TRUCK FARMING. 



By A. Oemlkr, Wilmington Island, Chatham County, Georgia. 



HISTORY. 



The forcing of fruit and vegetables, like nearly every otlier art, liad 

 its orioin in tbe desire to supply a demand. Merely tbe acceleration 

 of maturity by shelter, exposure to the sun, and other means Avas 

 probably i)racticed at an earlier date, but the actual luxury of forcing 

 vegetable ]>roductions was first practiced by the Romans. Columella, 

 Martial, and Pliny tell us that " spicularia," or plates of talc or mica, 

 were utilized for the j^nrpose of forcing cucumbers in order to gratify the 

 taste of the Emperor Tiberius (died A. D.37) for that vegetable through- 

 out the year. By the application of hot water to the soil and hot lime- 

 stones near the roots cherries were ripened near Poiton, in France, in 

 the sixteenth century, and sent to Paris by post on the 1st of May. In 

 the following century peas were forced to maturity by exposing the 

 plants in boxes to the wai-m sun during the day, and protecting them 

 under the shelter of the gardener's Jiouse during the night ; and in a let- 

 ter dated May 10, ITOG, Madame de Maintenon speaks of new peas hav- 

 ing been the princij^al subject of talk at the French court for four suc- 

 cessive days. 



In tiio vicinity orinii>ortnMt towns in every country where market gar- 

 dening is exteiisivrly ]>ursiied for the purpose of supplying thepoi)ulation 

 with fruit an<l vegetables, competition in the production of the earliest 

 croi)s has always b^'cn the most interesting and lucrative feature of the in- 

 dustry. Such was the case until recently near all the large American cit- 

 ies. About thirty years ago market and farm gardening on Long Island 

 and in New Jersey, to su])ply the rapidly-increasing wants of the growing 

 population of New York City, was very profitable. Its pursuit frequently 

 conferred competency and wealth, notwithstanding the farm land was 

 sometimes worth from $200 to $1 ,000 per acre. In this, as in other coun- 

 tries, ra])id, frequent, and regular steain transportation has revolution- 

 ized all this, and now the higher prices of early produce accrue to gar- 

 deners of southern latitudes at a distance of hundreds of miles, who 

 cultivate land averaging not more than one-fifth the value, and, in con- 

 sequence of the warmer climate, at less expense. In fact, market gar- 

 dening on Long Island has recently become comparatively so nnremu- 

 nerative that many of those formerly pursuing that branch of husbandry 

 have turned their attention to dairy farming. The distance seems to 

 extend with the increased denmnd and with the improved transporta- 

 tion facilities. At lirst Norfolk became the principal and nearly the only 

 point of production for the supply of the Eastern markets. Within the 

 last few years competition from more southern localities has, however, in 

 turn Ktibjecti'd Norfolk, althongh in less degree, to similar experience, 

 and the acreages of several of the most remunerative crops have been 



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