TRUCK GARDENING ON THE UPLANDS OF WESTERN 
NEW YORK 
W. E. Evans, Aupen, N. Y. 
ADVANTAGES OF SECTIONS ABOUT BUFFALO AND CHARACTER OF THE 
FARMS 
A light, sandy loam; an_ excellent 
market for vegetables in Buffalo; a cheap 
source of stable manure in the same city 
and good roads leading to it, make 
Western New York particularly adapted 
to vegetable growing. 
By far the largest part of the vegetables/ 
used in Buffalo is raised on small farms 
located just beyond the city limits. The 
land originally belonged to a religious sect 
known as “ Ebenezers,” who, when they moved to Iowa, divided 
their farm land into lots about thirty acres in size. As a result 
the farms in this section are all of this size or a multiple thereof, 
fifteen being a common acreage. The average amount of land 
devoted to the raising of vegetables is ten. the remainder being 
devoted to growing feed for the farm animals. 
The worth of this land is determined by the possibility of 
cutting it into city lots rather than by its fertility. Few of the 
farms which are for sale can be bought for less than $500 per acre. 
Railroads paid $1,000 per acre for land they bought, and after 
it is cut up into city lots it is worth $1,200 per acre. 
TYPE OF SOIL AND CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 
No one particular soil type is common in this section although 
the light, sandy loams predominate. Some are creek bottom land 
and have excellent drainage in the form of a gravel subsoil, while 
others have a hardpan subsoil. A few are heavy clays. 
In this narrow strip surrounding Buffalo the seasons are about 
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