BULLETINS OF THE ELEVENTH CENSUS. 455 



farms are usually within a reasonable driving distance of cities and towns, 

 and the products are generally sold to the retailer, and in many cases, 

 especially in the smaller towns, directly to the consumer. 



Truck farming, although it also consists in the production of green veg- 

 etables for market, is distinguished from market gardening by the fact 

 that, while the market gardener lives near a market and delivers his pro- 

 ducts with his own teams, usually producing a general variety of vege- 

 tables, the truck farmer lives remote from market, is dependent upon 

 transportation companies and commission men for the delivery and sale of 

 his products, and usually devotes himself to such specialties as are best 

 suited to his soil and climate. 



Previous to 1860 truck farming was an infant industry, unknown except 

 to a very limited extent along the steamboat and railway lines leading out 

 fifty miles or so from a few of the larger northern cities. Long Island, 

 New Jersey, Delaware, and southern Illinois appear to have been at that 

 time the leading truck centers of the country. 



The rapid growth of cities and towns, however, and their consequent 

 demand for a greater quantity and variety of vegetables throughout the 

 whole year; the changed condition in the south after the close of the war, 

 and the extending of old and building of new lines of railway, all com- 

 bined to extend the business, until a very considerable portion of the veg- 

 etables consumed in cities and towns are produced from five hundred 

 to fifteen hundred miles away. Instead of having vegetables in their 

 respective seasons, by drawing upon the various sections of the country, 

 nearly all the standard vegetables are produced throughout the year. 

 Late in the fall and early in the spring Florida and the lower Mississippi 

 valley supply the eastern and central cities and California those of the 

 far west and mountain section, until the advancing season, at the rate of 

 about thirteen miles a day, starts the growth and consequent supply up 

 along the Atlantic coast and the great Mississippi valley, when the full 

 season of midsummer in the north continues the supply until autumn 

 frosts once more compel a return to the south, where a fresh crop awaits 

 the demand of the market. While throughout the year California, out of 

 her abundant store, sends products to her own large cities and those of the 

 Kocky mountain region, and even as far east as Denver, Kansas City, 

 Saint Louis, and Chicago, the greenhouses of New England in early win- 

 ter and spring supply the more tender vegetables that do not well with- 

 stand the deterioration of transportation, or are profitable enough to pay 

 for the extra expense of their culture under glass. New potatoes, cab- 

 bage, cauliflower, garlic, and tomatoes have thus far been about the only 

 products received at St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago from California, 

 and these only in limited quantities in seasons when there has been a partial 

 failure in the lower Mississippi valley and Florida. During December 

 and February of the present winter superb tomatoes came from California 

 and sold at prices that left a small profit to the grower, after paying the 

 enormous express charges that must of necessity be charged for so long a 

 haul; but, with the further development of railways, faster trains and 

 lower freight and express rates, that state will be in a position to compete 

 sharply for much of the trade beyond the Mississippi, for, besides the nat- 

 ural fertility of a soil that will grow almost every vegetable to perfection,, 

 she has a climate where winter vegetables are not likely to be occasionally 

 cut off by frost, as in the south. 



Nearly 7") per cent, of the truck produced in the United States comes 



