NORFOLK TRUCKING 



13 



Their crop is usually harvested in the morning while it is 

 crisp, as it carries to market in much better condition than if 

 harvested in the later afternoon. Practically all spinach 

 shipped from the Norfolk region is iced either on steamship 

 or in the cars, even if the shipments are made in the winter 

 months. 



Kale. 



Kale is second only to spinach in importance as a winter 

 crop. The seed of this crop is usually sown in rows twenty- 

 five to thirty inches apart. From three to six pounds of seed 

 are required to sow an acre. The seed of the Scotch Curled 

 varieties is sown in August, while that of the Blue or Siberian 

 varieties is sown in September or October. The crop from 

 the August sown seed should be ready for market in Novem- 

 ber, December, January and February, and that from the 

 late sown should be ready for the March and April markets. 

 Kale is somewhat less expensive to grow than is spinach. 

 The quantity of fertilizers is only about one-half that requir- 

 ed for spinach and the growth of the crop admits of the use 

 of more horse power in the methods of cultivation. The crop 

 is harvested and marketed similarly to spinach. An acre of 

 kale should cut from three hundred to five hundred barrels. 

 The selling price on the New York market varies from sixty 

 cents to one dollar and ten cents per barrel. It costs five 

 cents a barrel to harvest and pack the kale, the barrels cost 

 twenty cents each, and the freight and 'icing twenty cents. 

 Other expenses incident to shipping, such as cartage, super- 

 vision of harvesting, etc., usually bring the harvesting and 

 marketing expenses up to about fifty-five cents per barrel. 

 It will thus be seen that kale selling at sixty-five cents does 

 not leave much profit to the grower, especially when the cost 

 of grooving and marketing the crop is deducted from these 

 prices; but if the kale sells from ninety cents to one dollar a 

 barrel, a reasonable profit may be obtained. 



Peas. 



The kale crop is frequently followed in January by a crop 

 of garden peas. The Alaska, Non-Pareil, Thomas Laxton, 

 and Laxtonia are the leading varieties at the present time. 



