NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2171 



be grown to good advantage. The northern counties 

 have conditions resembling parts of New York and 

 New England. 



Situated between the greatest markets on the Atlan- 

 tic seaboard, and near numerous industrial centers, the 

 lands of the state are intensively cultivated to yield a 

 great variety of horticultural products. 



Vegetable and truck crops are produced to exceed a 

 value of $7,000,000 annually, exclusive of potatoes and 

 eweet potatoes. In the southern counties, the industry 

 is conducted upon an extensive trucking basis, and such 



STATUTE MILES 



2494. New Jersey. I, apples; 2, peaches; 3, pears; 4, bush- 

 fruits; 5, strawberries; 6, grapes; 7, floriculture; 8, truck crops; 

 9, cranberries. 



crops as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, melons, sweet 

 corn, beans and sweet potatoes are largely grown. In 

 the counties of Essex, Hudson, Bergen and Passaic, the 

 industry is of the intensive type, and upon more limited 

 areas. 



Large areas in the southern half of the state consist 

 of sandy loam soil types which warm up quickly in the 

 spring, are easily worked, quick to respond to good 

 management and ideal for the production of early 

 vegetables upon an extensive scale. An extensive truck- 

 ing area extends from just south of Bordentown along 

 the Delaware River to Palmyra. Early peas, beans, 

 sweet corn, rhubarb, asparagus, and other vegetables 

 are grown in succession and companion cropping sys- 

 tems. Another characteristic of this section is the large 

 number of young peach, apple and cherry orchards 

 intercropped with vegetables. Another large trucking 

 area centers about Moorestown. Fruit and vegetables 

 are the important crops upon many farms in this region. 



Swedesboro is the center of the great tomato and 

 sweet potato section in Gloucester County, and is one 

 of the leading shipping stations for vegetables in the 

 United States. From fifty to sixty carloads of toma- 



toes is a common daily shipment at the height of the 

 season, and during July, 1912, more than 400,000 crates 

 were snipped by rail to distant points, while large quan- 

 tities were sold in Philadelphia and other nearby 

 markets. One day's shipment of tomatoes from Swedes- 

 boro in 1910 comprised 36,000 crates and 25,000 baskets. 

 The industry about Swedesboro has become a specialty 

 in the production of early tomatoes to be placed on the 

 market after the southern crop has been shipped. 

 Earliana is the variety almost exclusively grown. 



Tomatoes are also grown very extensively outside 

 the Swedesboro district. The reported acreage in New 

 Jersey in 1910 was about one-eighth the reported 

 acreage of the entire country and the value of the New 

 Jersey crop was estimated to be about one-sixth the 

 value of the crop in the United States. New Jersey 

 tomatoes are consumed in large quantities in the smaller 

 towns and cities of the state as well as at the large sea- 

 shore resorts. Soil conditions are favorable to the pro- 

 duction of tomatoes at no great distance from these 

 local markets and they are kept well supplied through- 

 out the season. Along the Delaware River, tomatoes 

 are shipped by boat to Wilmington, Baltimore and 

 Philadelphia. Refrigerator cars are employed for dis- 

 tant shipments by rail to such points as Boston, 

 Pittsburgh, and Chicago. A few shipments are even 

 made to markets as far south as Florida. 



Another prominent feature of the tomato industry 

 is the canning business. Large areas of tomatoes are 

 grown under contract for the canning trade. Prices 

 for canning tomatoes commonly range from $8 to $10 

 a ton. The medium- and late-crop tomatoes are the 

 ones used for canning, and such varieties as Bonny 

 Best, Cumberland, Stone, and Greater Baltimore are 

 the most popular. The plant of the Campbell Soup 

 Company is at Camden, and vast quantities of toma- 

 toes are contracted for and purchased throughout 

 southern New Jersey. At the height of the season, long 

 lines of market wagons loaded with 175 to 250 baskets 

 of tomatoes can be seen going into Camden. 



Tomatoes are not the only vegetables that are canned 

 in the state. More than fifty canning factories were in 

 operation in central and southern New Jersey in 1912, 

 and peas, beans, beets, sweet potatoes, and other 

 vegetables are canned annually. The acreage and value 

 of many vegetable crops are large in the state. 



The floricultural interests of the state are great and 

 products amounting to more than $2,850,000, are pro- 

 duced annually. The center of this industry is in Morris, 

 Essex and Hudson counties, but with large individual 

 plants at Riverton and other points. 



Orchard-fruits are produced at an annual value ex- 

 ceeding $1,975,000. The introduction of the San Jose 

 scale caused great damage to the orchards about 1900, 

 but the culture of these fruits is now progressing as 

 never before. Monmouth, Burlington and Gloucester 

 counties now lead in the production of apples. Such 

 varieties as Yellow Transparent, Duchess of Olden- 

 burg, Williams, Gravenstein, English Codlin, Starr, 

 Wealthy, Twenty Ounce, Mclntosh, Grimes, Stay- 

 man, Baldwin, Rome, Delicious and Arkansas (Para- 

 gon) comprise a good commercial list for the state. The 

 summer and fall varieties prove to be as profitable as 

 the winter apples, and are being planted liberally. 



Peach-production is increasing very rapidly upon 

 modern lines. About the year 1900 the counties in the 

 northwestern part of the state were leaders, but at 

 present Burlington and Monmouth are assuming the 

 lead with Gloucester, Atlantic and Cumberland mak- 

 ing rapid strides. Annual plantings of 20,000 to 30,000 

 trees are being made about small centers where only an 

 average of 4,000 to 8,000 trees were planted in 1908 and 

 1909. There has been a marked change in the popu- 

 larity of varieties also. At one time Mountain Rose, 

 Early Crawford and Reeves were leading commercial 

 sorts, but today the list would be selected from such 



