242 
MARCH 28 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
FARM GARDENING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
TWO BOUNTIFUL BAY STATE ACRES. 
Good chances at the East; under the shadow of factories; 
a*'glut” is a good thing for the careful gardener; 
competition can’t kill good goods; peas, corn, straw¬ 
berries; picking and parking; newandneat; virtue in 
new varieties. 
New Field In An Old Section. 
There exists near our large Eastern towns a field of In¬ 
dustry as yet only partially developed, which offers to the 
young farmer a far more promising picture of prosperity 
than that of the Golden West with all its blandishments 
of “ big scale ” farming. I re¬ 
fer to the syttem of “ direct- 
to-consumers ” gardening, 
and especially the production 
of small fruits and such vege¬ 
tables as do not bear trans¬ 
portation well, or which keep 
but a short time in a strictly 
fresh condition. The market 
may be apparently already 
over-supplied; but this condi¬ 
tion is really one “devoutly 
to be wished,” for an over¬ 
supply means stale goods, as 
the marketman will sell the 
oldest first to protect himself 
from loss. I am located with¬ 
in a few minutes’ drive of a 
manufacturing town of about 
10,000 population, and I find 
ready sale, directly to con¬ 
sumers, of the product of a 
garden of two acres, about 
one-qnarter of which is devot¬ 
ed to small fruits. This is 
about all I can manage with¬ 
out hired help, including de¬ 
livery of the produce. And I 
am pleased to offer the read¬ 
ers of The R. N.-Y. the results 
of my experience, believing 
that the system of dealing 
directly with consumers does 
not confer merely a one sided 
benefit, but is of the utmost 
advantage to the consumer as 
well as to the producer. In¬ 
stances of sickntss following 
the use of stale vegetables are 
of frequent occurence; and 
while the uninitiated may de¬ 
mur at an advanced price for the very choicest varieties 
hurried from the garden to their tables, with all possible 
speed, those who once become accustomed to the best are 
willing to economize in the amount purchased, for the 
sake of greater excellence in what they have. Indeed the 
gulf is a wide one between vegetables which will sicken 
and those which will restore 1 
The Essentials of Success. 
With due observance of the essentials of success a good 
trade may be established in the face of any competition 
from those who simply handle vegetables, or even raise 
them under the slipshod methods altogether too common 
among farmers. These essentials are few but urgent, viz.: 
quality, freshness, neatness. Vegetables must be of the 
choicest varieties, adapted to please the palate rather than 
the eye, and grown under the best conditions as to fertil¬ 
ity and cultivation—potatoes and small fruits with plenty 
of potash, sweet corn and string beaus with plenty of ni¬ 
trogen,etc., and cultivated often, to insure a quick growth. 
The choice of varieties as regards quality is of prime im¬ 
portance ; and as the best is often of medium yield, here is 
additional cause why a fancy (though not an exorbitant) 
price should be demanded. Neatness of appearance is 
requisite, not only in the commodity, but in the style of 
package used and in the person of the vender. Freshness 
is secured by marketing everything the same day it is 
gathered as far as possible. An exception is made with 
peas and strawberries during the busiest part of the sea¬ 
son, the amount of work in picking these rendering it 
necessary to store them over night. A certain amount of 
education is necessary on the part of patrons accustomed 
to common market stuff ; they must be instructed not to 
cook the peas and sweet corn half a day when cooking for 
20 minutes is all the choice and fresh produce will stand. 
And I make it a point in my dealings to consider my cus¬ 
tomers’ interest, not merely to get the wares off my hands. 
Many need to have impressed upon their minds the bene¬ 
fit of disposing quickly of what they buy. I am much 
impressed with the advantage of taking orders in advance 
of delivery. “ I have just bought at the market,” repeated 
many times in one morning, has led me to this practice. 
How To Make Peas Pay Profit. 
I raise mainly such crops as deteriorate quickly after 
they have been gathered, and thus have a better command 
of prices, and suffer less from general competition. My 
specialties are peas and sweet corn, supplemented by cu¬ 
cumbers, lettuce, beets, string beans and summer squashes, 
these mainly for the sake of variety and the convenience of 
customers. In the small fruit line, I raise strawberries 
and raspberries. The selling season opens in the middle of 
June (as I do no forcing) with peas and strawberries ; and 
my custom is to market on alternate forenoons, taking 
orders also, a part of which will be filled the same evening. 
The intervening day is spent in picking peas, half-bushel 
baskets being used, and as soon as two are filled they are 
taken to a cool cellar and hung from nails driven into the 
girders, immunity from vermin and the danger of heating 
being in this way secured. The following morning the 
moisture from air condensed upon the pods would give 
one the impression that they had been gathered while the 
dew was on. When thus treated, and cooked the day on 
which they are delivered, I cannot detect any depreciation 
in their quality. A half peck placed in a paper bag repre¬ 
sents the style in which they are packed for delivery, the 
season opening at 30 cents per half-peck and closing at 20 
cents. 
It is of the greatest importance that the best vari¬ 
eties should be selected for this trade. Anything may be 
good enough for wholesale, but only “ the best is good 
enough” for my customers. The kinds I have chosen, after 
trying most of the varieties known to the catalogues, for 
several years, are Premium Gem and Abundance. The 
former I find to be of equal excellence with the American 
Wonder, and twice as prolific; while its season is as early 
and more extended. A knowledge of this fact is worth 
many dollars to me. The smooth or “ round ” varieties I 
long ago discarded, as their gain in earliness does not 
atone for their inferior quality. For a second early and 
main crop pea the Abundance is so satisfying in every par¬ 
ticular, that In place of enumerating its merits I will say, 
briefly, that I desire nothing better. A word as to the 
healthiness of its vine, however. In a test of this variety 
planted May 31,1890, (which is 10 days too late for any 
other variety) in competition with such kinds as Strata¬ 
gem, McLean’s Advancer, Horsford’s Market Garden and 
several of the newer English peas, all except the Abund¬ 
ance were a failure in various degrees from mildew. I 
found Horsford’s very prolific, as claimed, but the pods were 
so small as to make the work of picking a given quantity 
twice as great as in case of the Abundance, and this the 
catalogues failed to tell about. Tall-growing varieties I 
do not favor; but I shall try, this season, Mr. Gregory’s 
Delicious, because so much has been said of its rare flavor; 
but if it shall prove any better than Abundance I shall be 
surprised. Laxton’s Alpha is very fine for a tall kind ; 
but in it there is too much “ room to let ” inside the pods. 
Peas must be picked when just right as to age. In fact, 
this is the most important point of all, as a very few of 
these coarse-looking pods will spoil the mess. For speedy 
picking, it is indispensable that a variety be chosen whose 
pods grow no faster than the peas—they must fill out well, 
that the sight may determine, without waiting for the , 
sense of touch, the size of the peas. The season is extended 
by planting Abundance once in two weeks until the last of 
May. I have dwelt upon this vegetable, as it is the best 
paying of all; the same investment of labor in growing and 
picking, returns more money than anything except straw¬ 
berries, and peas are not to be 
surpassed for sureness of crop. 
To Insure Success With 
Sweet Corn. 
The crop next in importance 
is sweet corn. After a search 
of several years among the 
sweet corns, old and new, I 
have found one (an old var¬ 
iety, as usual), so conspicuous 
in its superiority that I have 
no use for any other during 
its season. It is the Squan- 
tum, or Potter’s Excelsior. 
Its season is extended by re¬ 
peated plantings. It seems 
extremely odd to puff an old 
variety so persistently do the 
seedsmen thrust these kinds 
into the background, to the 
furtherance of selfish schemes 
upon our wallets ; and when 
I say that I have among my 
customers for this variety 
those who confessedly “do 
not like corn,” it reads just 
like a catalogue story. I wss 
inclined to try the much- 
vaunted Gold Coin last sea¬ 
son, and the bulk of the crop 
found its way to the pig-sty. 
It was scarcely as good even 
as Stowell’s Evergreen, and is 
apparently a cross with a 
Western dent variety. To 
pass the time until the 
Squantum comes on, I have 
tried several kinds, without a 
conclusive choice as yet. I 
shall try Crosby this season 
by the side of several newer 
kinds. The Cory is early enough—too early in fact to be 
of good quality; but many seem to be willing to pay 25 
cents per dozen for it. 
Among string beans the dwarf Black Wax is the best of 
all in quality. An improved strain of this variety (offered 
by the different seedsmen under a multiplicity of names 
that do credit to their ingenuity), I have tested and find 
so satisfactory that I shall plant it largely. An extra 
early strain also is offered this season by Ferry in whose 
claims I have such confidence that I shall plant a supply of 
it. For the wholesale trade Ward well js a grand bean, not 
quite so good in quality as Black Wax. The Black- 
seeded Simpson Lettuce is my favorite non-heading early 
variety; planted thickly in beds it becomes blanched by 
contact of the plants. The Hanson, among heading kinds, 
stands at the head. The phampion Spring and Summer, 
now offered for sale for the first time, by Johnson & 
Stokes, was the best of several tested last season. Among 
squashes, three comparatively new kinds suit me and my 
customers best. For summer the Cocozelle; for autumn 
the Dunlap or Improved Marrow; and for winter the White 
Chestnut are all improvements over former varieties. 
The Small Fruit Part of It. 
Strawberries and raspberries are very satisfactory crops 
with me. All berries are carefully selected and packed in 
the Detroit Novelty Company’s paper baskets, bringing a 
uniform price of 25 cents, each package holding a rounded 
dry quart, instead of a scant liquid quart, as commonly 
sold. Thus I receive one-half more than the current prices 
for shipped berries, or at times double the market price, 
as this varies during the season. However, the supply of 
near-by small fruits always falls short of the demand in 
this locality, and customers are willing to pay a round 
price with the certainty of being served regularly with a 
choice article, in preference to putting their dependence 
upon a scant market. The varieties of strawberries I have 
sold most largely are Crystal City for early, followed by 
Sharpless and Charles Downing. Many others under trial 
are fine berries, but require unusual conditions to be pro¬ 
fitable. I believe, however, that the Pearl, Bubach No. 5, 
and Belmont are desirable for general cultivation, and the 
»Bomba is very promising for a canning berry. I have 
fruited these but once, and under adverse conditions. 
Among raspberries, Cuthbert is the favorite and almost 
the only variety in general cultivation hereabouts. The 
style of growth of the Shaffer, without suckers, prepos 
sesses me in its favor. Its dusky color would be no detri¬ 
ment to my trade, but I am doubtful whether its sour 
flavor would be acceptable, except for jelly. The Lucretia 
Dewberry is very promising on account of its great size, 
and habit of ripening ahead of the wild blackberries. 
Worcester County, Mass. FRED. w. PROCTOR. 
One cent will mail this paper to your friend 
in any part of the United States, Canada or 
Mexico, after you have read it and written 
your namefon the corner. 
A STEUBEN COUNTY, N. Y., FARM HOUSE. Fig. 86. 
