CHAPTER VI 



TRANSPORTATION OF TRUCK CROPS 



Problems of transportation. The transportation of truck crops 

 involves two distinct problems : (i) the carrying of the products to 

 the market ; (2) the extension of the trucking area. The first 

 problem involves the question of harvesting, packing, and ship- 

 ment of truck crops ; the second, the extension of old areas and 

 the development of new ones. 



Transportation facilities have extended the zone tributary to the 

 great centers of consumption from the limits of the wagon haul 

 to the confines of our nation and even beyond. The great centers 

 of population have been made possible by facilities for feeding such 

 great numbers. The work of growing garden vegetables has been 

 extended from a zone of twenty-five miles about each city, with its 

 intensive market gardening and greenhouse industries, to the limits 

 of transportation. Quick transportation and refrigeration facilities 

 now enable producers located in regions remote from the market 

 to take advantage of their home climatic conditions to grow in the 

 open those crops which could be produced in the wagon zone of 

 the cities only by means of greenhouses. Improved transportation 

 has made truck farming an extensive industry as compared with 

 market gardening, which is one of the highest types of intensive 

 horticulture. This change in the character of the industry has had 

 the effect of making many crops which formerly had a restricted 

 season almost perennial in the market. Field-grown lettuce is to 

 be found in the markets throughout almost the entire year. The 

 same is true of tomatoes, beets, peas, string beans, and other 

 short-season annuals which, before transportation joined the crop 

 regions of Maine and Florida, had restricted market seasons de- 

 termined by the climatic conditions of the zone immediately 

 tributary to the market. 



Specialization. Still another important result of present trans- 

 portation conditions is specialization among growers. This is more 



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