NEW YORK, DECEMBER 19, 1891. 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$2 00 PER YEAR. 
Big Pumpkin Farming. 
ANOTHER BONANZA CROP ; PUMPKIN PIE. 
When the Puritans reached this country they found 
the Indians growing pumpkins as a regular crop with 
corn. The white men were not proud about their 
food, and they quickly made use of Indian crops. 
Where they showed progress was in improving the 
methods of cooking and serving food. The Indian cut 
the pumpkin up with a clam shell, put it with water 
in a birch-bark dish, and dropped baking-hot stones in 
front of their restaurant. These are the best advertis¬ 
ing they could get. During the season they use 45 tons 
of pumpkins. The pies are seven inches in diameter 
and require about half a pound of pumpkin for each. 
Place the season’s bake of pies side by side, and how 
many miles would the string run ? They are all sold 
at retail—cut in halves. At this restaurant over 6,000 
people are fed every day. Over 400 dozen eggs are 
used each day, and 4,200 quarts of milk are required 
each week ! The recipe is a “ trade secret,” but is the 
closest possible imitation of the combination used by 
are planted on sod with plenty of stable manure and 
also some fertilizer in the hill. The hills are 20 feet 
apart. They are cultivated by horse and hand as long 
as the vines will permit. In time of drought water is 
brought in barrels and poured around each hill.. The 
flowers are pinched off so that each vine will produce 
but one big fellow. The largest pumpkins yet grown 
there weighed 238, 331 and 347 pounds respectively. 
Mr. House is not satisfied with these weights and pro¬ 
poses to reach 400 pounds next year. The raising and 
marketing of this crop shows progress if anything ever 
■ 
* M* ■“»**' • 'b' 1 . ' 
yifev. 
■«■>>«*•■ am 
• & m m m 
THE LATEST AGRICULTURAL NOVELTY; A “BIG PUMPKIN” FARM. 
fresh’from the fire. Thus the pumpkin was stewed. 
The addition of a little maple sap made a dish fit for 
an Indian King. The good Puritan housewives quickly 
saw the virtues of the pumpkin. They added milk, 
eggs and spice and made the pumpkin pie. Nobody 
thought of the pumpkin as a bonanza crop—yet our 
picture shows a pumpkin farm up the Hudson River 
where pumpkins are coaxed to such size and weight 
that city people cluster round them like flies around 
molasses. Naething Bros., of this city, were sharp 
enough to see that these big pumpkins would attract 
a big trade in pumpkin pie. Every day, therefore, a 
dozen or more of these great fellows may be seen in 
our grandmothers. They are therefore “ like your 
mother used to make ” or as near like it as a pie made 
at wholesale can be like a retail product, or one baked 
alone in a small oven. 
The pumpkins are grown by H. J. House, manager 
of Pelham Farm in Ulster County, N. Y. This farm 
contains 260 acres and has been occupied since the 
earliest settlement of Ulster County. It was formerly 
owned by Robert Livingston Pell, who died in 1880. 
The house shown is 60 years old and is in good condi¬ 
tion. The farm is noted for its fine fruit, Newtown Pip¬ 
pin Apples being a specialty. From an acre to an acre 
apd a half of pumpkins are grown every year. They 
Fig. 32 1. 
did. The lesson is that individuality pays. The man 
who grows pumpkins bigger than his neighbors and 
lets the people know it will have trade. The man who 
makes the pumkins into first-class pies and advertises 
them, will have to put in new tables to supply his cus¬ 
tomers. “ Get individuality or get out of the race!” 
Mr. House says “there is no secret in raising big 
pumpkins.” Of course not. Nature has no secrets. 
Her story is like an “ open book” to those who have 
the will and the patience to learn to read it. For cen¬ 
turies the “learned men” tried to prove that there were 
secrets, but we are free now—free to learn, think and 
grow into knowledge. A blessed privilege it I* too. 
