590 EEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



manure i)revails with inauy of the truck farmers near Norfolk, cultiva- 

 tiuj>- a rather beavy clay soil, I have treated the question intentionally 

 at some length, and respectfull}' submit the above as arguments against 

 the practice. 



It is customn^ry among truck farmers near cities to allow crab-grass to 

 grow upon their well-manured fields after the crops have been taken off. 

 It gives thcni several mowings during the season, providing them gen- 

 erally not ovAy with an abundance of good fodder for their stock, but 

 also with an income, for it sells, at least in Savannah, at $15 jier ton. 

 Unfortunately for the reputation of this crab-grass hay, the cutting is 

 frequently deferred too late to secure the best quality. When sufficient 

 time can elapse between tbc turning under of the stubble and the 

 planting of crops for the ensuing season, it should by all means be per- 

 mitted to decay and to form humus in the soil ; otherwise, as in the case 

 of crops like^peas and potatoes, which are ])ut in as early as December 

 and January, it ought to be raked out, and may bo used as bedding 

 when dry, or put on the compost heap, or burnt on the ground if mixed 

 with nut-grass. 



MANURE AND ITS APPLICATION. 



Without a sufficient supply of manure there can be no great success 

 in truck farming, nor indeed, unless under very peculiar circumstances, 

 in any other branch of agriculture. Market gardening requires its more 

 liberal use than any other kind of husbandry. No satisfactory crops 

 of vegetables, either in quality or in bulk, can ever be expected, how- 

 ever favorable all other conditions might be, without being well ma- 

 nured. There is no land in tlie U^iited States, however fertile in its 

 natural state, that would not produce more and better vegetables with 

 liberal manuring than without it ; indeed, land that might pay for culti- 

 vation without it would most deserve a liberal supjdy. The progressive 

 truck farmer, therefore, should never allow himself to be restricted in 

 its use by a short supply. When location, want of facilities for pro- 

 curing a sufficieucj' of stable manure, or inadequacy of stock to secure 

 enough barnyard manure from its droppings, confines the farmer to an 

 economical use of manure, recourse must be had to commercial ferti- 

 lizers and to the agent hereafter to be mentioned. 



If the manure be a complete one, like stable manure, containing all 

 the elements of plant-food in beneficial relative quantity, with none in 

 dangerous excess (as might occur with too much common salt, or in low 

 grade kainit, too much dangerous chloride of magnesium, for instance), 

 if the land be well stocked "with humus and be in excellent agricultural 

 cundii ion, there is little risk of the Southern truck farmer applying such 

 heavy doses to his land as to endanger his crops. The soil has hereto- 

 fore been subjected too long to homoeopathic treatment for any fears to 

 be entertained on that score. 



The truck farmer aims to stimulate his crops to rapid grovrth. They 

 are all of earlier maturity than those of the grain or cotton planter. 

 \lii is theretbre compelled not only to use a much larger quantity of 

 ])lant-f6od in his mannrial applications than his crops can possibly take 

 iij), but his fertilizers must act quickly. He wants no permanent ma- 

 nures, but active, soluble ones. 



In New Jersey and on Long Island the market gardeners apply from 70 

 to SO tons of stable-manure to their early cabbages per acre, and, as the 

 plants are set much closer and are much more sure to head universally 

 than at the South, a yield of 50 toes to the acre is not an excessive cs- 



