Vegetable Gro^ng' in Ne^w YorK and MassacKusetts 



A. McMeans, Agricultural College, GuelpH 



S a result of the request made 



some time ago by the Ontario 



Vegetable Growers' Association, 



that the Department of Agriculture 



Ihould send some person to investigate 



le work being done by the experiment 

 Itations, and to visit also a few of the 



eading commercial establishments in 



lew York and some of the New Eng- 

 land states, I was recently sent by The 



)epartment on such a trip. I left 

 Guelph April 12, and was away for one 

 week. During my absence I visited 

 the New York Experiment Station, at 

 (jcneva, N.Y.; the Cornell Agricultural 

 College, at Ithaca, N.Y.; the Hatch 

 I^xperiment Station and Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College at Amherst, Mass., 

 and leading vegetable growers in the 

 \ icinitv of Boston, Mass., and Rochester, 

 N'.Y. 



While indirectly the agricultural col 

 leges and experiment stations at these 

 points have been of great value to vege 

 table growers, none of them, excepting 

 ])Ossibly the experiment station in Mass- ■ 

 achusetts, have devoted special atten- 

 tion to experimental work for the bene- 

 fit of vegetable growers. They all real- 

 ize, however, the need for more work 

 of this nature and are asking for in- 

 creased grants to enable them to under- 

 take it. 



The practical fruit growers, whose 

 places I visited, are conducting their 

 work on a scale of such magnitude as 

 to be undreamed of by the growers n 

 Canada and they are still enlarging their 

 plants. Canadian growers who are 

 thinking of raising vegetables under 

 glass on an extensive scale, would find 

 it a most profitable trip could thev 

 visit their greenhouses. 



WORK IN NEW YORK STATE 



The New York Experimental Station 

 is situated on a nice slope, about a little 

 over a mile from the City of Geneva. The 

 soil is a clay loam. I met Dr. Jordan, 

 who handed me over to Prof. Hedrick, 

 who is the horticulturist, and whose 

 work has been devoted chiefly to fruit. 

 There are two houses, about 20 x 50 

 feet each, devoted to vegetables. The 

 houses are old and they are asking for 

 new ones. 



One house is devoted to head lettuce, 

 of which 32 varieties were tried this 

 season. Mills seedling is about the best, 

 but they are not nearly satisfied yet. 

 Leaf turn has caused considerable trou- 

 ble. The other house is devoted to 

 cucumbers, grown from seed, without 

 handling or transplanting. The test is 

 not proving satisfactory. They took 

 off a crop of tomatoes from this house 

 early in the season. The average weight 

 per plant of 148 plants was 11 pounds; 



variety Lorillard. About two acres are 

 devoted to a garden which is used 

 chiefly to supply vegetables to the 

 directors and others connected with the 

 station. 



THE MASSACHUSETTS STATION 



At Amherst, Mass., Prof. Brooks in- 

 troduced me to Prof. Stone, who took 

 me in charge, with the excuse that they 

 are not doing the work they should, as 

 their houses are old and they are asking 

 for an appropriation of $15,000 to re- 

 build at the experiment station and col- 

 lege. At the station there are three 

 houses devoted to experimental work, 

 chiefly in vegetables, especially toma- 

 toes and cucumbers. Experiments 

 have been conducted in sub-irrigation, 

 sterilizing the soil, and in the applica- 

 tion of electricity through the soil, and 

 in charging the air. Electrodes in the 

 soil proved beneficial on lettuce and 

 radish. Sterilization of the soil proved 

 of benefit to lettuce. Sub-irrigation was 

 good for both lettuce and tomatoes. 



At the Agricultural College, I met 

 Prof. Waugh. Everything is on a com- 

 mercial scale, flowers, fruit, vegetables 

 and nursery. The students do the ma- 

 jority of the work at 121/2 cents per 

 hour. Thousands of vegetable plants 

 were for sale. The houses at the col- 

 lege are devoted chiefly to flowers. 

 Everything is sold and prices rule very 

 high. Some oppo4tion has been raised 

 by the local trade to commercialism on 

 the part of the college. 



WORK AT CORNELL 



At Cornell College, situated on a hill 

 overlooking the City of Ithaca, N.Y., I 

 found Prof. John Craig, an old Canadian, 

 who took me in charge. The soil is a 

 very heavy cliy and unfitted for the 

 carrying on of experiments with vege- 

 tables outdoors. The result is that they 

 do their experimental work with the 

 commercial men, in some suitable loca- 

 tion. When growers are having trouble 

 with their crops and write the college a 

 member of the staff visits the grower's 

 place and gives all the assistance pos- 

 sible, remaining for several days when 

 necessary. 



They have been carrying on some ex- 

 periments with acetylene gas, using it 

 for lighting purposes and running it at 

 night to watch its effects on vegetables, 

 chiefly beans, under glass. The results 

 this year have not been satisfactory. 

 They have a very nice setting of fruit, 

 with their tomatoes, and find Lester's 

 Prolific and Climax to have done the 

 best. 



The best object lesson I received on 

 my trip was in the commercial centre, 

 near Boston. The magnitude of the 

 industry and the number and size of the 



153 



vegetable forcing houses at Arlington, 

 Belmont and other suburbs of Boston, 

 is almost beyond belief. The largest 

 of the Rawson greenhouses, at Arlington, 

 attains to the great size of 50 x 400 feet, 

 with frames of glass 20 x 30 inches. 

 Hittinger Bros., at Belmont, among 

 others, have one house 40 x 600 feet. 

 There are many other establishments in 

 the vicinity with houses nearly as ex- 

 tensive. Among others, I might men- 

 tion Wyman Bros., Allen's, Tappan and 

 Scane. 



These people grow acres of lettuce, 

 cucumbers, radishes, etc., in the winter, 

 and exchange this product for bank 

 accounts. Now, just a word as to why 

 these men have been successful, and 

 why it cannot very well be duplicated 

 in Ontario. In so far as I could see, the 

 element of success with the Yankee lies 

 in his thoroughness. Nothing is too 

 great for him to undertake, nothing is 

 too small for him to neglect. To give 

 an instance of detail: Hittinger Bro.'s 

 large house, the one I just mentioned, 

 was planted to cucumbers, trained to 

 single stem. All laterals and tendrils 

 were removed every other day. It is 

 just a little thing, but it spelt success. 



The Massachusetts type of house is 

 what is known as the three-quarter span, 

 running east and west, about five feet 

 high on the south or long side, 15 feet 

 to the ridge and about 10 feet of wall on 

 the north side. Ground beds are used 

 exclusively. The general plan is to 

 grow two or three crops of lettuce, fol- 

 lowed by cucumbers. The Boston let- 

 tuce grower begins operations in his 

 forcing house on the following general 

 plan. He first prepares his ground by 

 watering thoroughly and digging into it 

 about three inches of well-rotted horse 

 manure. Then he sets out transplanted 

 lettuce plants about eight inches apart. 

 Should the beds become very dry, they 

 are watered with a hose with no nozzle, 

 giving a gentle stream of water. They 

 try to place the water between the 

 plants, keeping the lettuce itself as dry 

 as possible. As soon as the lettuce 

 covers the soil, all water is withheld 

 until about two days before cutting, 

 when it is watered freely to add increased 

 weight and texture. After the lettuce 

 begins to head the temperature at night 

 is kept down to 40°. During the day it 

 often runs up to 60°, but plenty of air is 

 given. After cutting, the house is 

 thoroughly fumigated, the soil saturated 

 with water, and the process repeated. 



A leaf from Mr. Rawson's note book, 

 as I copied it from the wall of a green- 

 house, regarding one house, may not be 

 amiss: Lettuce, first crop set Oct. II, 

 1902; second crop set Dec. 20, 1902; 

 cucumbers set March 7, 1903. For 



