TRUCK GARDENING ON THE UPLANDS OF WESTERN 



NEW YORK 



W. E. Evans, Alden, 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 religions 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, 

 iifteen 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. 



*7h 



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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