No. 4.] TRUCK FARMING. 21 



There are several classes of truck-farm problems which should 

 receive attention from the experiment stations. The Virginia 

 Truck Experiment Station was established for the purpose of 

 solving some of these for Virginia market gardeners, as is set 

 forth in section 2 of the charter as follows : — 



Object. — It shall be the object of the station to conduct researches on 

 the physiology of plants and the diseases to wliich they are subject, with 

 remedies for same. In hke manner investigations looking to the control 

 and eradication of insect pests shall be undertaken. The comparative 

 advantage of rotative cropping, the capacity of new plants for acclimatiza- 

 tion, the improvement of varieties through plant breeding and selection, 

 and the utihty of manures, natural or artificial, shall all be considered 

 with such other researches bearing directly on the interests of the truck 

 growers of the State as may be deemed advisable. 



Vegetable growers in general are interested in the problems 

 pertaining to soil fertility, soil utility and soil sanitation. Also, 

 they are concerned with plant breeding, especially in its rela- 

 tion to the improvement of varieties and the development of 

 disease-resistant strains in fungous and bacterial diseases and 

 methods of controlling them; in insect studies, including life 

 histories and methods of control; and in general marketing 

 problems. 



Soil Fertility. 

 The work on soil fertility should include such topics as the 

 use of natural and artificial manures, the kinds to use on cer- 

 tain crops, the method and time of making applications, and 

 the quantities best suited. All these important factors are 

 influenced by the crop rotation followed. When leguminous 

 crops are to be turned under for soil improvement, smaller 

 quantities of manures may be used; but if a certain class of 

 legumes are grown for market purposes, the soil may be ac- 

 tually robbed of a portion of its available plant food. In a 

 series of experiments conducted by the Virginia Truck Experi- 

 ment Station it was found that the yield of a kale crop was 

 greatly influenced by the crop previously grown in the rota- 

 tion, as recorded in Bulletin No. 9. The different plats in the 

 experiment were cropped and treated as follows, and then 

 planted with kale in August, 1912: — 



