NORFOLK TRUCKING 



15 



nishes winter protection against the cold north, northeast and 

 northwest winds, and the south side of the row on which the 

 plants are set is exposed to the action of the sun during the 

 winter months. By this method the plants are enabled to 

 develop a good root system before leaf growth becomes active 

 in February or March. As soon as leaf growth starts, ad- 

 ditional fertilizers are given the plants. It is customary^ to 

 use a fertilizer somewhat similar to that used for spinach. 

 Sufficient fertilizer is used to force the crop to make a vigor- 

 ous growth, usually twelve hundred to two thousand pounds 

 per acre being required. It sometimes happens that, if too 

 much fertilizer is used in the fall when the plants are trans- 

 planted to the field, rapid growth follows and the cold weather 

 in January and February may give the plants a severe check. 

 Consequently, when they resume growth in the early spring, 

 they have a strong tendency to form seed stalks instead of 

 heads. For this reason the truckers have found that it is 

 best to postpone the application of more fertilizers until early 

 spring. Such varieties as Charleston Wakefield, Jersey Wake- 

 field, Copenhagen Market and Succession stand this winter 

 treatment very satisfactorily, but such as Flat Dutch and the 

 Danish Ball Head do not thrive so well. 



The crop is harvested during the months of April, May and 

 June. The market at that time \\dll take a softer head than 

 it will during the late summer, fall or early winter. Hence, 

 it is customary to cut the heads as soon as the marker will 

 take them somewhat irrespective of the state of maturity, 

 that is, the heads are cut as soon as they are large enough to 

 justify shipping. It is thus necessary to make several cut- 

 tings over a field before the crop is entirely harvested. 



Potatoes. 



Potatoes for the early market are planted in February and 

 March. This crop is grown in rotation with kale or spinach 

 or other truck crops as mentioned above. The methods of 

 planting do not differ materially from those practiced on Long 

 Island and some other parts of New York, except that most 

 truckers plant by hand, as very few horse power planters are 

 in use on the truck farms. The northern grown seed of the 



