- 
 cause the New York ship was missed." 
 
 LA.TEK NOTE. I am constrained by a sense of justice, to state that 
 after the above was in type, the agents called upon me, as President ot 
 the " Vegetable and Fruit Growers' Association of Chatham County," 
 and promised that at both ends of the line, with the finer ships and new 
 etaffs of officers and crews, they would endeavor to remove the cause 
 of complaint. A. O. 
 
230 TRUCK-FAKMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 AVOIDABLE LOSSES. 
 
 The melon, like most other plants, is subject to insect 
 depredations ; but it is not from losses to the farmer by 
 these minute objects, nor by the unfavorableness of sea- 
 sons (although the melon is among the most uncertain 
 of crops), nor by any of the other contingencies which so 
 often make the profits of the agriculturist doubtful, 
 that his success and his income are diminished; but by 
 depredations and theft. After his crop is harvested, 
 quick and safe transportation to market is a chief factor 
 in successful truck-farming. Without it the industry 
 must fail. 
 
 With the transportation lines from Savannah, I 
 have had an experience of twenty-seven years. In that 
 time I have been the largest, and am now the oldest 
 grower of melons in this immediate region, and know 
 whereof I write. Previous to the war, the pilfering of 
 melons was carried on to such an extent that two Sea 
 Island cotton planters, my relatives, who planted them 
 most extensively, were by self -protection compelled to 
 admit the captains, or pursers of the steamships, into co- 
 partnership, allowing them a part of the profits. Then, 
 and then only, could melons be shipped with safety. 
 Since that time, a vast improvement has been made. If 
 it be a difficult matter to prevent these losses to the ship- 
 per, the agency shows a praiseworthy endeavor to curtail 
 them, and there seems to be a fair prospect of still further 
 future improvement. 
 
 The two Northern markets, where melons invariably 
 command the highest prices, are Boston and New York. 
 Under the same conditions of safety the preference would 
 be decidedly in favor of the former ; but the handling 
 has been so careless, and the " shortage " so outrageous, 
 as to discourage shipments to that market. 
 
 I have lost as many as two hundred and twenty-nine 
 
THE WATERMELON. 231 
 
 melons from a single shipment. The great loss is not 
 under the head of specked or decayed (principally owing 
 to rough handling), 'but missing. The melon is not an 
 evanescent object which disappears without trace like ex- 
 ploded gun-cotton. 
 
 A fair yield to the acre is one thousand melons, large 
 enough for shipment, or ranging from fifteen pounds up- 
 wards. In consequence of a disease which has been killing 
 the vines of late years, about the time the fruit is form- 
 ing, the crop more frequently falls below than exceeds 
 that number. I have examined the roots and vines in 
 
 Fig. 65. WATERMELON " RATTLESNAKE. 
 
 vain for insects, to account for this disease, and have not 
 yet been able to ascertain the cause. 
 
 It is probably not attributable to an insect in the root, 
 like the larvae of the striped-bug in the cucumber, for 
 the disease sometimes first manifests itself in a single 
 side-runner. 
 
 My melons sold the past season in the New York and 
 Boston markets at from twenty-five to fifty dollars per 
 hundred. .,.- 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 A variety to be fit for shipment should be large, with 
 a rind thick enough to carry well, should not " burn " or 
 become discolored in the field by the hot sun, and should 
 "cut" red throughout, without a lighter colored hard 
 
232 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 "core/' At present "Kolb's Gem," and the "Rattle- 
 snake," which is also known by several local names, fill 
 these requirements better than any other. 
 
 SOIL AND PREPARATION. 
 
 The soil best adapted to the watermelon is a light, dry, 
 warm sand, lately cleared, or which has not been culti- 
 vated for at least three years. 
 
 This peculiar adaptability of new ground is probably 
 attributable to the opening of the soil by the decaying 
 roots of vegetation. Whatever compacts the soil is in- 
 jurious to the crop. A rainy season, owing partly to the 
 consolidating of the land, is most unfavorable to success. 
 On new ground, the first formed young fruit are more 
 apt to become developed, and in larger numbers, and 
 particularly are they all liable to shrivel and drop off or 
 old recently cultivated land after a heavy rain or frequent 
 lighter ones. This applies particularly to the sandy land 
 of the coast. Notwithstanding the very succulent char- 
 acter of the fruit, wet weather is more damaging than 
 drouth. 
 
 The field having been plowed and harrowed, it is laid 
 off, according to the usual custom, ten or twelve feet 
 each way, to mark the hills. For this purpose, a double 
 mould-board plow is the best implement. It makes 
 straight smooth furrows and wider openings at their 
 crossings for the hills. Instead of these distances I prefer 
 to make my hills six by twelve feet apart, and leave but a 
 single plant in each, rather than two plants. With the 
 same average area for each vine I conceive that the single 
 plants will produce a greater number of large melons to 
 the acre. The openings made by the plow are enlarged 
 to about three feet in diameter, and deepened below the 
 depth of the surface soil, and one or two shovelfuls of 
 decayed stable, cow or hog manure, the latter to be 
 preferred, are dug up and intimately mixed with the sub- 
 
THE WATERMELON. 233 
 
 soil, by means of hoe, spade, or digging-fork. The hoe, 
 although not so effective, is the more expeditious tool 
 in the hands of negro laborers. Green stable manure 01 
 any other kind that is fermenting, or heating, is not 
 suitable for melons on light land. If in place of the 
 above, a compost of muck or woods-earth with cotton- 
 seed meal or fish guano is used, the quantity should be 
 two shovelfuls, containing about one pound of the meal 
 or guano. When manure is plentiful enough, it may be 
 applied in the drill or even broadcast, notwithstanding 
 the distances of the plants, for most of the roots of 
 the melon plant are long surface roots. Manured only in 
 the hill, the plant derives less benefit from the fertilizer. 
 
 SOWING THE SEED. 
 
 A flat hill, elevated two or three inches above the general 
 surface, is made over the manure with the removed surface 
 soil, and in the middle of each the first sowing of from six 
 to ten seeds is made, one or two inches deep, according to 
 the nature and degree of moisture of the soil. As in 
 the case of cucumbers, I make two more sowings at in- 
 tervals of a week, putting in three or four seeds at each, at 
 which rate it will require from two and one-half to three 
 pounds of seed per acre. A temperature of about sixty- 
 five degrees is required to sprout melon seed ; and there is 
 rarely anything gained in this crop by making the sow- 
 ings too early, as cold weather, even without frost at 
 night, will give the plants a check from which they 
 will never recover sufficiently to produce a good crop. 
 While melon seeds may be planted in the middle of 
 Florida, in January and February, March 15th is quite 
 early enough for the first planting in the latitude of 
 Savannah, and, of course, later further North. 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 If the first sowing has failed, or the plants have been 
 killed or injured by cold, it is best to await the growth 
 
234 TBUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 of the second or even of the third planting ; otherwise, 
 as soon as the first has made two rough leaves, and the 
 others are up, the top of the hill should be stirred by a 
 hand-weeder, or other hand implement, or by the fingers ; 
 and the loose soil drawn to the stems up to the seed- 
 leaves, at the same time thinning the plants to a couple, 
 of each sowing, or even to less, if they crowd each other. 
 Of course, the strongest, healthiest looking plants are to 
 be left. It is sometimes the case that plants from the sec- 
 ond sowing are more advanced than those from the first, 
 when all of the latter should be removed. To stir the 
 soil and destroy young weeds, the cultivator or horse-hoe 
 is run in both directions over the whole surface, and as 
 near the hills as possible without disturbing them. They 
 should be thinned to a stand early enough to prevent 
 crowding, and the hills hoed about the time the plants 
 commence to " run," and the soil drawn well up to the 
 seed-leaves, great care being taken not to cover the leaves 
 or crown. Before the vines reach the edge of the hills, 
 two furrows should be thrown to each side of the row. 
 It requires careful plowing to throw the soil to the middle 
 without disturbing the hills, which are only six feet apart. 
 This is done by depressing the right handle of the plow, 
 or pushing it inward to the rows as the plow reaches 
 each hill, and erecting it again in passing. Melon vines 
 should never be handled, if it can possibly be avoided, 
 and, therefore, as the vines cover the bed, and before 
 they extend beyond it, the plow is used repeatedly, un- 
 til the plants are left on wide beds separated by a wide 
 furrow. Before the second plowing, hoes should be care- 
 fully used around the hills and between the vines with- 
 out touching them rudely ; removing all weeds before 
 overlooked. Watermelons come into market from Florida 
 about the latter part of May; and from the vicinity 
 of Savannah and the adjacent Sea Islands, about July 
 1st. 
 
THE WATERMELON. 235 
 
 GATHERING THE FRUIT. 
 
 An experienced picker can recognize from its general 
 light and bright, but not glistening appearance, when a 
 melon has reached a proper state to be cut from the vine 
 for shipment, before it is fully, or " red " ripe, and he 
 may do so without any other loss of time than is required 
 to detach it from the vine and to place it on end for the 
 carriers. Roads should be convenient, for it is impossi- 
 ble to induce the laborers to avoid treading on the vines, 
 even when they do not cover the ground. The less ex- 
 perienced pickers must look for other signs of ripening, 
 and the "belly," or lower surface, where it has been in 
 contact with the earth, presents the most reliable in the 
 appearance of the pores of the skin. When these become 
 perceptible to the touch, by a roughness of the skin, or 
 can be seen, or the rind has become too hard to be read- 
 ily indented by the finger nail, the melon may be picked 
 for shipment. 
 
 The shriveling or dying of the " curl," or little ten- 
 dril nearest to the melon, or in the axil of the stem, is a 
 usual, but not a certain rign of ripeness. 
 
 A ripe melon sounds hollow upon percussion with the 
 knuckle ; but thumping is only practicable in the early 
 morning, for a large unripe melon has the same reso- 
 nance during the hot midday sun. If the "belly" is 
 yellow and blistered the melon is surely full ripe. Pres- 
 sure upon the fruit to hear the sound of the rupture ot 
 the flesh within, if ripe, is objectionable. It injures the 
 ripe as well as the green, and should never be resorted to. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 It is possible, nay, even probable, that the late, gen- 
 erally observed perishing of melon vines may be entirely 
 attributable to insects, and in part, to an unknown one. 
 Wire-worms, or larvae of Diabroticce, may be the cause 
 of the death of some. 
 
RtTCIt-FAR^rlKG AT TftE SOUTH. 
 
 The injury to the seed-leaves of young plants by flea- 
 beetles is annoying, but never extensive enough to war- 
 rant the application of a remedy over the large area of a 
 melon crop. Of the several plants in each hill a vigorous 
 one may be expected to escape injury, until the develop- 
 ment of rough leaves, when the danger from this source 
 ceases. 
 
 The watermelon is a food plant of the yellowish green, 
 nearly translucent larva of an insect very similar to the 
 pickle-worm moth, Phacellura hyalinitalis. If this in- 
 sect has two broods, the first, or spring brood, must be 
 very limited in numbers ; for I have never known the 
 early melon crop for shipment to be damaged, while later 
 crops suffer very severely. Not only are the leaves de- 
 voured, but the worms gnaw and penetrate the fruit. It 
 is, of course, the policy of the farmer to destroy the in- 
 sects in all its stages, whenever possible ; but no remedy 
 has as yet been found that can be profitably applied. The 
 Phacellura is known to be subject to two parasitic in- 
 sects : the Pimpla conquisitor, and a Tachina fly. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE STRAWBERRY (Fragaria). 
 
 Fraistor, French ; Erdbeere, German ; Aardbezie, Dutch ; Pianta di fragola, 
 Italian ; and Fresa, Spanish. 
 
 The Strawberry, with the majority of the cultivated 
 fruits of Northern climates, belongs to the Rose family. 
 It well deserves its botanical name, Fragaria (from fra- 
 gro, to emit a sweet odor), for no other fruit is so frag- 
 rant. While some who have written upon the straw- 
 
THE STRAWBERRY. 237 
 
 berry make nearly a dozen species, the most accurate 
 botanists fail to find more than three or four, that are 
 really distinct. The most widely distributed species is 
 Fragaria vesca, the Wood or Alpine strawberry. In 
 this the seeds (really one-seeded seed-vessels) are not 
 sunken in a cavity in the fruit, but are prominent upon 
 the surface. This is the most widely distributed species, 
 being found wild in Europe, Asia, and in this country. 
 From this are derived all the cultivated Alpine strawber- 
 ries, so popular on the Continent of Europe, and so sel- 
 dom grown in this country. 
 
 F. grandiflora, the Large-flowered strawberry, is a 
 native of South America, and on the Pacific coast ex- 
 tends northward to California. The Chilian strawberry 
 (F. Chilensis) is now regarded as a form of this. 
 
 F. Virginiana, the Virginia or Scarlet strawberry is our 
 most common wild strawberry. It is found from the 
 Arctic circle to Florida, and extends northward to Ore- 
 gon and Washington Territory. Occurring in a great 
 variety of localities, several of its forms have been 
 described as species. This and F. grandi flora are the 
 parents of the strawberries generally cultivated. They 
 diifer from the Alpine species in having their seeds in a 
 cavity more or less deep. The other species which have 
 been described as distinct are of no importance to the 
 cultivator. 
 
 The strawberry was apparently known to the Romans 
 only in its wild state, for none of their writers have men- 
 tioned it as among cultivated fruits. It is first mentioned 
 as having been cultivated in England during the reign of 
 Richard III, in 1483. With the exception of a variety 
 of Wood strawberry raised in France about 1 660, no im- 
 proved variety of the strawberry was known until late in 
 the last century, after the introduction of the Large- 
 flowered and the Virginia strawberries. With the pro- 
 duction of improved seedlings, as well as hybrids, new 
 
238 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 varieties increased rapidly both in this country and in 
 Europe, varieties of the former species seeming to be bet- 
 ter adapted to the climate of Europe, while those of the 
 latter are preferred in this country. 
 
 The wild berry is vastly superior to most of the new 
 varieties, which the mania for size, regardless of the more 
 valuable qualities of flavor, and aroma, has developed. 
 
 All the wild species and most of the improved varieties 
 have perfect flowers. They contain both stamens and 
 pistils, and are termed hermaphrodite flowers. In the 
 strawberry, the numerous pistils are crowded upon a 
 rounded body in the centre of the flower, called the re- 
 ceptacle. Immediately around these are the numerous 
 stamens. As soon as the pistils are fertilized by the pol- 
 len from the stamens, they begin to grow, and the lower 
 part of each one ripens into a diminutive, bony, one- 
 seeded nutlet, which popularly passes for the seed, and 
 it is convenient, for the sake of brevity, to call it so. As 
 the pistils themselves, after fertilization, begin to ripen, 
 the receptacle on which they are placed begins to grow, 
 and at length becomes the juicy, fine flavored mass with 
 which we are familiar as the strawberry, though in struc- 
 ture it is not the fruit, but merely an appendage to the 
 proper fruits. Unless the pistil is fructified by the pollen 
 of the same, or of some other flower, through the medium 
 of insects or of the wind, it must remain sterile, or fruit- 
 less, or "blind." The flowers of some of the improved va- 
 rieties, particularly those originating in this country, are 
 entirely without stamens, or have them imperfectly devel- 
 oped. Such are the " pistillate" varieties, as for instance 
 the old "Hovey's Seedling," and the later "Crescent." 
 Having no stamens, they must be fertilized by pollen 
 from other flowers and we must plant at least one row 
 of a perfect variety to each ten rows of the pistillate 
 kind, for that to become fruitful. There are many dis- 
 advantages connected with the cultivation of these pistil- 
 
THE STKAWBEERY. 239 
 
 late varieties, and as there are many as good, or better, 
 with perfect flowers, the former should be discarded. 
 
 VARIETIES AND YIELD. 
 
 A variety may be adapted to a certain soil and climate, 
 and be totally unsuited under different conditions not 
 very distant. Of the many varieties that are fine and 
 popular at the North, few succeed under the continued 
 heat and dry ness of a part of our summer season. 
 
 The principal requirements of a market variety for 
 shipment to distant points are: 
 
 First, Its adaptability to our climate. Second, Pro- 
 ductiveness. Third, Fair size. Fourth, Sufficient firm- 
 ness to enable it to endure the rough handling and delay 
 of transportation without injury, so that it may arrive in 
 market in good presentable appearance and condition. 
 
 The old "Wilson's Albany," or "Wilson," and the 
 "Neunan" or "Charleston" meet these conditions better 
 than any others. The latter is a more attractive and better 
 flavored berry, is more productive of runners, and is 
 rapidly superseding the "Wilson" as the Southern 
 market variety. 
 
 Where all the conditions for its successful culture are 
 favorable, the strawberry has long been, in the vicinity of 
 large cities, the gardener's most valuable crop. 
 
 As long ago as 1850, the average net profit of a Scotch 
 acre * of strawberries in the vicinity of Edinburgh was 
 from one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred dol- 
 lars, the land renting at from twenty-five to seventy-five 
 dollars per acre. 
 
 The heaviest shipments to our Northern markets are 
 made from Norfolk, Virginia, where probably the largest 
 strawberry farm in the world is located, one cultivator 
 having two hundred and fifty acres in this fruit. Large 
 
 * The Scotch acre contains six thousand and eighty-four square yards, 
 and is about one and a quarter acre English. 
 
240 TRUCK-FARMIKG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 shipments are also made from Charleston, S. C., to the 
 Eastern markets, and from Mobile to those of the West. 
 In 1879, seven hundred and thirty-four thousand and 
 ninety-three quarts were shipped from Charleston. Ex- 
 tensive plantings for shipment have also been made in 
 Florida and South-western Georgia, one farmer having 
 twenty acres near Thomasville, Thomas County. 
 
 Although there are lands to be had in the vicinity of Sa- 
 vannah, with adequate drainage, and so admirably adapted 
 to the cultivation of strawberries, that the best fruit 
 farms in the country could be established in this locality, 
 not enough are grown to supply the local demand, and 
 supplies for that purpose are procured from Florida and 
 Charleston. In the local market the retail price ranged 
 from fifteen cents to one dollar per quart-basket the past 
 season, averaging thirty cents. The first sales were 
 made February 20th. The first shipments from Florida, 
 about February 1st, that arrive in good order in the 
 Northern market, sometimes bring from three to five 
 dollars. Larger shipments of one hundred quarts and 
 upwards generally bring about two dollars. Heavier, and 
 later shipments, soon reduce the price. 
 
 From Charleston, the first shipments, coming late in 
 March, bring from seventy-five cents to one dollar per 
 quart, but the price drops, as the quantity increases, to 
 from thirty-five to fifty cents per quart. 
 
 The first from North Carolina bring about the same 
 price as Charleston berries. The immense quantities 
 shipped from Norfolk, commencing about May 10th, 
 notwithstanding the fresher state of the fruit, bring the 
 price down to from twenty-five to thirty-five cents, and 
 sometimes lower still. 
 
 New York is the best market for strawberries. No 
 fancy prices are realized in Baltimore. 
 
 Occasionally we enjoy in the latitudes of Savannah and 
 Mobile a sufficiently protracted period of warm weather 
 
THE STRAWBERRY. 241 
 
 in winter for the plants to bloom and mature fruit, en- 
 abling us to make several pickings in December, but this 
 occurs very rarely. 
 
 G. H. Baker, of Illinois, reported having raised two 
 hundred and fifty-three bushels, or eight thousand and 
 ninety-six quarts of " Wilson's Albany," upon an acre, 
 giving him a clear profit of fifteen hundred and nine 
 dollars. Mr. Parker, of Massachusetts, picked three 
 thousand two hundred quarts of the same variety from 
 an acre within ten days, and sold them on his premises 
 for eleven hundred and twenty dollars. The well-known 
 authority on the strawberry Rev. E. P. Roe, of Orange 
 County, N. Y., in his work " Success with Small Fruits," 
 mentions the yield of one of his beds of the " Crescent 
 Seedling," at the rate of three hundred and forty-six 
 bushels, or eleven thousand and seventy-two quarts to the 
 acre. A few years ago, 0. B. Galusha reported, in an 
 Illinois journal, that he had produced fourteen thousand 
 quarts of the same variety to the acre. These exceptional 
 crops are merely given to show the capabilities of the 
 strawberry under favorable contingencies. No such ex- 
 traordinary yields can be realized in any other than a cool 
 and moist climate, and it is doubtful whether in our hot 
 region, under the most favorable conditions of soil, vari- 
 ety, manure, careful preparation and proper cultivation, 
 without subdrainage and irrigation, more than six thou- 
 sand quarts per acre can be produced, while three thou- 
 sand may be considered a good yield, and from fifteen 
 hundred to two thousand are common. One farmer, 
 near Savannah picked eight hundred and ninety-four 
 quarts from two-thirds of an acre and discontinued 
 picking after the price fell below fifteen cents. 
 
 SOIL AXD ITS PREPARATION". 
 
 The selection of soil and location should be made with 
 a view to provide the moisture so absolutely indispensa- 
 U 
 
212 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 ble for successful strawberry culture. The plant is very 
 deep-rooted, its roots having been traced to a depth of 
 four feet. Surface watering by hand is impracticable, 
 and of no avail, nor are low lying situations, unless sus- 
 ceptible of deep drainage, advisable. 
 
 A well-drained, deeply stirred, friable, more or less 
 loamy or clayey soil, with plenty of vegetable matter, will 
 be more retentive of moisture and more suitable than any 
 other. If there be a choice of location, a northern open 
 exposure is to be preferred. 
 
 A light, sandy soil, although it will mature the earliest 
 fruit, will produce smaller berries, the picking season 
 will be much shorter, and the entire crop is apt to be 
 killed out during the first summer. This summer kill- 
 ing is the chief drawback to strawberry culture at the 
 South. 
 
 If stable manure is to be used, the lighter the land, the 
 more necessity that the manure should be thoroughly 
 rotted, lest the plants grow to vine at the expense of the 
 fruit. This is more likely to occur at the South than in 
 a cooler climate, and heavier applications of manure are 
 therefore more practicable at the North. 
 
 While large quantities of strong animal manures are 
 not necessary on already fertile clay soils, they cannot 
 contain too much decaying vegetable matter. If the soil 
 be of proper character, a field which has been planted for 
 several seasons in vegetables, and upon which no weeds and 
 grass have been permitted to go to seed, would give the 
 best chances for success. Such land, after having ma- 
 tured a well-manured cabbage crop, would need no other, 
 and no better fertilization, than a crop of cow peas sown 
 after the removal of the cabbages in May, and turned 
 under a few weeks before the setting of the strawberry 
 plants. In such case the land should be deeply cross- 
 plowed, a subsoil following the turning plow, a deep soil 
 being as necessary as a fertile one. If manure is to be 
 
THE STKAWBERBY. 243 
 
 applied, it must be broadcast, after the first plowing and 
 harrowing, and then be turned under at the cross plow- 
 ing. Each plowing should be followed by the use of the 
 subsoil plow, and afterwards by the harrow. It is a mis- 
 taken idea that the roots of the previous season are either 
 dead or have no functions to perform, for it is in them 
 mainly that the leaves have stored up matter for the fu- 
 ture use of the plant. In the preparation of the soil it 
 should, therefore, be borne in mind that it is to serve for 
 several years, and that no subsequent deep stirring dur- 
 ing the after cultivation of the crop is practicable. 
 
 Composts of muck, or leaf-mould, with stable, cow, or 
 artificial manures are useful. Potash has been found 
 especially beneficial to the crop. Cotton seed is also 
 good. 
 
 METHODS OF PLANTING. 
 
 Strawberries may be grown by either one of the three 
 methods of : 
 
 First, The single hill. Second, The continuous single 
 row. Third The matted bed. 
 
 Each has its advantages, but the former is more suita- 
 ble to this climate, as it renders clean culture less trou- 
 blesome and expensive, and, although the crop may not 
 be as abundant, finer and larger fruit is produced. It 
 is, therefore, the only method suited to the cultivation 
 of the larger varieties, such as the "Sharpless," the 
 "Bidwell," and others like them. 
 
 The field, having been plowed in narrow lands, thirty 
 V> forty feet wide, and finely prepared by cross harrow- 
 ing, is laid off in straight rows three to three and a half 
 feet apart. This may be done by the garden line, or 
 more expeditiously by means of a wheel upon the tire of 
 which are fixed knobs or projections at certain regular 
 distances. The impression of tbe tire upon the soft 
 soil marks the lines, while those of the knobs indicate 
 
244 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 the spots for the insertion of the plants. The wheel is 
 fixed between handles like that of a seed-drill, and has 
 an upright stick in front, which is lined to a set of 
 poles like those used for laying off trenches with the 
 plow. The plants are put out from twelve to eighteen 
 inches apart in the row, and the knobs and wheel are 
 arranged accordingly. 
 
 The planting for the continuous row is the same. The 
 difference between the two results from subsequent cul- 
 ture. The advantages of this method, compared with 
 the matted bed are, that the berries will be larger, the 
 cultivation may be partly with the cultivator, and there 
 will be less cutting of vines to be done. 
 
 If the matted-bed system is contemplated, slightly ele- 
 vated beds four feet wide, with intervening paths eight- 
 teen inches wide, which act as auxiliary drains, are 
 thrown up by the plow. On these, after they have been 
 raked off, three rows are put out, eighteen inches apart, 
 one running down the centre of the bed, the plants 
 twelve to eighteen inches from each other. The advan- 
 tages that may be claimed for this method are, the 
 greater number of bearing plants; the fact that after 
 the first year few or no runners will be produced on the 
 top of the bed; that the close growth tends to keep 
 down weeds, and that the soil will not be compacted, and 
 its porosity destroyed by the trampling of the pickers, 
 who gather the fruit. 
 
 SETTING OUT THE PLANTS. 
 
 Strong, well-rooted plants of the same season's 
 growth, only, should be used for setting out. Long 
 straggling roots may be shortened to suit the general 
 length and that of the dibble or trowel. The latter is 
 to be preferred for planting, as the roots will be spread 
 out, instead of being crowded together in the narrow 
 hole of the dibble. If the plants have been procured 
 
THE STKAWBEHRY. 245 
 
 from a distance, it may be advisable to trim away dead 
 leaves and puddle the roots. If they can be taken freshly 
 from a field near by, neither will be necessary. When 
 set out the upper portions of the roots should neither 
 show above the soil nor should the crown be buried, but 
 be inserted to the level of the general surface. 
 
 The weather being favorable, the earlier that strong 
 well-rooted plants can be had and be set out, the better 
 will be the growth during the fall and winter, and, there- 
 fore, the earlier and more abundant will be the first crop. 
 This planting may sometimes be done as early as the 
 first of August. It is impossible to procure plants from 
 Northern nurseries early enough, which is another reason 
 for preferring those of home growth. If such have been 
 potted and put out in July, a still better first crop may 
 be realized. As there will be no disturbance of the roots 
 in transferring the plants from the pots to the open 
 ground, it may be done regardless of dry weather, should 
 such prevail at the time. Two and a half or three-inch 
 flower pots, filled with soil, are plunged in the beds up to 
 the rim, wherever young plants upon the runner are 
 about to root, and these are kept in place by placing upon 
 the runner a pebble, an oyster shell, or other weight. 
 
 Late in September and October is, however, the safest 
 season for putting out unpotted strawberry plants in this 
 latitude ; but it may be done through the whole winter 
 and during early spring. 
 
 Clean culture is of paramount importance. Unless a 
 farmer be resolved to accomplish this, he had better not 
 attempt a strawberry crop in our weed and grass-growing 
 climate. Its prospective value, its duration, and the 
 cost of preparation are too great to abandon the planta- 
 tion to grass and weeds, after the first picking season is 
 over. The cost of planting is so great, and when well 
 cared for the crop is so much more productive the second 
 year than the first, that the practice of treating it like 
 
246 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 an annual crop cannot be too strongly condemned. It 
 is often the case that this practice is adopted by some, 
 from ignorance, or want of industry, and by others, from 
 want of time or from negligence, during the season of 
 shipping other produce. If, however, during the picking 
 season, a warm, wet spell should prevail, the task of sub- 
 duing the weeds is not easy of accomplishment. Hon. 0. 
 0. Langdon, of Alabama, a good authority on strawberry 
 culture at the South, reported a serious case of the kind 
 in 1868, when it required the work of nine men during 
 six days to clean five-eighths of an acre. The plants, 
 " Wilson's Albany," had been set out in March, 1864, in 
 rows of single hills, four feet apart, the plants being 
 eighteen inches from each other. 
 
 During the whole life of a plantation on the single 
 hill system, the cultivator, running shallow, may keep 
 the surface clean and mellow, when not mulched, to 
 within an inch or two of the plants, and the hoe, with 
 hand-weeding, must be relied upon between the plants. 
 A variety, otherwise suitable, like the "Wilson's Al- 
 bany," that makes few runners, is best adapted to this 
 method, and the runners must be scrupulously removed 
 by a hoe or knife." The plants, instead of exhausting 
 their nutriment in the production of runners, will store 
 up a greater amount for the next crop of fruit, and the 
 stools will enlarge until the leaves of adjacent plants 
 nearly touch each other in the rows. When the continu- 
 ous row is contemplated, the cultivation is the same dur- 
 ing the first season as above described, but after the run- 
 ners begin to grow, all those projecting out from the 
 line of rows are to be cut away, allowing only such to 
 take root as extend along the line of plants. By this 
 method a continuous narrow bed, ten inches or a foot 
 wide, becomes established. During the third and fourth 
 seasons all new runners must be removed. The cultiva- 
 tion of the matted-bed crop* is exclusively by the hoe, 
 
THE STRAWBEEET. 247 
 
 except in the intervening paths, where the plow may be 
 used. During the second season there should be no room 
 for the hoe, and the work should be confined to hand- 
 weeding, when necessary. The soil, in all three meth- 
 ods, should be kept mellow and clean until just before 
 budding or blooming commences, in order to destroy as 
 many of the germs of weeds as possible. 
 
 MULCHING. 
 
 Immediately after the last working, a mulch should 
 be applied around the plants and over the entire inter- 
 vening surface. This is done especially to prevent the 
 fruit from becoming splashed with soil by rains. The 
 other benefits of the mulch, already mentioned in a 
 former chapter, will follow incidentally. If possible, 
 the mulch should be thick enough to prevent the growth 
 of grass. 
 
 Of our available materials for mulching, pine straw 
 is the best, either whole or cut, as insects are less apt to 
 harbor under it. Sawdust is objectionable because the 
 finer particles will adhere to the fruit, and when rice 
 chaff is used, small graminivorous birds are apt to scratch 
 away berries, as well as a part of the mulch, in search for 
 pieces of the grain. As soon as the fruiting season is 
 over, the mulch must be removed and the crop cleaned 
 and cultivated at whatever cost of labor. It is right here 
 that the fatal neglect generally occurs. 
 
 The matted bed requires no mulch the second season, 
 nor should there be any room for it. The closely grow- 
 ing plants will protect the fruit from being soiled. 
 Owing to the crowded condition of the plants, the earlier 
 will be the exhaustion of the soil, and the greater the 
 impossibility of stirring the compacted surface. Hence 
 the bearing of the matted bed becomes so poor that it is 
 generally advisable to plow it up after the second season, 
 and to use the land for some other crop. Plantings, 
 
248 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 after the other two methods, are most productive the sec- 
 ond season, but remain remunerative two seasons more. 
 After the fourth year, the land should be used for some 
 other crop. New beds should be set out every year to 
 replace those going out of use. Top-dressings of ashes, 
 bone meal and muck, or some other fine compost, the 
 best ingredients of which are susceptible of being 
 leached out and carried into the soil by rains, should bo 
 made prior to putting on the rnulch. These should be 
 applied each successive season. 
 
 PICKING AND MARKETING. 
 
 The season for ripening, or for shipping varies more 
 than with any other crop of the truck-farmer. A period 
 of freezing late in the season will destroy any expanded 
 blossoms, or young fruit already formed, and retard the 
 first picking. If there be no black or heavy hoar frost 
 with a low degree of temperature in January or later, 
 the crop will come in early in March. If the roots could 
 be kept moist by irrigation the fruiting season might be 
 considerably prolonged. 
 
 Strawberries as far south as Charleston and Savannah 
 should not be fully ripe when picked for shipment. They 
 should not be pulled from the vines and bruised, but the 
 stems should be pinched oif, leaving a part attached to 
 each berry. The least handling, and that little, carefully 
 done, will tend to insure good quality and satisfactory 
 prices. The picking must be done directly into the 
 quart baskets in which the berries are to be shipped. 
 The stems and " hulls " (the calyxes), will admit air be- 
 tween the berries and prevent bruising. These baskets 
 are packed in separate tiers, in well-ventilated, locked 
 crates, each holding thirty-two baskets. 
 
 It is thought that when the buyer sees fine berries in 
 the top layer he infers there is a good quality throughout 
 the crate, for which reason the best baskets are fre- 
 
THE STKAWBERKY. 
 
 249 
 
 quently reserved for "toppers." This practice should be 
 utterly condemned in the case of this fruit as well as in 
 all shipments of vegetables. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 Wherever the common field crickets abound, they be- 
 come very destructive, injuring many of the ripening 
 See chapter on "Insects." Other in- 
 
 fruits at night. 
 
 Fig. 66. STRAWBERRY 
 
 LEAF- ROLLER (Anchylopera 
 fragarice). 
 
 a, Larva, of real size ; 6, Moth, 
 enlarged. 
 
 Fig. 67. STRAW- 
 BERRY CROWN- 
 BORER. 
 
 sects particularly infesting the strawberry plant at tho 
 South are : 
 
 1. Anchylopera fragarice (The Strawberry leaf -roller). 
 
 2. Emphytus maculatus (Strawberry-worm). 
 
 3. Analcis fragarice (Strawberry crown-borer). 
 
 4. Colaspis flavida (Strawberry leaf -beetle). 
 
 5. Corimelcena pulicaria (Flea-like Negro-bug). 
 The half-inch long worm of the moth Anchylopera 
 
 fragarice (fig. 66) lies hidden in the curled-up leaf, upon 
 which it feeds. In consequence of this habit, any effi- 
 caceous application of an insecticide is of doubtful use. 
 The second brood passes the winter in the ground in the 
 pupa state. Either of the remedies that have been 
 recommended for destroying the larvae, by burning off the 
 dead leaves, or by passing a heavy roller over the plants 
 would be more destructive to the crop than any injuries 
 the insects might possibly inflict. 
 
250 
 
 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 The Strawberry-worm (fig. 68) sometimes injures the 
 leaves considerably. The larva is about half an inch 
 long, of yellowish green color, It feeds generally in a 
 
 Fig. 68. STRAWBERRY 
 
 WORM (JSmpfiytus 
 maculatus). 
 
 Fig. 69. PLY OP STRAWBERRY 
 WORM. 
 
 curled-up position on the leaf. It winters in the ground 
 as a chrysalid. Its perfect state is a fly (fig. 69). 
 
 The snout-beetle (Analcis fragariw, fig. 67) lays its 
 eggs in the crown of the plant, where the young larvae 
 damage the leaves and fruit stalks. Colaspisflavida (figs. 
 70, 71) is an insect not distantly related to the Colorado 
 
 Fig. 70. 
 
 STRAWBERRY 
 
 LEAP-BEETLE. 
 
 Larva. 
 
 Fig. 71. 
 
 STRAWBERRY LEAP' 
 
 BEETLE. 
 1, enlarged; 2, real size. 
 
 potato-beetle. Lime, first slaked and sifted, dusted on 
 the leaves while yet wet with dew is said to drive away 
 
MUSKMELOtf, OE CANTALOUPE. 251 
 
 the worms of Emphytus maculatus. Pyrethrum powder 
 may be applied at any time, but Paris green may only 
 be used after the bearing season has passed, in case any 
 of these insects become very destructive. . 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MUSKMELON, OR CANTALOUPE (Cucumii Mdo\ 
 
 Melon, French ; Mclone, German ; Meleon, Dutch ; Mellone, Italian, ana 
 Melon, Spanish. 
 
 The Muskmelon came to England originally from 
 Jamaica, but its native country is not satisfactorily 
 known. South of Norfolk it is a very uncertain crop, 
 owing to the necessity for picking it very green ; at Sav- 
 annah, so soon as the skin commences to become rough, 
 and before any change of color takes place. Even then, 
 shipments often reach their destination overripe, and 
 shrinkages are reported. Further south than Savannah, 
 the fruit would, of course, have to be picked still greener 
 and more immature, and would therefore ripen with lit- 
 tle of the fine flavor of naturally ripened fruit. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 The smaller kinds, like the " Jenny Lind," are most 
 salable. The "Green Citron," although larger, is also a 
 popular variety. The " Banana Citron," in small con- 
 sign ments, sold fairly in northern markets during the 
 season of 1886. 
 
252 TBUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 SOIL. 
 
 Although the Muskmelon will succeed on lower land 
 than the Watermelon, the fruit will carry better and be 
 of better quality when grown on dry, sandy soil. The 
 cultivation is identical with that of the Watermelon. 
 The usual distance of planting the hills is from five to 
 six feet each way. Prof. J. S. Newman, of the Alabama 
 Department of Agriculture, plants on ridges four feet 
 from each other, the plants being eight inches apart. He 
 picked 13,000 melons from an acre in forty-six days. 
 
 PACKING. 
 
 The smaller varieties may be shipped in half-barrel 
 crates, the larger in barrels or barrel crates. Owing to 
 the length of the fruit sometimes upward of two feet 
 the "Banana Citron" requires barrels. To prevent bruis- 
 ing and rotting at the ends, they must be protected with 
 moss or some similar material. 
 
 The Muskmelon is subject to the attacks of the same 
 insects as the Watermelon. 
 
OKBA OB GUMBO. 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 OKRA OB GUMBO (Hibiscus esculentus). 
 
 This vegetable has heen regarded as a native of the 
 West Indies, but the recent researches of DeCandolle 
 (L'Origine des Plantes Cultivees, Paris, 1883), show that 
 it is undoubtedly of African origin. Okra has long been 
 very popular at the South, but is only gradually becom- 
 ing sufficiently so at the North to warrant shipments. 
 At present the market would be overstocked by any large 
 consignments. The part used is the unripe tender seed 
 pods, which abound in mucilage, and are used for thicken- 
 ing soups and stews, and is also boiled and dressed with 
 butter, like Asparagus. It is regarded to be highly 
 nutritious. 
 
 VABIETIES. 
 
 In consequence of the greater convenience in cutting 
 or breaking the pods of the taller growing kinds, these 
 are to be preferred to the dwarf varieties. The long, 
 round Ladyfinger is better than any of the short, fluted 
 sorts. Young Okra plants being quite tender, the seed 
 should not be sown before March 1st. 
 
 
 
 SOIL. 
 
 All the wild species of Hibiscus are generally found on 
 low ground, and the Okra delights in a moist loam or 
 mould, growing to a height of ten or twelve feet on rice- 
 field banks. The crop matures earlier and is better in 
 quality, however, on a lighter and dryer soil. It is sown 
 
254 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 on ridges from three to four feet apart, with the plants 
 at a distance of two feet apart. It is difficult to trans- 
 plant it, as it has but few fibrous roots, and a liberal use 
 of seed is advisable. Its cultivation is like that of cot- 
 ton, it being of the same family. 
 
 PICKING AND PACKING. 
 
 The pods should be picked, or cut, when still tender 
 enough to be broken from the stalk. If the point of the 
 pod will not break upon being bent, it is already too 
 tough for the table. The pods are to be carefully packed 
 in either bushel crates or smaller ones, and are sold by 
 the count. The plant is virtually free from insect depre- 
 dations. 
 
CONCLUSION. 355 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Some of the truck-farmers near the large cities, prin- 
 cipally those planting on a smaller scale, grow a general 
 assortment of vegetables and attend the local markets. 
 
 Owing, however, to the numerous "patches" in the 
 vicinity, and the competitions they cause, this attend- 
 ance has of late years been unsatisfactory. Nearly all 
 the farmers grow Ruta Baga or Swedish Turnips in the 
 fall for sale to the retail grocers in the winter, the price 
 being twenty-five cents for eight bunches. 
 
 Another source of income is the hay crop. The heav 
 ily manured fields produce a thick growth of C^ab-grass, 
 which may be mowed several times during the season, 
 making good hay when cut at the proper time. Unfor- 
 tunately for the reputation of this product, many farm- 
 ers defer cutting the grass until it is too old to make hay 
 of the best quality. The price is fifteen dollars per ton. 
 The crop of one of the farmers in this vicinity in 1882 
 was valued at two thousand dollars. 
 
 Apart from the neighborhood of cities truck-farming is 
 generally an adjunct to cotton planting. In Florida, it 
 is an adjunct to orange growing. In southwestern 
 Georgia, along the line of the Savannah, Florida, and 
 Western Railroad, in parts of Florida and at other ex- 
 treme southern points, the fields, after having yielded 
 early vegetables for shipment, sometimes produce the 
 most satisfactory portions of the cotton crop, owing to 
 the previous manuring and careful working of the land. 
 
256 TRUCK-F ARMING AT THE SOUTH 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ANALYSES AND VALUES OF FERTILIZERS. 
 
 The truck-farmer is forced to use to a greater or less 
 extent some kind of artificial fertilizer. The following 
 circular, issued by the Department of Agriculture of the 
 State of Georgia, contains information of value to all who 
 purchase and use fertilizers. The circular as issued by 
 the Department contains a column giving the names of 
 the persons for whom the inspection was made. As this 
 information has no permanent value, it is omitted for 
 the purpose of saving space. Some other unimportant 
 omissions have been made in reproducing the circular. 
 
 ANALYSES AND COMMERCIAL VALUES OF COMMERCIAL 
 FERTILIZERS AND CHEMICALS, 
 
 Inspected, Analyzed and Admitted to Sale in Georgia to 
 January 10, Season of 1882-3. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
 
 ATLANTA, GA., January 20th, 1883. 
 
 EXPLANATIONS OF 1HE TABLES OF ANALYSES. 
 
 The tables commencing on page 254 show the analyses 
 and calculated relative commercial values of all fertilizers 
 and chemicals inspected, analyzed and admitted to sale, 
 to January 10th, 1883. 
 
 In addition to the chemical determinations and com- 
 mercial values, a column has been added which shows 
 the numbers of tons represented by the samples whose 
 
APPENDIX. 257 
 
 analyses are given. This information may sometimes be 
 important to farmers and other purchasers. 
 
 RELATIVE COMMERCIAL VALUES. 
 
 After very extended correspondence and careful con- 
 sideration, it has been thought proper to reduce the 
 valuations of ammonia and phosphoric acid from those 
 of last season. The following prices per pound of the 
 valuable ingredients or elements of plant food found in 
 the fertilizers by analysis, have been adopted as a prac- 
 tical approximation to their true value at Savannah, viz: 
 
 Available Phosphoric Acid. 10 cents per pound. 
 
 Ammonia 20 cents per pound. 
 
 Potash 6 cents per pound. 
 
 Last season the valuations were: 
 
 Available Phosphoric Acid 12i cents per pound. 
 
 Ammonia 25 cents per pound. 
 
 Potash 6 cents per pound. 
 
 It is often desirable to know the relative amounts paid 
 by a farmer for the several valuable ingredients in a ton 
 of fertilizers. The following is a simple rule: Multiply 
 the per centage of ammonia, as given in the tables, by 
 $4.00, the available phosphoric acid by $2.00 and the 
 potash by $1.2, or $1.1-5, and the respective results will 
 show the value of each ingredient in a ton. Thus : Sup- 
 pose a fertilizer analyzes as follows: 
 
 Available Phosphoric Acid 9.27 per cent. 
 
 Ammonia 2.15 per cent. 
 
 Potash 1.85 per cent. 
 
 Then : 
 
 9.27 multiplied by 2 $18.54 
 
 2.15 " " 4 8.60 
 
 1.85 " "1.2 2.23 
 
 Tota 1 . ;,,.,, $29,36 
 
258 
 
 TRUCK-FAKMIXG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 L-3 W S = 5~ :0^ M ^o : ct 5 . 
 
 ; B .S r ^*S^M5'8* 6 *o r S 
 Sofcg'gogc^'g'StcS* 
 
 2lv-l-iagsag4*|53 
 
 S-i* a o 2 aZZ^^ 1 i B 
 
 
 <3 53- 3| tf | |S Ife 6 
 
 g :.|S|ghg.: ^s|5| o :gi 
 Si S|4S-82 :i|leSSl*ga 
 
 l3Sl^f*Sl illEllfiliglf 
 
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 sMfi&Cai .ffil^MlgjiE 
 
 iPilfiliglf^si^^li 
 
 ,^ ^_ Q-cn i-iO^CT-hOmESJ- _r->S 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 259 
 
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 ^ 
 
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 6y 
 
 01 a. o. o samples ana 
 lyzed 
 
 
260 
 
 TRUCK-FAKMLNG AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 WHOM AND WHERE MANUFAC- 
 TURED. 
 
 mm nq pz/uw 
 
 9J,d9J, ifUOf JO 'Oft 
 
 -U9UIVJOO 9atfV t 9tf 
 
 izer & Chem. Co., N. 
 Evans. Chicago, HI. 
 
 mported. 
 m ported. 
 mported. 
 mported. 
 mported. 
 mported. 
 tern's Ferti 
 
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APPENDIX. 261 
 
 ECONOMY IN FERTILIZATION. 
 
 Ever since the Department of Agriculture of Georgia 
 was organized, an effort has been made, through its pub- 
 lished reports, to impress upon the farmers of the State 
 the importance of adopting some cheap means of increas- 
 ing the yield of their crops and at the same time increase 
 the fertility of the soil. The value of pea vines as an 
 improver of the soil has been repeatedly urged upon the 
 attention of the farmers, while the superiority of compost 
 over high-priced commercial manure has been shown by 
 repeated experiments conducted under the auspices of 
 the Department during the last seven years. Formulse 
 and directions for composting home manures with super- 
 phosphate and kainit have been published in the reports 
 of the Department from time to time, and results of ex- 
 periments with the composts made according to these 
 formulae published annually since 1875. These results 
 show very conclusively the great economy in the use of 
 the compost, since at one half the cost per acre of the 
 commercial fertilizers, as good yields have been uniformly 
 obtained. 
 
 It has generally been admitted that when an experi- 
 ment has been conducted for five years with uniformly 
 the same results, the question so determined may be 
 regarded as settled. 
 
 Experiments have been conducted under the auspices 
 of this Department in every part of the State, under 
 various conditions for six years. In these experiments 
 the compost of superphosphate and kamit with cotton 
 seed and stable manure has been compared every year 
 with the best grades of commercial fertilizers, with re- 
 sults most favorable to the compost. 
 
 While pea vines and lime furnish the cheapest and most 
 effective means of restoring fertility to worn soils, and of 
 maintaining it in those not yet exhausted, the compost 
 
262 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 of superphosphate and kainit with stable manure and 
 cotton seed furnishes, beyond question, the most econom- 
 ical manure the Southern farmer or planter can apply to 
 his crop from year to year. 
 
 Besides supplying plant food in the best and most 
 available forms, the compost exerts a mechanical influence 
 upon the soil not produced by the plain commercial fer- 
 tilizers. Either the composts or the pea vines will supply 
 all the ammonia needed in our soils; the composts for 
 special manuring of crops, while the pea vines will furnish 
 ammonia and humus to the whole soil. It must not, 
 however, be understood that ammonia is the only im- 
 portant element of plant food supplied by these cheap 
 sources of fertility. On the contrary, they supply all of 
 the elements of plant food. Some of these, however, exist 
 in such small percentages that very large quantities of the 
 substances must be applied to supply these elements in 
 sufficient quantities for the production of maximum 
 crops. The principal deficiency is in the percentage of 
 phosphoric acid contained in pea vines and stable manure. 
 This is supplied by the addition of superphosphate in the 
 compost at the time of putting it up. The pea vines may 
 be manured with superphosphates, and thus at the same 
 time supply this essential element of fertility to the soil, 
 and increase the growth of vines to be returned to the 
 soil. 
 
 A comparison of the analyses of the Southern field pea 
 with that of clover, which has been used as a soil-improver 
 so long, shows very slight difference so far as either their 
 feeding or manurial value is concerned. It is not neces- 
 sary to speak of the value of stable manure and cotton 
 seed as manure. Their value is known to all who till 
 Southern soil. 
 
APPENDIX. 263 
 
 FORMULA FOR COMPOSTS. 
 
 If the stable manure and cotton seed have been pro- 
 tected from waste by exposure to rain and sun, the fol- 
 lowing formula is recommended : 
 
 Stable manure 650 pounds. 
 
 Green cotton seed 650 " 
 
 Superphosphate 700 " 
 
 Making a ton of 2,000 pounds. 
 
 If the compost is intended for use on soils particularly 
 deficient in potash, the proportion of cotton seed and 
 stable manure may be reduced fifty pounds each, and 
 one hundred pounds of kainit used instead. The 
 formula would then be: 
 
 Stable manure 600 pounds. 
 
 Cotton seed, green 600 " 
 
 Superphosphate 700 " 
 
 Kainit 100 
 
 Making a ton of 2,000 pounds. 
 
 These ingredients may be varied in proportions to 
 adapt the resulting composts to different soils or crops, 
 but either of the above will be found to give satisfactory 
 results on every class of soils and on all of our cultivated 
 crops. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR COMPOSTING. The ingredients may 
 be mixed either by building up the heap by alternate 
 layers of the ingredients, or they may be thoroughly 
 mixed and then thrown into a heap. In either case water 
 should be freely used on the coarse materials while com- 
 posting. 
 
 The following directions, which have been given in 
 former publications of this Department, have been gener- 
 ally followed by those who have used the compost with 
 most satisfactory results. Most farmers prefer the plan 
 of mixing the ingredients well before placing them in the 
 heap for fermentation. Under this plan the mingling of 
 the ingredients is more complete during the process of 
 
264 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 fermentation, and hence its effects are probably more 
 thorough, though both plans have given good results. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR COMPOSTING. Spread under shelter 
 a layer of stable manure four inches thick; on this 
 sprinkle a portion of the phosphate ; next spread a layer 
 of cotton seed three inches thick ; wet these thoroughly 
 with water, and then apply more of the phosphate ; next 
 spread another layer of stable manure three inches thick, 
 and continue to repeat these layers in the above order, 
 and in proportion to the quantity of each used to the 
 ton, until the material is consumed. Cover the whole 
 mass with stable manure, or scrapings from the lot, one 
 or two inches thick. Allow the heap to stand in this 
 condition until a thorough fermentation takes place, 
 which will require from three to six weeks, according to 
 circumstances; dependent upon proper degree of moisture 
 and the strength of materials used. When the cotton 
 seeds are thoroughly killed, with a sharp hoe or mattock, 
 cut down vertically through the layers ; pulverize and 
 shovel into a heap, where the fermentation will be re- 
 newed, and the compost be still further improved. Let 
 it lie two weeks after cutting down; it will then be ready 
 for use. 
 
 The following plan of mixture gives equally satisfactory 
 results : Mix the cotton seed and the stable manure in 
 proper proportion, moisten them with water, apply the 
 proper proportion of phosphate and mix thoroughly, 
 shoveling into a mass as prepared. 
 
 There is some advantage in this plan, from the fact 
 that the ingredients are thoroughly commingled during 
 fermentation. 
 
 FOR COTTON. Apply in the opening furrow two hun- 
 dred pounds, and with the planting seed seventy-five or 
 one hundred pounds, making in all two hundred and 
 seventy-five or three hundred pounds per acre. If it is 
 
APPENDIX. 265 
 
 desired to apply a larger quantity, open furrows the de- 
 sired distance, and over them sow broadcast four hun- 
 dred pounds per acre ; bed the land and then apply one 
 hundred pounds per acre with the seed. 
 
 FOB CORN. Apply in the hill, by the side of the seed, 
 one gill to the hill. An additional application around 
 the stalk, before the first plowing, will largely increase 
 the yield of grain. 
 
AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 USEFUL TABLES. 
 
 A TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF HILLS OK PLANTS IN AN ACRE OF 
 
 LAND AT GIVEN DISTANCES, FROM 12 FEET BY 12 FEET, 
 
 TO ONE FOOT BY ONE FOOT. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Per 
 
 Acre. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Per 
 Acre. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Per 
 
 Acre. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Per 
 Acre. 
 
 12 by 12.0- 302 
 
 7. Oby 1.6 
 
 4,148 
 
 4. Oby 3.0 
 
 3,630~ 
 
 3.0by2.6 
 
 5,808 
 
 12.0 by 10.0 363 
 
 7. Oby 1.0 
 
 6,222 
 
 4. Oby 2. 9 
 
 3,960 
 
 3. Oby 2. 3 
 
 6.453 
 
 12.0 by 5.0 726 
 
 6. Oby 6.0 
 
 1,210 
 
 4. Oby 2. 6 
 
 4,356 
 
 3. Oby 2.0 
 
 7,260 
 
 11.0 by 11.0 
 
 360 
 
 6. Oby 5.6 
 
 1.320 
 
 4. Oby 2. 3 
 
 4,840 ! 
 
 3. Oby 1.9 8,297 
 
 ll.'iby 10.0 
 
 396 
 
 6. Oby 5.0 
 
 1,452 
 
 4. Oby 2.0 
 
 5,445 
 
 3 Oby 1.6 9,680 
 
 11.0 by 5.0 
 
 792 
 
 6. Oby 4 6 
 
 1.613 
 
 4. Oby 1.9 
 
 6,222 
 
 3. Oby 1.3 11.616 
 
 10.0 by 10.0 
 
 4% 
 
 6.0 by 4.0 
 
 1,815 
 
 4 Oby 1.6 
 
 7.2to 
 
 3. Oby 1.0 14,520 
 
 10.0 by 9.0i 484 
 
 6. Oby 3. 6 
 
 2,074 
 
 ' 4.0 by 1.3 
 
 8,712 
 
 2. 9 by 2. 9 5,760 
 
 10.0 by 8.0 
 
 544 
 
 6. Oby 3.0 
 
 2.420 
 
 4. Oby 1.0 
 
 10 810 , 
 
 2. 9 by 2. 6 6.&S8 
 
 10.0 by 7.0 
 
 622 
 
 6. Oby 2. 6 
 
 2.904 
 
 3. 9 by 3. 9 
 
 3.097 
 
 2. 9 by 2. 3 7.040 
 
 10.0 by 6.0 72.'} 
 
 6. Oby 2.0 
 
 3.630 
 
 3. 9 by 3. 6 
 
 3,318 
 
 2. 9 by 2.0 7.920 
 
 10.0 by 5.0 871 
 
 6. Oby 1.6 
 
 4,840 
 
 3. 9 by 3.3 
 
 3.574 ! 
 
 2. 9 by 1.9 9,051 
 
 10.0 by 4.0 1,089 
 
 6. Oby 1.0 
 
 7.2CO 
 
 3. 9 by 3.0 
 
 3.872 
 
 2 9 by 1.6 10,560 
 
 10 Oby 3.0 1,452 
 
 5. 6 by 5.6 
 
 1,417 
 
 3.9by2.9 
 
 4.224 
 
 2 9 by 1.3 12,672 
 
 10.0 by 2.0 2,178 
 
 5. 6 by 5.0 
 
 1.584 
 
 3. 9 by 2. 6 
 
 4,646 
 
 2. 9 by 1.0 15,840 
 
 lO.Obv 1 
 
 4.356 
 
 5. 6 by 4. 6 
 
 1,760 
 
 3. 9 by 2. 3 
 
 5.162 
 
 2. 6 by 2.6; 6,969 
 
 9. Oby 9.0 537 
 
 5. 6 by 4.0 
 
 1.980 
 
 | 3. 9 by 2.0 
 
 5,808 
 
 2. 6 by 2. 3 7,740 
 
 9. Oby 8.0 605 
 
 5 6 by 3. 6 
 
 2,272 
 
 3. 9 by 1.9 
 
 6,637 
 
 2. 6 by 2.0 8,712 
 
 9.0 oy 7.0 
 
 691 
 
 5.6by3.0 
 
 2.640 
 
 3. 9 by 1.6 
 
 7,744 
 
 2. 6 by 1.9 9.956 
 
 9. Oby 6 
 
 806 
 
 5.6 by2.(J 
 
 3JC8 
 
 3. 9 by 1.3 
 
 9,272 
 
 2. 6 by 1.6 11.616 
 
 9. Oby 5.0 
 
 963 
 
 5. 6 by 2.0 
 
 3,%0 
 
 3. 9 by 1.0 
 
 11.616 
 
 2. 6 by 1.8! 13,939 
 
 9. Oby 4.0 
 
 1.210 
 
 5. 6 by 1.6 
 
 5,280 
 
 3.6 by 3.6 
 
 3,555 
 
 2. 6 by 1.0 17,424 
 
 9. Oby 30 
 
 1,613 
 
 5. 6 by 1.0 
 
 7.920 
 
 3. 6 by 3. 3 
 
 3.829 
 
 2.3bv2.3 8,604 
 
 9 Oby 20 
 
 2,420 
 
 5. Oby 5.0 
 
 1.742 
 
 3. 6 by 3.0 
 
 4,148 
 
 2. 3 by 2.0 9.680 
 
 9 Oby 1.0 
 
 4.840 
 
 5. Oby 4. 6 
 
 1.936 
 
 3.6 by 2.9 
 
 4.525 
 
 2. 3 by 1.9 11.062 
 
 8 Oby 8.0 
 
 681 
 
 5. Oby 4.0 
 
 2,178 
 
 3. 6 by 2.6 
 
 4,978 ' 2. 3 by .6 12,906 
 
 8 Oby 7.0 
 
 777 
 
 5. Oby 3. 6 
 
 2,489 
 
 3. 6 by 2. 3 
 
 5.S31 
 
 2. 3 by .3 15.488 
 
 8. Oby 6.0 
 
 905 
 
 5. Oby 3.0 
 
 2,904 
 
 3 6 by 2.0 6,222 
 
 2. 3 by .0 
 
 19.360 
 
 8. Oby 5.0 
 
 1,089 
 
 5. Oby 2.6 
 
 3,484 
 
 3. 6 by 1.9 
 
 7,111 
 
 2. Oby 2 
 
 10.890 
 
 8. Oby 4.0 
 
 1,361 
 
 5 Oby 2.0 
 
 4,356 
 
 3.6by 1.6 
 
 8.297 
 
 2. Oby 1.9 
 
 12,445 
 
 8. Oby 3.0 
 
 1,815 
 
 5. Oby 1.6 
 
 5.8C8 
 
 3. 6 by 1.3 
 
 9.956 
 
 2.0bv .6 
 
 14,520 
 
 8. Oby 2.0 
 
 2,722 
 
 5. Oby 1 
 
 8.712 
 
 3 6 by 1 
 
 12,445 
 
 2.0 by .3 
 
 17,424 
 
 8. Oby 1.0 
 
 5.415 
 
 4. 6 by 4.0 
 
 2.151 
 
 3. 3 by 3.3 
 
 4.124 
 
 2. Oby .0 
 
 21,780 
 
 7. Oby 70 
 
 838 
 
 4. 6 by 4.0 
 
 2.420 
 
 3. 3 by 3.0 
 
 4.818 
 
 1.9 by .9 
 
 14,223 
 
 7. Oby 6.6 
 
 957 
 
 4 6 by 3.6 
 
 2.765 
 
 3. 3 by 2. 9 
 
 4.873 
 
 1 9 by 1.6 
 
 16,594 
 
 7. Oby 6.0 
 
 1,037 
 
 4. 6 by 3.0 
 
 3.226 
 
 3. 3 by 2. 6 
 
 5,361 
 
 1 9 by 1.3 
 
 19,913 
 
 7 Oby 5.6 
 
 ,131 
 
 4. 6 by 2.6 
 
 3.872 
 
 3. 3 by 2. 3 
 
 5,956 
 
 1.9 by 1.0 
 
 24.454 
 
 7. Oby 5 
 
 .244 
 
 4. 6 by 2.0 
 
 4.840 
 
 3.3 by 2.0 
 
 6,701 
 
 1.6byl 6 
 
 19.360 
 
 7.0 bf 4 6 
 
 ,332 
 
 4. 6 by 1.6 
 
 6,453 
 
 3. 3 by 1.9 
 
 7,658 
 
 1.6 by 1.3 
 
 23.232 
 
 7 Oby 4.0 
 
 ,555 
 
 4.6 by 1.0 
 
 9,680 
 
 3. 3 by 1 6 
 
 8,935 
 
 1.6 by 1.0 
 
 29,040 
 
 7 Oby 3.6 
 
 ,777 
 
 4. Oby 4.0 
 
 2,722 
 
 3. 3 by 1.3 
 
 10,728 
 
 1.3 by 1.3 
 
 27.878 
 
 7. Oby 3.0 
 
 2,074 
 
 40 by 3.9 
 
 2,904 
 
 3. 3 by 1.0 
 
 13,403 
 
 1.3 by 1.0 
 
 34.848 
 
 7. Oby 2.6 
 
 2.489 
 
 4 by 3 6 
 
 3,111 
 
 3 Oby 3.0 
 
 4,840 
 
 1.0 by 1.0 
 
 43,560 
 
 7. Oby 2.0 
 
 3,111 
 
 4. Oby 3. 3 
 
 3,350 
 
 3. Oby 2.9 
 
 5,289 
 
 
 
 TABLE SHOWING THE SQUARE FEET AND FEET SQUARE OF AN ACRE, 
 AND ITS FRACTIONS. 
 
 Area. 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 Feet Square. 
 
 1 Acre. 
 
 11 
 
 43.560 
 21.780 
 14,520 
 10,890 
 5.445 
 
 **/ 
 
 208V4 
 147V2 
 120V, 
 104% 
 73 3 /4 
 52'A 
 
TABLES. 
 
 PABT-E SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF NITROGEN, PHOSPHORIC ACID, ANB 
 
 POTASH, IN ONE TON OF THE FRESH DUNG AND FRESH URINE 
 
 OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS, AND ALSO OF THE DRAINAGE 
 
 OF THE BARN-YARD. 
 
 
 1 T0> 
 
 r FRESH 
 
 DUNG. 
 
 1 TON 
 
 FRESH I 
 
 TRINE. 
 
 
 Nitro- 
 gen. 
 
 Phos- 
 phoric 
 acid. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Nitro- 
 gen. 
 
 Phos- 
 plioric 
 acid. 
 
 Potash 
 
 Horse . 
 
 Ibs. 
 8.8 
 
 Ibs. 
 7.0 
 
 Ibs. 
 7.0 
 
 Ibs. 
 31 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 Ibs. 
 30.0 
 
 Cow 
 
 5.8 
 
 3.4 
 
 2.0 
 
 11 6 
 
 
 9 8 
 
 Sheep 
 
 11 
 
 6 2 
 
 3 
 
 39 
 
 2 
 
 45 2 
 
 Swine 
 
 12.0 
 
 8.2 
 
 5.2 
 
 8.6 
 
 1.4 
 
 16 6 
 
 Mean 
 
 9 4 
 
 6.2 
 
 4.3 
 
 22 5 
 
 4 
 
 25 4 
 
 Drainage of barn -yard 
 
 
 
 
 3.0 
 
 0.2 
 
 9.8 
 
 TABLE SHOWING CONTENTS OF A HEAP OF MANURE AT DIFFERENT 
 PERIODS, EXPOSED TO RAIN, ETC. 
 
 
 When put 
 
 U P, 
 
 Nov. 3. 
 
 April 30. 
 
 Aug. S3. 
 
 Nov. 15. 
 
 Total weight of manure in heap 
 Water in the heap of manure 
 
 10,003 
 6,617 
 
 7,138 
 4,707 
 
 7.025 
 5,304 
 
 6,95 1 
 5,167 
 
 Total organic matter 
 
 2,824 
 
 1,678 
 
 1,064 
 
 947 
 
 Total inorganic matter 
 Total nitrogen in heap 
 Total soluble organic matter 
 Total insoluble organic matter 
 So uble mineral matter 
 
 559 
 64.3 
 218 
 2576 
 154 
 
 753 
 63.9 
 305 
 1,373 
 204 
 
 657 
 46.3 
 
 2.7 
 857 
 138 
 
 840 
 46.0 
 193 
 
 757 
 130 
 
 Insoluble mineral matter 
 
 405 
 
 549 
 
 519 
 
 710 
 
 Nitrogen in soluble matter 
 Nitrogen in insoluble matter 
 
 14.9 
 49.4 
 
 21.4 
 42.5 
 
 13.2 
 33.1 
 
 12.9 
 33.1 
 
 TABLE SHOWING WEIGHT OF MANURE PER BUSHEL, AND PER LOAD OF 
 50 BUSHELS.* 
 
 No. 
 
 KIND AND CONDITION OF MANURES. 
 
 $34 
 
 ^ 
 
 lH 
 
 ^2 
 
 1 
 
 Fresh horse-manure free from straw 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 37^ 
 
 Ibs. 
 1875 
 
 9 
 
 " " " " " " pressed. .... 
 
 55 
 
 2750 
 
 3. 
 
 Fresh horse-manure, as used for bedding pigs 
 
 28 
 
 1400 
 
 4. 
 
 r> 
 
 " " pressed 
 Horse-manure from pig cellar. 
 
 46 
 50 
 
 2300 
 2500 
 
 6. 
 
 " " " pressed 
 
 72 
 
 3600 
 
 7 
 
 Pig-manure 
 
 57 
 
 2850 
 
 8 
 
 " u pressed 
 
 75 
 
 3750 
 
 9 
 
 Pig-manure and dry earth 
 
 98 
 
 4900 
 
 10 
 
 Sheep manure from open shed 
 
 42 
 
 2100 
 
 11. 
 
 " " " " pressed 
 
 65 
 
 3250 
 
 12 
 
 Sheep-manure from closed shed 
 
 
 1400 
 
 13 
 
 " '' " " " pressed . ... 
 
 38 
 
 1900 
 
 14 
 
 Fresh cow-dung free from straw 
 
 87 
 
 4350 
 
 15 
 
 Hen-manure 
 
 34 
 
 1700 
 
 16. 
 
 " " pressed 
 
 48 
 
 2400 
 
 Harris' " Talks on Manures.' 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Acid Phosphate of Lime 41 
 
 Alliumcepa ...181 
 
 Ammonia, loss from Manure pile.. 27 
 
 How taken up 18 
 
 In different Soils 22 
 
 In the Air 18 
 
 In Surface Soil only 23 
 
 Salts of 52 
 
 Value of 253 
 
 Ammoniated Superphosphate 42 
 
 Analysis of Cow-pea 21 
 
 Ash 21 
 
 Ashes, Use of 48 
 
 Ash of Roots left in the Soil 20 
 
 Asparagus offlcinalis 119 
 
 Asparagus 119 
 
 Bunchers 127 
 
 Insects In j urious to 129 
 
 Raising Plants 121 
 
 Saving Seed of 128 
 
 Varieties 120 
 
 Atwater, Prof., on Fertilizers .. ..36 
 
 On use of Potash Salts 44 
 
 Barn-yard Manure 31 
 
 Bast, Cuba 128 
 
 Beans- Bush or Snap 130 
 
 Insects Injurious to 133 
 
 Varieties of 130 
 
 Beet 134 
 
 " Bassano," 134 
 
 " Early Blood Turnip," 134 
 
 "Egyptian," 134 
 
 Beta vulgaris 134 
 
 Blue Bird a Destroyer of Insects. . . 
 
 116-119 
 
 Bone Meal 42 
 
 Bonecole 178 
 
 Boussingault on Nitrogen 11 
 
 Box for Tomato Plants 224 
 
 Brassica oleracea 137 
 
 var. Botrytis 163 
 
 var. sabellica 178 
 
 Cabbages 137 
 
 Analysis of 144-149 
 
 Club-foot in 143 
 
 368 
 
 Cabbages, Cow-peas for 145 
 
 Distance apart 147 
 
 Injured by Magnesium 44 
 
 Insect Enemies of 152 
 
 Manures for 144 
 
 Packing 149 
 
 Puddling 147 
 
 Seeds and Sowing 140 
 
 Soils for 142 
 
 Sowing in place 146 
 
 Transplanting 146 
 
 Cabbage, Varieties of 187 
 
 "Brunswick," 138 
 
 " Early Summer," 138 
 
 "Flat Dutch, American,".. 139, 151 
 
 "Fottler's Brunswick," 139 
 
 ' Jersey Wakefield," 189 
 
 " Schweinfurth," 138 
 
 "Winningstadt," 138 
 
 Carbonic Acid in Soil 13 
 
 Cauliflower 163 
 
 Cutting and Packing 168 
 
 Protecting 168 
 
 Varieties 165 
 
 "Algiers," 166 
 
 "Early Paris," 167 
 
 u Short-stemmed Lenorraand,". 167 
 
 " Snowball," 165 
 
 "Very Early Dwarf Erfurt, "..167 
 Chenopodium ambrosioides, var. An- 
 
 thelminticum 60 
 
 Chloride of Magnesium 44 
 
 Chuck-will's Widow and Spring 76 
 
 CUrullus wdgaris 229 
 
 Clover, Analysis of . 149 
 
 Cold Frames 72, 80-81 
 
 Composting Manures 28 
 
 Materials for 28 
 
 Cotton Seed as Cattle Food 37 
 
 Injurious to Swine 37 
 
 In Compost 37 
 
 Cotton-seed Meal, Value as Manure 29 
 
 Cow, Manure 31 
 
 Annual Product 32 
 
 Urine from. Annually 32 
 
 , Cow-pea, Analysis of Vine 21 
 
IKDEX. 
 
 269 
 
 Cow-pea, Analysis of Ash 21 
 
 Compared with Clover 146 
 
 Constituents of One Ton 22 
 
 Green, Manuring with 19 
 
 Hook to Turn Under 25 
 
 Mulchingwith 23 
 
 Nitrogen in 21 
 
 Plowing Under 24 
 
 Roller to Cut 25 
 
 Cow-penning, Utility of 3J 
 
 Crate, a Barrel 94 
 
 A Bushel .92 
 
 Crates, Blocks for Making 94 
 
 Crops, Rotation of 54 
 
 To follow in Rotation 57 
 
 Cuba Bast 128 
 
 Cucumber 169 
 
 Improved White Spine 170 
 
 Insects Attacking 173 
 
 Seed Saving 172 
 
 Cucumus sativus 169 
 
 Cucurbita pepo 209 
 
 Cultivation, Benefits of 14-15 
 
 Cut-worms Absent from Cow-pen- 
 ned Land 33 
 
 Cynodim Dactyl&n 61 
 
 Cyperus rotundus, var. Hydra 60 
 
 "Deaconing" Packages 91 
 
 Dew 72 
 
 Dibble, Use of 85 
 
 Drainage 11 
 
 Drain-water, Nitrogen 23 
 
 Earth Closets, Manure from 40 
 
 Economy in Fertilization 257 
 
 Egg Plant 175 
 
 Entomology, Importance of 97 
 
 Euimtorium fceniculaceitm 60 
 
 Excrement, Yearly, of Man 39 
 
 Contents of.. 40 
 
 Value Depends on Food 29 
 
 Fall Plowing Not Useful 12 
 
 Fertility Improved by Preventing 
 
 Evaporation 23 
 
 Fertilization, Economy in 257 
 
 Fertilizer, Definition of 17 
 
 Fertilizers, Analyses of 232 
 
 Ashes Leached and Unleached. 48 
 
 Ashes. Constituents 48 
 
 Bone Meal 42 
 
 Cotton Seed 37 
 
 Commercial 36 
 
 Conditions of Use 36 
 
 Fish-scrap 38 
 
 Fertilizers Fish-guano 38 
 
 Guano, Peruvian 34 
 
 Chincha 85 
 
 Guanape 35 
 
 Gypsum 51 
 
 Kainit 44 
 
 Land Plaster 51 
 
 Laws Concerning 35 
 
 Lime 48-19 
 
 Muck 41 
 
 Night-soil 39 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 52 
 
 Nitrogenous 52 
 
 Value of ... 52 
 
 Potash 43 
 
 Potash Salts 44 
 
 Ashes Preferred to 48 
 
 Chlorides 47 
 
 Composition of 45 
 
 Sulphates 46 
 
 Using 47 
 
 Poudrette 40 
 
 Prof. Atwater on 36 
 
 Salt 50 
 
 Soda. Nitrate 52 
 
 Superphosphate of Lime 41 
 
 Florida, Vegetables from, in 1882.. 5 
 Forbes, Prof. S. A., on Blue Birds. 116 
 
 Fragaria Chilensis 237 
 
 grandiflora 237 
 
 vesca 237 
 
 V~rginiana 237 
 
 Frost 73 
 
 Indications of 75 
 
 Tableof Last 76 
 
 Germination of Seeds 62 
 
 "Grass," 121 
 
 Grass, Salt-Mai sh, Value of 33 
 
 Green Manuring 19 
 
 Guano see Fertilizers 34 
 
 Guinea Squash 175 
 
 Gypsum 51 
 
 Hand-weeding 15 
 
 Hay, Analysis of . . 38 
 
 Hoeing 15 
 
 Hook for Turning Under Cow-peas. 25 
 
 Horse, Amount of Excrement 29 
 
 Hot-beds, Ancient Use 71 
 
 Construction of 78 
 
 Rarely Needed 72 
 
 Humus 18 
 
 Insects 96 
 
 Blue Bird Destroys 116 
 
270 
 
 ODEX. 
 
 Insects, Change of Form in . . 105 
 
 Chrysalis Stage of 105 
 
 Classification of 105 
 
 Colorado Potato beetle, Travels. 100 
 
 Destroyed by Birds 114 
 
 Egg Stage of 105 
 
 Friendly 98 
 
 Harlequin -bug, Migration 100 
 
 Hibernating 99 
 
 Imago 105 
 
 Instincts of 97 
 
 Larva Stage of 105 
 
 Migration of 100 
 
 Not Killed by Cold .. 103 
 
 Parasitic 99 
 
 Perfect Stage. 105 
 
 Pupa Stage of 105 
 
 Kapid Reproduction of 103 
 
 Stages of Life of 105 j 
 
 Tumble-bug Announces Spring 76 
 
 Two- brooded at South 99 
 
 Achetidce 114 
 
 Ac/ididce 113 
 
 Acronycta oblinita 129 
 
 jEgeria cvcurbitce 212 
 
 Agrotit Coohranii 108 
 
 devastata 109 
 
 subgothica 103 
 
 teiifera 107 
 
 Analcis frajarice 249 
 
 Anew tristis 212 
 
 Anchyloperafragance 249 
 
 Antfiomyia ceparum 190 
 
 Aphidius, genus 160 
 
 Aphides Born Alive 104 
 
 Aphis brassicce 109 
 
 Aphis Lions 160 
 
 Aphis parasites ... 160 
 
 Aspara-^us-beetle 129 
 
 Baridius trinotatus 205 
 
 Barn-beetle 19 J 
 
 Bean- weevil 183 
 
 Blister-beetles 133. 206 
 
 Botys repetitali* 101 
 
 Bruchusfabce 133 
 
 Bmchus granariiis 1 94 
 
 Bruchuspisi 194 
 
 Bugs, Ordpr of 105 
 
 Butterflies and Moth s... ... ..105 
 
 Cabhage-botys 153 
 
 Cabbage-butterflies 155 
 
 Cabbage Flea-beetle 153 
 
 Cabbage Plusia. 154 
 
 Insects Cabbage Plutella 154 
 
 Cabbage-worms, Green 153 
 
 Cabbage-worms, Light-colored.. 155 
 
 Cabbage-worm Parasite 100 
 
 Calosoma calidum 113 
 
 Capsus oblineatm 161 
 
 Cassida awichalcea 219 
 
 bivittata ...219 
 
 guttata '19 
 
 Texana 102, 178 
 
 Celcena renigera 109 
 
 Chelymorpha cassidea 220 
 
 Chinch-bug, False .161 
 
 Cicada 113 
 
 Clubbed Tortoise-beetle 206 
 
 Coccinella, species of 159 
 
 Colaspis flavida 250 
 
 Coleoptera 105 
 
 Colorado-beetle, False 178 
 
 Corn-seed-worm 2-28 
 
 Cotton- boll- woim -.27-228 
 
 Crickets 114 
 
 Crioceiis asparayi ... ... 129 
 
 Cucumber Flea-beetle 173 
 
 Cut-worms 106 
 
 Dark-sided 108 
 
 Glassy 109 
 
 Greasy . . . 107 
 
 Natural Enemies . 112 
 
 Remedies for 110 
 
 Small White Bristly 109 
 
 Western Striped 108 
 
 W-marked 109 
 
 Deloyala cluvata 206 
 
 Diabrotica 12-punctafa 174, 212 
 
 Diabrotica mttata 173, 212 
 
 Diptera ...105 
 
 Dcryphora juncta 101, 178 
 
 Emphytus maculatus 250 
 
 Fall Web-worm 183 
 
 False C inch-bug 161 
 
 Fiery Ground-beetle 113 
 
 Flea-beetle 153 
 
 Golden-eyed Flies 100 
 
 Golden Tortoise-beetle 219 
 
 Gortynia nitela 204 
 
 Grain Bruchus 194 
 
 Grasshoppers 113 
 
 Grass-worm 175 
 
 Gryttotalpa borealis 114 
 
 brevtpetinis 1 14 
 
 vulgaris , 114 
 
 Hadena devastata 109 
 
INDEX. 
 
 271 
 
 Insects Hadena renigera 1C9 
 
 Haltica cucumeris 173 ! 
 
 Harlequin Cabbage-bug 160 I 
 
 Hdiuthis armiger'' 227-228 ! 
 
 Hetniptera 105 
 
 Hippodamia comergens 162 
 
 H(,menoptera 195 
 
 Hyphantria lextor 133 
 
 June-bug 08 
 
 Lace-winged Flies 160 
 
 Lachnosterna quercina 206 
 
 Lady-birds, or Bugs 159-162 
 
 Laphrygma frugiperda 142-175 
 
 Lema trilineata 205 
 
 Lepidoptera 105 
 
 Locusta migrator ia 113 
 
 Locusts 113 
 
 Lyt a marginata 206 
 
 Lytta, species of . 133 
 
 Matnestra picta 156 
 
 Melon-worm 236 
 
 Mole-cricket 115 
 
 Mottled Tortoise-beetle 219 
 
 Nerve- winged 105 
 
 Neuroptera 105 
 
 Noctua dandestina 109 
 
 Nysius destructor 161 
 
 Opion Flies 190 
 
 Ortalis flexa 190 
 
 Orthoptera 105 
 
 Paidacus geminatus 113 
 
 Pea-weevils .194 
 
 PhaceJlura hijalinalalis 236 
 
 Phacdliira nitidalis 175 
 
 Pickle-worm 17 > 
 
 Pieris oleracea 155 
 
 Pieiis Protodice 15(5 
 
 rapce 155 
 
 Plant-lice 158 
 
 Enemies to 159 
 
 Plant-louse, Fecundity of 103 
 
 Ptusia brassicce 154 
 
 Plutella cruciferamm 154 
 
 Potato-stalk Borer 204 
 
 Potato -stalk Weevil 204 
 
 Pot-herb Butterfly 155 
 
 Pteromalus puparum 103, 155 
 
 Rape Butterfly 155 
 
 Shield-winged 105 
 
 Smeared Dagger 129 
 
 Southern Cabbage Butterfly 156 
 
 Sphinx Carolina. 228 
 
 cingulata ,, ...... 219 
 
 Insects -Sphinx quinqiiemaculata . .228 
 
 Spilosoma Virginica 133 
 
 Squash-bug... . 212 
 
 Squash-vine borer 212 
 
 S.rachia histrwnica 160 
 
 Straight-winged 105 
 
 Strawberry Cro-.vn-borer -.49 
 
 Strawberry Leaf-beetle ^0 
 
 Strawberry Leaf-roller 24') 
 
 Straw berry- worm 250 
 
 Striped Cucumb r-beetb.. .173, 212 
 
 Sweet potato Moth 219 
 
 Syrphus Flies 160 
 
 Tarnished Plant bug 161 
 
 Three-lined Leaf beetle . .205 
 
 Tortoise-beetle 178 
 
 Twelve-spotted Squash-beetle 
 
 174. 212 
 
 Two-striped fcquash-btetle 219 
 
 Two-winged 105 
 
 White Ant, Fecundity of 103 
 
 White-grub 206 
 
 Yellow Bear Caterpillar 133 
 
 Zebra Caterpillar 156 
 
 Ipomma Batatas 213 
 
 Kale 178 
 
 'Blue Curled.'' 179 
 
 " Green-curled Scotch." 179 
 
 Labor 7 
 
 Hours of 9 
 
 Pay of 8 
 
 Lactuca saliva 180 
 
 Land Plaster 51 
 
 Land Renovation of 10 
 
 Lawes & Gilbert's Wheat without 
 
 Manure 56 
 
 Lawes,Sir J.B., on Loss of Nitrogen 23 
 
 On Nitrogen 11 
 
 On Value of Manure from dif- 
 ferent Foods 29 
 
 Leaf Mould 41 
 
 Leaves, Office of 60 
 
 Leguminous Plants 21 
 
 Lettuce 18) 
 
 " Boston Market." 180 
 
 "Tennis Ball." 180 
 
 "White Cabbage." 180 
 
 Lime, How applied 50 
 
 Liberates Ammonia 48 
 
 Su perphosphate of 41 
 
 Liquid Manure 53 
 
 Location of Truck-farm 10 
 
 Longevity of Seeds 6;i 
 
272 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Lycopersicum esculenlum 220 
 
 McAlpine's. Capt. J. W., Hook and 
 
 Roller 25 
 
 Magnesium, Chloride of 44 
 
 Injurious to Cabbages 44 
 
 Potatoes 44 
 
 Manure, Applied in the Hill 31 
 
 Bars-yard 31 
 
 Composting 28 
 
 Constituents of 50 Tons 144 
 
 Covered and Uncovered. Value 
 
 of 26 
 
 Cow 31 
 
 Constituents of 32 
 
 Dailyfroma 32 
 
 Definition of 17 
 
 Earth Closet 40 
 
 Economy needed in 16 
 
 Fermentation, to retard rapid.. 27 
 Fresh and Decomposed, Compo- 
 sition oi' 2T 
 
 Green 19 
 
 Importance of 16 
 
 In large Piles 28 
 
 Liquid 53 
 
 How used 54 
 
 Loss in 26 
 
 Manner of applying 30 
 
 Moist, Must be kept 25 
 
 Necessary to Success 15 
 
 Night Soil 3(f 
 
 Analysis 39 
 
 Of Oxen 32 
 
 Poultry 34 
 
 Rotation needed 58 
 
 Sheep 34 
 
 Stable 25 
 
 New York Streetcar 29 
 
 Swine 33 
 
 Value depends upon Food of 
 
 Animal 29 
 
 Weight of 32 
 
 Yield from 10 > Ibs. each Hay, 
 
 Oats, and Grass 29 
 
 Manures, Relative Value of 33 
 
 Kinds and Uses 15 
 
 Markets 94 
 
 Melons to New York in 1882 5 
 
 M enhaden 38 
 
 Moss-bunkers 38 
 
 Mo'es. Useful 9 
 
 Muck 41 
 
 Mulch. Value of Cow-peas for 23 
 
 Negro Labor ....................... 7 
 
 Night Soil ........................ 39 
 
 Composting .................. 40 
 
 From Earth Closets ............ 40 
 
 Nitrateof Soda .................... 52 
 
 Nitric Acid, How taken up.. . . .. 18 
 
 In the Air .................... 18 
 
 Nitrogen in Acre of Soil ........... 11 
 
 In Cow-peas ..... .............. 21 
 
 In Drain Water .............. 23 
 
 In Human faeces ............... 40 
 
 Urine ............... 40 
 
 In Soils ....................... 49 
 
 Oat Straw, Analysis and Value of. . 33 
 Onion .......................... 181 
 
 Analysis of ..................... 182 
 
 Bermuda ....................... 182 
 
 " Giant Rocca." ................ 182 
 
 " Globe Madeira.' 1 ............ 183 
 
 Insects Attacking ..... ..... . . 190 
 
 "Italian Queen." ............ 183 
 
 " Madeira." ................... 182 
 
 Potato. ... ..................... 1^3 
 
 " Red Wethersfleld." ......... 183 
 
 Seeds, Raising ................. 183 
 
 Sets .......................... 189 
 
 " Yellow Danvers." ........... 183 
 
 Opuntia vulgaris .................. 62 
 
 Oxen, Amount of Manure from ____ 32 
 
 Ozone ............................. 18 
 
 Packing ......................... 90 
 
 Paritium datum.. ... .......... .128 
 
 Pea 
 
 191 
 
 "Black-eyed" .................. 192 
 
 'Early Alpha" .............. 19 
 
 'Daniel O'Rourke" ......... 192 
 
 " Philadelphia Extra Early "... 191 
 " White Marrowfat " ........... 192 
 
 Insect Enemies ................ 194 
 
 Penning of Sheep ............... y.. 84 
 
 Peruvian Guano .................... 34 
 
 Pha*eolu$ vulgaris .................. 1*0 
 
 Phosphates in Urine ............... 33 
 
 Phospboric Acid ................. 41 
 
 Value of ....................... 253 
 
 Pisum sfitivum .................... 191 
 
 Plants, Composition of ............ 17 
 
 Endogenous .................. 59 
 
 Exogenous ................... .'9 
 
 Manner of Growth ............. 59 
 
 Plaster land ............ ............ 51 
 
 Plowing De(;p ..................... 11 
 
 Fall not Useful ...,,., ........ 13 
 
INDEX. 
 
 273 
 
 Portulaca okratxa 61 
 
 Potash 43 
 
 For Potatoes 44 
 
 Salts 44 
 
 Value of 253 
 
 Poudrette 40 
 
 Poultry Manure 34 
 
 Potatoes 195 
 
 "Beauty of Hebron" 197 
 
 'Burbank" 197 
 
 "ChiliRed" 187 
 
 "Early Rose".... 197 
 
 Diseases of 204 
 
 Injured by Magnesium 44 
 
 Insects injurious to 204 
 
 Require Potash 44 
 
 Second Crop . 203 
 
 Seed, Size of 197 
 
 Pyrethrum Powder 157 
 
 Quick-lime 48 
 
 Radish 207 
 
 " Long Scarlet Short-top " 207 
 
 " Scarlet Turnip " 207 
 
 Raffla 123 
 
 Raphanus safivus 207 
 
 Holier-cutting for Cow-peas 25 
 
 Roots left in the Soil 20 
 
 Rotation of Crops 54 
 
 Points to Aim at 57 
 
 Russian Black Lands 11 
 
 Salt, Common 50 
 
 Salt-marsh Grass. Analysis of 33 
 
 Grass for Penning 33 
 
 Mud for Penning 33 
 
 Savannah, Produce from, in 1882. . . 5 
 
 Schmidt, Prof., on Nitrogen 11 
 
 Seeds 62,70 
 
 Depth to Cover 70 
 
 Drills for.... 70 
 
 Failure. Cause of 69 
 
 Germination of 62,67 
 
 Heatreqnired 67 
 
 Home-grown 68 
 
 Keeping of 66 
 
 Longevityof 63 
 
 Quality of 63 
 
 Roller, Use of 71 
 
 Soaking 67 
 
 Sowing 62 
 
 Testing 65 
 
 "Treading in" 71 
 
 Sheep Manure 34 
 
 ForPenning f . ,..,.... 34 
 
 Sialia SMis 116 
 
 Snakes, Useful 99 
 
 Snow, Ammonia in 22 
 
 Soda, Nitrate of 52 
 
 Soil 10 
 
 Ammonia in 22 
 
 How Formed 17 
 
 Nitrogen in an Acre 11 
 
 Preparation of 12 
 
 Stirring, Importance of 14 
 
 Solatium Caroli'tiense 101-102 
 
 Elffiagnifolium ^...102 
 
 Melongena 175 
 
 tuberosum 195 
 
 Spinach 208 
 
 Spinacia oleracea 208 
 
 Spring, Announced by Animals 76 
 
 Sprouts 178 
 
 Squash 2 9 
 
 " Early White Bush Scallop "..210 
 "Early Summer Crook-neck "..210 
 
 Insects injurious to 212 
 
 Strawberry 238 
 
 "Charleston" 239 
 
 "Crescent" 238 241 
 
 Culture of 245 
 
 " Hovey's Seedling " 238 
 
 Manure for 243 
 
 Methods of Planting 243 
 
 Mulching 247 
 
 "Neunan" 239 
 
 Setting Plants. . . 244 
 
 "Wilson" 239 
 
 " Wilson's Albany " 239,241 
 
 Insects injurious to 249 
 
 Picking and Marketing 248 
 
 Sexes of 238 
 
 Superphosphate, Ammoniated 42 
 
 Of Lime 41 
 
 Sweet Potato 213 
 
 " Brimstone " 213 
 
 " Delaware " 213 
 
 Insects injurious to 218 
 
 "Jersey" 213 
 
 "Nansemond" 213 
 
 "Pumpkin Yam" 214 
 
 Raising "Draws" 214 
 
 Raising Seed 217 
 
 Yam Varieties 213 
 
 Thinning Plants 15 
 
 Toads, Useful 99 
 
 Tomato 220 
 
 Insects injurious to 228 
 
274 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 tomato Plants, Box for 224 
 
 Picking and Packing, 226 
 
 Kaising Plants 222 
 
 Saving Seeds 228 
 
 Transplanting 225 
 
 Varieties, " Acme " 220 
 
 "Fejee"... '-'20 
 
 *' Hathaway " 220 
 
 " Livingston's Perfection "..220 
 
 'Pear-shaped" 220 
 
 "Red Cherry" 220 
 
 " Round Smooth Red " 220 
 
 "Trophy 220 
 
 " Yellow Cherry. 220 
 
 "Topping" Packages 97 
 
 Transplanting 82 
 
 Utility of 86 
 
 Turnip, Analysis of.... ...149 
 
 Urea, Composition of 32 
 
 Amount in Urine of Animals... 32 
 Urine Annually Voided by Cow. ... 32 
 
 Phosphates in 33 
 
 Ureain 32 
 
 Vegetables from Florida in 1882 5 
 
 Savannah in 1882 5 
 
 Vegetable Refuse 38 
 
 Ventilation of Packages 91 
 
 Voelcker, Prof 11 
 
 Wages in Interior of Georgia. ..... 9 
 
 Laborers' 8 
 
 Walsh, Mr., on Birds 116 
 
 Water and Watering 87 
 
 Watermelon 229 
 
 "Rattlesnake," 231 
 
 When, is Ripe 235 
 
 Weather, Importance of Observa- 
 tions 75 
 
 Weeds 59 
 
 Bermuda-grass 61 
 
 Coco-grass 60 
 
 Dog-fennel 60 
 
 Nut-grass , 60 
 
 Prickly Pear 62 
 
 Purslane 61 
 
 War Against 14 
 
 Wormseed 60 
 
 Weight of Manure 32 
 
 Wheat Unmanured for 20 Years 56 
 
 Whip-poor-will and Spring 76 
 
 Woods-earth 41 
 
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 The Book of Corn 
 
 By HERBERT MYRICK, assisted by A. J> SHAMEL, E. A. 
 BURNETT, ALBERT W. FULTON, B. W. SNOW and other most 
 capable specialists. A complete treatise en tbe culture, 
 marketing and uses of maize in America and elsewhere, for 
 farmers, dealers and others. Illustrated. 372 pages. 5x7 
 inches. Cloth. ......... $i.S 
 
 The Hop It's Culture and Care, Marketing 
 and Manufacture 
 
 By HERBERT MYRICK. A practical handbook on the most 
 approved methods in growing, harvesting, curing and selling 
 hops, and on the use and manufacture of hops. The result of 
 years of research and observation, it is a volume destined to 
 foe an autho/ity on this crop for many years to come. It 
 takes up every detail from preparing the soil and laying out 
 the yard to curing and selling the crop. Every line represents 
 the ripest judgment and experience of experts. Size, 5x8; 
 pages, 300; illustrations, nearly 150; bound in cloth and gold; 
 price, postpaid, $1.50 
 
 Tobacco Leaf 
 
 By J. B. KILLEBREW and HERBERT MYRICK. Its Culture 
 and Cure, Marketing and Manufacture. A practical hand- 
 book on the most approved methods in growing, harvesting, 
 curing, packing and selling tobacco, with an account of the 
 operations in every department of tobacco manufacture. The 
 contents of this book are based on actual experiments in 
 field, curing barn, packing house, factory and Jaboratory. It 
 is the only work of the kind in existence, and i? destined to be 
 the standard practical and scientific authority on the whole 
 subject of tobacco for many years. "506 pages and 150 original 
 engravings. 5x7 inches. Cloth. ... ... ... ... ... $2.00 
 
Bulbs and Tuberous-Rooted Plants 
 
 By C. L. ALLEN. A complete treatise on the history, 
 description, methods of propagation and full directions for 
 the successful culture of bulbs in the garden, dwelling and 
 greenhouse. The author of this book has for many years 
 made bulb growing a specialty, and is a recognized authority 
 on their cultivation and management. The cultural direc- 
 tions are plainly stated, practical and to the point. The 
 illustrations which embellish this work have been drawn 
 from nature and have been engraved especially for this 
 book. 312 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . $1.50 
 
 Fumigation Methods 
 
 By WILLIS G. JOHNSON. A timely up-to-date book on 
 the practical application of the new methods for destroying 
 insects with hydrocyanic acid gas and carbon bisuiphid, the 
 most powerful insecticides ever discovered. It is an indis- 
 pensable book for farmers, fruit growers, nurserymen, garden- 
 ers, florists, millers, grain dealers, transportation companies, 
 college and experiment station workers, etc. Illustrated. 313 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
 Diseases of Swine 
 
 By Dr. R. A. CRAIG, Professor of Veterinary Medicine at 
 the Purdue University. A concise, practical and popular guide 
 to the prevention and treatment of the diseases of swine. With 
 the discussions on each disease are given its causes, symptoms, 
 treatment and means of prevention. Every part of the book 
 impresses the reader with the fact that its writer is thoroughly 
 and practically familiar with all the details upon which he 
 treats. All technical and strictly scientific terms are avoided, 
 so far as feasible, thus making the work at once available to 
 the practical stock raiser as well as to the teacher and student. 
 Illustrated. 5x7 inches. 190 pages. Cloth $0.75 
 
 Spraying Crops Why, When and How 
 
 By CLARENCE M. WEED, D. Sc. The present fourth edition 
 has been rewritten and reset throughout to bring it thoroughly 
 up to date, so that it embodies the latest practical information 
 gleaned by fruit growers and experiment station workers. So 
 much new information has come to light since the third edition 
 was published that this is practically a new book, needed by 
 those who have utilized the earlier editions, as well as by fruit 
 growers and farmers generally. Illustrated. 136 pages. 5x7 
 inches. Cloth. $0.50 
 
Successful Fruit Culture 
 
 By SAMUEL T. MAYNARD. A practical guide to the culti" 
 vation and propagation of Fruits, written from the standpoint 
 of the practical fruit grower who is striving to make his 
 business profitable by growing the best fruit possible and at 
 the least cost. It is up-to-date in every particular, and covers 
 the entire practice of fruit culture, harvesting, storing, mar- 
 keting, forcing, best varieties, etc., etc. It deals with principles 
 first and with the practice afterwards, as the foundation, prin- 
 ciples of plant growth and nourishment must always remain 
 the same, while practice will vary according to the fruit 
 grower's immediate conditions and environments. . Illustrated. 
 265 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . . $1.00 
 
 Plums and Plum Culture 
 
 By F. A. WAUGH. A complete manual for fruit growers, 
 nurserymen, farmers and gardeners, on all known varieties 
 of plums and their successful management. This book marks 
 an epoch in the horticultural literature of America. It is a 
 complete monograph of the plums cultivated in and indigenous 
 to North America. It will be found indispensable to the 
 scientist seeking the most recent and authoritative informa- 
 tion concerning this group, to the nurseryman who wishes to 
 handle his varieties accurately and intelligently, and to the 
 cultivator who would like to grow plums successfully. Illus- 
 trated. 391 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . $1.50 
 
 Fruit Harvesting, Storing, Marketing 
 
 By F. A. WAUGH. A practical guide to the picking, stor- 
 ing, shipping and marketing of fruit. The principal subjects 
 covered are the fruit market, fruit picking, sorting and pack- 
 ing, the fruit storage, evaporating, canning, statistics of the 
 fruit trade, fruit package laws, commission dealers and dealing, 
 cold storage, etc., etc. No progressive fruit grower can afford 
 to be without this most valuable book. Illustrated. 232 pages. 
 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . . . . . . $1.00 
 
 Systematic Pomology 
 
 By F. A. WAUGH, professor of horticulture and landscape 
 gardening in the Massachusetts agricultural college, formerly 
 of the university of Vermont. This is the first book in the 
 English language which has ever made the attempt at a com- 
 plete and comprehensive treatment of systematic pomology. 
 It presents clearly and in detail the whole method by which 
 fruits are studied. The book is suitably illustrated. 288 pages. 
 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
Feeding Farm Animals 
 
 By Professor THOMAS SHAW. This book is intended alike 
 for the student and the farmer. The author has succeeded in 
 giving in regular and orderly sequence, and in language so 
 simple that a child can understand it, the principles that govern 
 the science and practice of feeding farm animals. Professor 
 Shaw is certainly to be congratulated on the successful manner 
 in which he has accomplished a most difficult task. His book 
 is unquestionably the most practical work which has appeared 
 on the subject of feeding farm animals. Illustrated. S l / 2 x 8 
 inches. Upward of 500 pages. Cloth. ...... $2.00 
 
 Profitable Dairying 
 
 By C. L. Peck. A practical guide to successful dairy man- 
 agement. The treatment of the entire subject is thoroughly 
 practical, being principally a description of the methods prac- 
 ticed by the author. A specially valuable part of this book 
 consists of a minute description of the far-famed model dairy 
 farm of Rev. J. D. Detrich, near Philadelphia, Pa. On this 
 farm of fifteen acres, which twenty years ago could not main- 
 tain one horse and two cows, there are now kept twenty-seven 
 dairy cattle, in addition to two horses. ^ All the roughage, 
 litter, bedding, etc., necessary for these animals are grown on 
 these fifteen acres, more than most farmers could accomplish 
 on one hundred acres. Illustrated. 5x7 inches. 200 pages. 
 Cloth. $0.75 
 
 Practical Dairy Bacteriology 
 
 By Dr. H. W. CONN, of Wesleyan University. A complete 
 exposition of important facts concerning the relation of bacteria 
 to various problems related to milk. A book for the class- 
 room, laboratory, factory and farm. Equally useful to the 
 teacher, student, factory man and practical dairyman. Fully 
 illustrated with 83 original pictures. 340 pages. Cloth. 
 5>/ 2 x 8 inches $1.25 
 
 Modern Methods of Testing Milk and Milk 
 Products 
 
 By L. L. VANSLYKE. This is a clear and concise discussion 
 of the approved methods of testing milk and milk products. 
 All the questions involved in the various methods of testing 
 milk and cream are handled with rare skill and yet in so plain 
 a manner that they can be fully understood by all. The book 
 should be in the hands of every dairyman, teacher or student. 
 Illustrated. 214 pages. 5x7 inches $0.75 
 
Animal Breeding 
 
 By THOMAS SHAW. This book is the most complete and 
 comprehensive work ever published on the subject of which 
 it treats. It is the first book which has systematized the 
 subject of animal breeding. The leading laws which govern 
 this most intricate question the author has boldly defined and 
 authoritatively arranged. The chapters which he has written 
 on the more involved features of the subject, as sex and the 
 relative influence of parents, should go far toward setting at 
 rest the wildly speculative views cherished with reference te 
 these questions. The striking originality in the treatment of 
 the subject is no less conspicuous than the superb order and 
 regular sequence of thought from the beginning to the end 
 of the book. The book is intended to meet the needs of all 
 persons interested in the breeding and rearing of live stock. 
 Illustrated. 405 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . $1.50 
 
 Forage Crops Other than Grasses 
 
 By THOMAS SHAW. How to cultivate, harvest and use 
 them. Indian corn, sorghum, clover, leguminous plants, 
 crops of the brassica genus, the cereals, millet, field roots, 
 etc. Intensely practical and reliable. Illustrated. 287 pages. 
 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
 Soiling Crops and the Silo 
 
 By THOMAS SHAW. The growing and feeding of all kinds 
 of soiling crops, conditions to which they are adapted, their 
 plan in the rotation, etc. Not a line is repeated from the 
 Forage Crops book. Best methods of building the silo, filling 
 it and feeding ensilage. Illustrated. 364 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.50 
 
 The Study of Breeds 
 
 By THOMAS SHAW. Origin, history, distribution, charac- 
 teristics, adaptability, uses and standards of excellence of all 
 pedigreed breeds of cattle, sheep and swine in America. The 
 accepted text book in colleges, and the authority for farmers 
 and breeders. Illustrated. 371 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.50 
 
 Clovers and How to Grow Them 
 
 By THOMAS SHAW. This is the first book published which 
 treats on the growth, cultivation and treatment of clovers as 
 applicable to all parts of the United States and Canada, and 
 which takes up the entire subject in a systematic way and 
 consecutive sequence. The importance of clover in the econ- 
 omy of the farm is so great that an exhaustive work on this 
 subject will no doubt be welcomed by students in agriculture, 
 as well as by all who are interested in the tilling of the soil. 
 Illustrated. 5x7 inches. 337 pages. Cloth. Net . . .$1.00 
 
Land Draining 
 
 A handbook for farmers on the principles and practice of 
 draining, by MANLY MILES, giving the results of his extended 
 experience in laying tile drains. The directions for the laying 
 out and the construction of tile drains will enable the farmer 
 to avoid the errors of imperfect construction, and the disap- 
 pointment that must necessarily follow. This manual for 
 practical farmers will also be found convenient for reference 
 in regard to many questions that may arise in crop growing, 
 aside from the special subjects of drainage of which it treats. 
 Illustrated. 200 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.00 
 
 Barn Plans and Outbuildings 
 
 Two hundred and fifty-seven illustrations. A most valu- 
 able work, full of ideas, hints, suggestions, plans, etc., for the 
 construction of barns and outbuildings, by practical writers. 
 Chapters are devoted to the economic erection and use of 
 barns, grain barns, horse barns, cattle barns, sheep barns, corn- 8 
 houses, smokehouses, icehouses, pig pens, granariei, etc. 
 There are likewise chapters on birdhouses, doghouses, tool 
 sheds, ventilators, roofs and roofing, doors and fastenings, 
 workshops, poultry houses, manure sheds, barnyards, root 
 pits, etc. 235 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . $1.00 
 
 Irrigation Farming 
 
 By LUTE WILCOX. A handbook for the practical applica- 
 tion of water in the production of crops. A complete treatise 
 on water supply, canal construction, reservoir and ponds, 
 pipes for irrigation purposes, flumes and their structure, 
 methods of applying water, irrigation of field crops, the 
 garden, the orchard and vineyard, windmills and pumps, 
 appliances and contrivances. New edition, revised, enlarged 
 and rewritten. Profusely illustrated. Over 500 pages. 5x7 
 inches. Cloth $2.00 
 
 Forest Planting 
 
 By H. NICHOLAS JARCHOW, LL.D. A treatise on the care 
 of woodlands and the restoration of the denuded timber-lands 
 on plains and mountains. The author has fully described 
 those European methods which have proved to be most useful 
 in maintaining the superb forests of the old world. This 
 experience has been adapted to the different climates and trees 
 of America, full instructions being given for forest planting 
 of our various kinds of soil and subsoil, whether on mountain 
 or valley. Illustrated. 250 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.50 
 
Farmer's Cyclopedia 
 of Agriculture 
 
 A Compendium of Agricultural Science and Practice 
 on Farm, Orchard and Garden Crops, and the 
 Feeding and Diseases of Farm Animals 
 
 *By EARLEY VERNON WILCOX, Ph. D. 
 and CLARENCE BEAMAN SMITH, M.S. 
 
 Associate Editors in the Office of Experiment Stations, United States 
 'Department of Agriculture. 
 
 HIS is a new, practical and complete pres- 
 entation of the whole subject of agricul- 
 ture in its broadest sense. It is designed 
 for the use of agriculturists who desire 
 up-to-date, reliable information on all 
 matters pertaining to crops and stock, but more 
 particularly for the actual farmer. The volume 
 contains 
 
 Detailed directions for the culture of every 
 important field, orchard, and garden crop 
 
 grown in America, together with descriptions of 
 their chief insect pests and fungous diseases, and 
 remedies for their control. It contains an account 
 of modern methods in feeding land handling all 
 farm stock, including poultry. The diseases which 
 affect different farm animals and poultry are de- 
 scribed, and the most recent remedies suggested for 
 controlling them. 
 
 Every bit of this vast mass of new and useful 
 information is authoritative, practical, and easily 
 found, and no effort has been spared to include all 
 desirable details. There are between 6,000 and 7,000 
 topics covered in these references, and it contains 
 700 royal 8vo pages and nearly 500 superb half- 
 tone and other original illustrations, making the 
 most perfect Cyclopedia of Agriculture ever at- 
 tempted. 
 
 bound in cloth. $3.50: half morocco 
 sumptuous), $4.50, postpaid 
 
 ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 
 
 N.V. 
 
-GWBi.^ 
 
YB 47529