THE CABBAGE INDUSTRY OF SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. 375 



THE CABBAGE INDUSTRY OF SOUTHEAST 

 WISCONSIN. 



VV. J. MOYLE, UNION GROVE, WIS. 



For the past ten or twelve years the growing of cabbages as a 

 commercial crop in Racine and Kenosha counties, Wis., has been 

 slowly but surely getting a foot-hold among the farmers of that lo- 

 cality. True, this crop has been grown in a small way in the vicinity 

 of Racine for thirty years. B. R. Bones, of that city, was the 

 pioneer grower. He found it a very profitable crop in the earlier 

 days, when the only storehouse he had was a trench in which he 

 pitted the cabbage in the field in the fall of the year, leaving them 

 there till spring. Later, however, when it was found out that soil 

 and cHmatic conditions there were ideal for the growing of this 

 vegetable on a commercial scale, others began to grow the crop, and 

 an outside market was found at good prices for all that could be 

 grown. Thus this industry rapidly assumed a position of consider- 

 able importance. 



The more prominent growers built their own storehouses and 

 stored their crop for higher prices, often realizing handsomely on 

 the same. One enterprising Irishman, buying for $5 a ton in the 

 field and storing in the spring, sold the same crop for $40 a ton, 

 cleaning up about $20,000 on the deal. 



This set the growers all agog, and storage plants were built in 

 rapid succession, until last season cabbage stored by the growers 

 never paid for the extra handling. 



It is within the last five years, however, that the most rapid 

 strides have been made in growing this crop. Manv a farmer during 

 the past season planted a much larger acreage than he could take 

 care of conveniently, and then with the bottom knocked out of the 

 market he found it anything but a profitable crop. 



The season of 1905 found the cabbage market firm and the 

 growers realizing handsomely on the crop, a good share of the late 

 crop selling at the car doors for $12 a ton, and with a yield of ten 

 tons to the acre this gave a good profit. 



The season of 1906 found the farmers all rushing into cabbage 

 with the result that the acreage was increased about fourfold, and 

 where a grower had been contented with from two to five acres he 

 now planted from eight to fifteen acres. Any one could easily draw 

 conclusions as to what the outcome would be. Thus, when the 

 buyers came onto the market in August and September, they had 

 no difficulty in getting all the cabbage they wanted at $3 a ton, a 

 price that hardly paid for the cartage where the haul was of any 

 distance. 



