TRUCK AND FRUIT GROWING IN COAST PINE BELT. 135 



thering the growth of the principal crops named, besides other root 

 crops of minor importance, such as radishes and turnips, and also kales, 

 peas, beans, cucumbers, etc. The plants easily recover from the injuries 

 inflicted by light frosts, particularly when these happen in cloudy 

 weather and when the return of the sunshine is gradual. The warmth of 

 the sun raises the temperature of the soil and gives a new impetus to 

 growth in compensation for the check it has received. Sudden changes, 

 however, to temperature below the freezing point, succeeded imme- 

 diatel}" l)y sunn}- weather, not infrequently prove disastrous to the 

 crops. Cabbage plants are constantly transferred from the cold frames 

 to the field from October to December, and the crop is marketed from 

 December to May. Irish potatoes are generally planted from the 

 beginning of January to the latter part of February, and yield the 

 firstcrops in April. Peas are sown in January and early in February; 

 beans, squashes, and sweet corn about the first of March, when toma- 

 toes, cucumbers, and melons, which have started under glass, are 

 transferred to the open. Large quantities of these vegetables reach 

 the northern markets from April to the beginning of summer. 



After these various crops have been harvested, chiefly gramineous 

 plant formations take the place of those mentioned above. Field corn 

 is frequently planted after the removal of the first crops of cabbage 

 and Irish potatoes; crops of Italian or golden millet also frequently 

 take their place; cowpeas are planted for fodder, but most frequently 

 for the purpose of fertilizing ^the fields by plowing under. Far the 

 largest part of the cultivated fields, however, is left to a luxuriant 

 growth of weedy grasses, chiefly crab grass {Syntheris7na {Panicum) 

 sajiguhiale), ])ull grass {Paspakwi hoscianum)^ yard grasses {Eleusine 

 indica^ Leptochloa inucronata'^ Paspalwn dilatat'um')^ and the so-called 

 Mexican clover {Ri chard ia scahra), which furnish abundant, spontane- 

 ous crops of nutritious hay, and also pasturage to the close of the season. 

 In fact, it may be said that forage crops of various kinds can be grown 

 in succession throughout the year. Oats and rye furnish green pas- 

 ture through the winter; vetch ( Vlcia sativa)^ cowpeas, and bur clover 

 {Medicago macidata) will yield crops for soiling in the earliest days of 

 spring. Oats cut in the milky stage are cured for dry feed in May and 

 June. Cowpeas, millets, various kinds of sorghum, known as durrha 

 or kafir corn, millo maize, and pearl millet; cattail millet, Hungarian 

 grass, and the so-called Johnson grass {Sorghuin halepen^e) furnish 

 green forage and hay crops throughout the summer; to which, near 

 the coast, can be added the Guatemala grass or teosinte i^Eitchlaena 

 mexicand)^ the genuine Guinea grass {Panicum jumentorum)^ and Para 

 grass {Panicum molle). 



The cultivation of the orange on our coast is wholly confined to the 

 sheltered coves on the shores of the large bays and of the Gulf. The 

 loquat tree, or Japanese medlar {Eriohotrya japonica)^ has produced 



