Page 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



March 



delivers to you is not so much of one 

 whether he is growing Detroit Dark 

 Red or Early Model or some other vari- 

 ety, but more of a question of uni- 

 formity of color and shape and quality, 

 which are not characters of any one 

 variety any more than may be brought 

 about by the care in selection of a good 

 strain. 



It cannot be too strongly urged upon 

 factory managers to use every possible 

 precaution to select seed of the highest 

 quality for their growers. This part of 

 the business lies in the hands of the 

 factory. We must educate the farmer 

 also to be willing to pay more money 

 for seed that costs more money to grow 

 and upon which is spent extra time and 

 money in selection. It is well to realize 

 that in growing a vegetable for market 

 the cost of the seed is from one- 

 twentieth to one-hundredth of the gross 

 receipts. Here, then, is one of the 

 smallest items in the cost of production 

 and yet one of the most important. It 

 is unreasonable for us to expect a high- 

 grade product at an unreasonably low 

 price. It may not always be that the 

 price charged and the quality of the 

 commodity are commensurate, but as a 

 general rule there is usually a suitable 

 degree of parallelism between the two. 



Going back for a moment to the ques- 

 tion of a proli table yield, it is noticed 

 that this has always been one of the 

 reasons why in many eases growers 

 have not made money in growing vege- 

 tables on a contract basis or for co- 

 operative concerns. With beets at 

 .$25 to $30 per ton, it is necessary that 

 there be a yield of two tons before the 

 crop is paid for and profits are begun 

 to be realized. It will cost approxi- 

 mately eight dollars per ton to raise 

 the crop. If cabbage is grown there 

 must be a yield of five tons before a 

 profit is started, for it will cost approxi- 

 mately six dollars to grow the crop. 

 Ordinarily half of the gross receipts of 

 a normal yield will equal the cost of 

 production, although this will vary 

 with the individual vegetable, but when 

 the yield is above normal there is less 

 cost per ton in production and the net 

 receipts are greater. If good yields are 

 necessary to put the vegetable business 

 on a profitable basis, they can only be 

 obtained by an observation of the fol- 

 lowing: (1) The proper choice of a 

 crop for the soil or a soil for the crop. 

 (2) Fertilization sufficient for the crop 

 needs. (3) The best preparation of the 

 ground for the seed. (4) Proper seed- 

 ing and maintenance of the crop. (5) 

 Giving the crop due attention and not 

 considering it of minor importance 

 with other crops that are being grown 

 in such a way that the vegetable is 

 neglected. 



In any community where farmers 

 are solicited to grow a few acres of 

 vegetables for the factory, there are a 

 number who, beyond the fact that they 

 have had a home vegetable garden, 

 have never produced vegetables on an 

 acre basis. They do not realize the in- 

 tricacies of vegetable growing as a busi- 

 ness and possible underestimate the 

 necessary conditions under which a 

 vegetable will best grow. Possibly it is 

 taken for granted that farmer A or B 



knows just the best method of growing 

 so many acres of beets, beans, carrots, 

 or what not. Alter seed is furnished 

 him he may or may not be left to his 

 own resources of selection of land, best 

 methods of fertilization and cultivation, 

 etc. Is it not a wonder that our fac- 

 tories do as well as they do in getting 

 a uniform product in view of the vari- 

 ation in conditions of growing? 



The discrepancies, therefore, that are 

 to be noted in the yield of vegetables 

 and the profits made by a grower are 

 largely determined by the personal ex- 

 perience, and the attention he gives to 

 his vegetable growing and the condi- 

 tions which he has provided for grow- 

 ing the crop. Fortunately vegetable 

 growing is no more than a one-season 

 business, at the end of which mistakes 

 which have been made can be rectified 

 in the next year's work. I was talking 

 recently to a traveling man who is in 

 the habit of observing field conditions 

 closely, and who mentioned an instance 

 of the difference in yield which he ob- 

 served where the same crop was grown 

 under like conditions. In this case the 

 railroad cut a certain field in two parts. 

 On one side of the track the yield was 

 twice that on the other side. This was 

 due to nothing more nor less than the 

 way in which the land had been farmed 

 on the two respective portions of the 

 tract. 



If the farmer is not a gardener by 

 profession he may not fully understand 

 the soil requirements for vegetables. 

 He must study closely the relation of 

 the soil to the vegetable and endeavor 

 to harmonize the two. A Willamette 

 Valley soil in good fertility may pro- 

 duce satisfactory yields of grain, but 

 planted to string beans, beets or cab- 

 bage, or the like, the yield might be 

 light and possible unprofitable. Land 

 that has been built up with manure or 

 cover crops is the only suitable soil for 

 vegetables outside of those lands that 

 are naturally fertile. There must be 

 quality, size and appearance and yield 

 in the crop, which cannot be done with 

 soils of ordinary fertility. 



Commercial gardeners of the state, 

 you will notice, are today operating on 

 land that is slightly, if not very much, 

 superior to the ordinary run of farm 

 land — superior in texture and either in 

 natural fertility or by actual fertiliza- 

 tion. Many general farms have pieces 

 of richer land than found on the rest 

 of the farm, areas of swale and organic 

 matter, which if well drained and 

 utilized will make big yields of the best 

 crop. These are the parts of the farm 

 that can be made most profitable by 

 growing vegetables. There are many 

 hundreds of acres of land of organic 

 nature in the state which will in the 

 future be largely used for vegetables 

 marketed fresh or delivered to can- 

 neries or evaporators. Such land is 

 exemplified by the Lake Labisch dis- 

 trict near Salem, and the many acres 

 in Northwestern Oregon from Portland 

 to the Astoria coast. These lands, to- 

 gether with other Columbia River acre- 

 ages, are highly productive, are easily 

 worked, and have unusual moisture- 

 holding capacity The amount of vege- 

 tables that could be produced on these 



lands ought to be fully sufficient to take 

 care of the demand for such stuff by 

 the factories. Cabbage, spinach, onions 

 and celery can be safely counted on to 

 produce large yields of these vegetables. 

 Under most circumstances it would be 

 possible to get two crops off the same 

 area, using spinach, followed by cab- 

 bage or celery. Such double cropping 

 is possible when the soil is fertile and 

 the first crop is a short season one. 

 Early peas or beets make a good first 

 crop, to be followed later by late cab- 

 bage or late string beans, or possibly 

 fall cauliflower. 



Fruit growers and farmers who have 

 as their specialty crops other than 

 vegetables but who are putting in a 

 small acreage for the factory will have 

 to consider the factors which I have 

 mentioned in regard to a crop for the 

 soil and what they can best grow with 

 the cheapest labor. Crops that can usu- 

 ally be grown between trees or that 

 can be handled somewhat cheaply on 

 land implanted to orchard are potatoes, 

 cabbage, squash and possibly roots and 

 onions. 



In a recent visit to the cabbage-grow- 

 ing districts of a certain county I 

 noticed many soils which were planted 

 to this crop which, in my estimation, 

 should never have seen a cabbage plant 

 set on them. Many of these soils were 

 lacking in moisture-holding capacity 

 and general fertility. If possible to 

 select such a soil, the land for vege- 

 tables should be easy working, inex- 

 pensive to prepare, given to holding 

 considerable moisture and reasonably 

 fertile. If the soil of a farmer who is 

 figuring on growing vegetables for a 

 factory does not begin to compare 

 favorably with these characters, it had 

 better be planted to something else. 



Last summer furnished a good illustra- 

 tion of the fact that, no matter how rich 

 the soil may be, its moisture was the 

 determining factor in the yield of the 

 same. With our dry summer the pos- 

 sibility of supplying the crop with suffi- 

 cient moisture is the dominating factor. 

 In looking over the various cabbage 

 fields which I mentioned there were 

 but few in which there were normal 

 yields of the same, the exceptions being 

 in those cases in which the soil was of 

 such a character so as to hold an unu- 

 sual amount of moisture. In some cases, 

 it was the inability of the farmer, due 

 to the season, to put the land in proper 

 condition that was responsible for the 

 losses. If moisture is the potent factor 

 then thorough spring preparation of 

 the land is necessary. Clods must be 

 crushed if the fullest value of the moist- 

 ure is to be held. The soil that will not 

 crush and pulverize will not ordinarily 

 make vegetable growing profitable. 



The style of soil preparation for a 

 grain bed will not suit a vegetable seed. 

 Fall or winter plowing is to be en- 

 couraged and the soil in the spring 

 should be stirred constantly from the 

 time that it is workable until planting 

 time. It is necessary to use skillful cul- 

 tivation if big yields are to be obtained. 

 Soil fertility is one thing from the vege- 

 table grower's standpoint and another 

 thing from that of the general farmer. 

 Good beans cannot be grown with the 



