84 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 9 
ner, and carry them out without the least idea of what 
amount of each they received for their dollar. 
Middlemen, as they are called, are very useful in a 
community—in fact they are a necessity—but there is 
no sense in farmers supporting- a dozen where one can 
do all the business. But, says some one, a dozen are 
better for the buyer than one, because “ competi¬ 
tion is the life of trade,” and they are constantly 
cutting prices to secure customers. Early one morn¬ 
ing 1 was sitting in a grocery store, in a town where 
the grocery business was largely overdone, when the 
groceryman from the other end of the street entered. 
He glanced at me sharply, and nodded. “ He’s all 
right,” said the proprietor. Then they proceeded to 
fix prices to be paid for the leading articles of country 
produce, and to be charged for leading grocery staples 
for that day. These were written on paper, put into 
a copying press, and a copy made for each store in the 
town. “Do you always do that?” I inquired. 
“ Yes. Have to, you know, or some of us would soon 
go under.” 
Half an hour later, I entered one of the stores and 
asked, “howare you selling sugar, best granulated ?’ 
“ Fourteen pounds,” said the proprietor, naming the 
price I had heard fixed in the other store. 
Leaning over the counter I murmured, “ Five dollars 
cash.” 
“ Seventeen,” he whispered in reply. 
“ And a half ?” I added. 
“Mighty close, but I’ll do it if you’ll keep mum.” 
“ Mum’s the word,” 1 replied, and the sugar was put 
up in a jiffy, paid for, and nobody was the wiser. 
Cash is the key that opens the soul of the brass¬ 
cheeked, hide-bound dealer everywhere. And the 
silver-tongued orator who deals in implements and 
vehicles, will not let it. escape him if hair-breadth 
margins will secure it. fred grundy. 
EXTRA EARLY TOMATOES IN SOUTH JERSEY. 
THE START THEY GET IN A GREENHOUSE 
Carries Them Right Through to the Market. 
Near the village of Greenwich, in Cumberland County, 
is the farm of W. S. Bacon, Secretary of the Cumber¬ 
land County Board of Agriculture. Mr. B. has achieved 
quite a reputation for getting the first home-grown 
tomatoes into market. 
“ The seed is sown in the greenhouse,” said Mr. 
Bacon, “about February 5, in rows three inches apart, 
in soil composed of one part well rotted and pulver¬ 
ized stable manure to two parts sandy loam, well 
mixed together. If everything works favorably, the 
plants will be ready to plant in the boxes about 
March 25.” 
“ At what temperature should the plants be kept to 
accomplish the best results ? ” 
“ At first, it should be as high as 60 or 70 degrees. 
If the plants begin to ‘ draw,’ the temperature must 
be reduced. The idea is to have them grow as rapidly 
as possible without spindling. A week or 10 days be¬ 
fore it is time to put them in the boxes, the tempera¬ 
ture should be allowed to fall gradually, until it is as 
low as 40 degrees. I have had it down to 35 degrees 
with no serious result following. On one occasion, I 
even had them frozen stiff, but by thoroughly drench¬ 
ing them with cold water before they thawed, and 
keeping them wet until they did thaw out, the plants 
were saved without serious injury. The object in let¬ 
ting the temperature go so low, is to harden the 
plants thoroughly before transplanting into the boxes. 
It must be allowed to go down gradually, however, 
not more than two or three degrees per day. At this 
point, the gray appearance of the leaves should have 
all disappeared, and the plants should have assumed 
a bluish tinge.” 
“You speak of transplanting into boxes. I suppose 
that is the operation commonly known as potting.” 
“Yes, but the boxes we use are far superior to pots 
for the purpose. They take up less room on the 
benches. When potted plants are set in the field, it 
seems to take several days for them to begin to grow, 
while those raised in boxes start off immediately. 
The boxes used for tomatoes are six inches square and 
five inches deep. They are similar to a berry basket 
in construction, with the exceptions that there are no 
openings in the sides or corners, and that the sides are 
perpendicular. They are made especially for the pur¬ 
pose, and are known as plant boxes. They come in 
all sizes and are fast taking the place of pots in all 
greenhouse work. We get them in the flat, and put 
them together ourselves. I recommend them for 
tomatoes only when the plants are to be kept in the 
greenhouse ; if they are to be transplanted into cold 
frames, it is better to make up the beds and set the 
plants five or six inches apart each way. I would not 
transplant into cold frames before April 1. If the 
plants are put into boxes and kept in the greenhouse, 
they should be transplanted about March 25. The 
soil used in the boxes is similar to that in which the 
seed is sown. The boxes are packed in the green¬ 
house as close together as possible, and the tempera¬ 
ture is kept about the same as for raising the small 
plants. I keep it just as warm as possible, without 
drawing the plants. If they begin to ‘ draw,’ the 
temperature must be reduced at once, the object being 
to get the plants as large as possible, and still have 
them strong and stocky. 
“ Now comes a point that is very important, that is 
to move the boxes on the benches about a week before 
they are to be taken to the field. This is to break off 
the roots that have penetrated the bottoms of the 
boxes, and enable the plants to recover under the 
favorable conditions found in the greenhouse. If this 
operation is not performed, the plants will receive a 
serious setback when taken to the field where the con¬ 
ditions of the atmosphere cannot be controlled. If 
the plants are in a cold frame, the same result is 
accomplished by cutting both ways between each 
plant with a spade. The plants should be again sub¬ 
jected to the hardening process, and given all the air 
possible for a week or 10 days before removing to the 
field. Sometimes I strip the sashes off entirely during 
the last two or three days. I plant in the field as 
soon as all danger of frost is past, usually in this 
section about May 10. The plants should always 
receive a good soaking before the operations of trans¬ 
planting, removing, etc.” 
When the Plant Gets to the Field. 
“ What is the most suitable soil for growing the 
crop ?” 
“ The best soil is a deep, sandy loam, well drained ; 
if it slopes a little toward the South, all the better. 
Land should be selected that was well cultivated the 
previous year. It should receive a heavy coat of well- 
rotted stable manure during the fall or winter, which 
should be plowed in early in the spring. The ground 
should be well harrowed and worked over, and 
thoroughly pulverized. When it is time to remove 
the plants to the field, deep furrows are made four 
feet apart, by running a plow twice in the same fur¬ 
row in opposite directions. This leaves the land in 
high ridges with furrows similar to dead furrows, 
four feet apart. It is then marked crosswise with 
chains making the marks four feet apart. About 300 
pounds to the acre of some high grade complete fer¬ 
tilizer is placed at the intersection of the marks and 
furrows where it is designed to set the plants. This 
should be slightly scattered. We are now ready for 
the plants. A wagon with 16-foot planks for bottom 
boards is driven alongside the greenhouse. One man 
stands inside and with a shovel picks the boxes up, 
two at a time, and passes them to a man on the out¬ 
side who places them on the wagon, which, when 
loaded, is driven to the field, where the plants are 
placed in the furrows, over the fertilizer. The boxes 
are broken off, and either tramped down between the 
plants or removed entirely from the field. They are 
so rotten by this time, that they are not likely to 
bother in the cultivation, if left right in the field. The 
top of the block of earth is set about on a level with 
the surface of the field, and earth is drawn around it 
with a hoe. Then more of the fertilizer is spread 
around each hill at the rate of half a ton to the acre, 
and the ground is cultivated immediately. We try to 
cultivate both ways twice a week until the plants get 
too large to allow the passage of the cultivator.” 
“ When do you begin to pick ?” 
“ From plants raised in boxes in the greenhouse, we 
generally pick the first ripe tomatoes about June 20. 
Plants raised in cold frames do not ripen fruit much 
before July 4.” 
“ Do you raise plants to sell ?” 
“Oh! 1 sell a great many. I use one greenhouse 
to raise the small plants, and as a temperature suit¬ 
able for tomato plants is not suitable for any other 
crop, I fill it ; consequently when the plants are ready 
to put into boxes I have more plants than I can get 
into all of my greenhouses put together, so there are 
a great many to sell.” 
“ Do you devote all of your greenhouses to the rais¬ 
ing of tomato plants ? ” 
“ I raise vegetables in them in the winter, but all 
of them are cleared out by March 25 ready to receive 
the tomato boxes.” 
“ Do you sell any plants in boxes ready to set in the 
field ? ” 
“ No. I plant all that my greenhouses will hold, 
and would use more if I had them ? ” 
“ What variety do you consider best adapted to this 
method of culture ? ” 
“ I plant the variety known in this locality as the 
‘ Dobbs.’ I think the seed is not on the market, at 
least, it is not sold under that name.” 
“ In what points does it excel ? ” 
“ In size, appearance, quality and yield ; consider¬ 
ing its earliness, it is far ahead of any other variety I 
have ever tried.” 
Mr. Bacon’s greenhouses are heated by the hot-water 
method, with the pipes running around the sides, just 
above the benches. He considers top heat better than 
bottom heat, especially for raising tomato plants. At 
the time ol my visit, January 22, the houses were full 
of radishes ; some, in the house where he intends to 
sow his tomato seed, were about ready to pull, and 
all of them will be off in time to use the houses for 
the tomato boxes. He raised about eight acres last 
year, which is all the plants his greenhouses will hold. 
A small portion of his crop is sold in Bridgeton, the 
county seat of Cumberland County, but the bulk of it 
is shipped to Newark and New York. Those sold in 
the local market, about 15 baskets per day, brought 
from $2 to $3 per five-eighths basket for the first two 
weeks. Those that were shipped did not net so much. 
Vineland, N. J. _ s. T. D. 
HOW A LAWYER FARMS. 
A TWENTY-SEVEN HUNDRED ACRE OHIO FARM. 
Competing With the West in the Production of Corn. 
Judge Vanmeter, of Piketon, O., is averse to any¬ 
thing savoring of advertising, but takes pleasure in 
discussing the difficult problems that confront him on 
his 2,700-acre farm. In a two-hours’ drive with him 
through his property, much interesting information 
was obtained. Seventeen hundred acres lie within 
the intervale of the Scioto River, belonging to that 
wonderful strip of bottom land parting the higher land 
of southern Ohio, from the center of the State to the 
Ohio River, while 1,000 acres are upland, with a clayey 
soil of fair fertility and well adapted to wheat-grow 
ing and pasturage. The owner was a lawyer living ir 
town and renting the farm at a cash rental of $10,000 
a year until 1881. Then impaired health and a desire 
to fulfill better the obligations resting upon an ex¬ 
tensive landowner, caused him to go to his large farm, 
cancel the contract under which a tenant butchered 
the property for so much cash eac h year, and begin 
earnest study of agriculture with the desire of build¬ 
ing up the soil while making the property pay a fair 
rental. 
The lowest bottom land, some 800 or 900 acres, is 
“ made ” land, being an admixture of sand and clay 
in just the right proportion to suit the corn plant. It 
has been cropped with corn almost incessantly since 
1830, although since 1881, every acre of it has had at 
least one year of clover. A levee that originally cost 
$20,000, partially protects this land from freshets, but 
the cost of maintaining it in good condition has proved 
too great, and since the great flood of 1884, it has been 
neglected. The second bottom, which is rarely flooded, 
is a burr oak, walnut and wild cherry land, black and 
inclined to be sticky. “ On this 100-acre plot to our 
right,” said the Judge, “ I am trying an experiment 
with a short clover rotation. Wheat is sown in the 
corn stubble, with clover the next spring, and the 
field is again broken for corn the succeeding spring. 
That makes a two-year rotation. The clover comes 
on in the wheat stubble, heads out, and is cut for seed 
the fall after it is sown.” 
“ How is this rotation affecting the yield of corn ? ” 
“ When I took charge of the property in 1881, this 
field was yielding only 40 bushels of shelled corn per 
acre. I have followed this rotation eight years, and 
this season I obtained 75 bushels, and in a good season 
would thank no man to insure me 85 bushels per acre. 
Every year the yield increases. The wheat is seeded 
thinly upon the land, and that helps the clover to 
make a seed crop in the wheat stubble.” 
“ What do you do with the fodder ? ” 
“ Ah, that bothers me. I cannot bear to see any¬ 
thing go to waste. I am not a stockman, having no 
training in that line, and cattle feeding i$ not very 
profitable. On the low bottoms, I am plowing the fod¬ 
der under. If I could see my way to it, I would re¬ 
duce all the fodder to manure by running it through 
a cutting-box. I am doing this to some extent. The 
pithy portion makes fine bedding for stock. I am bal¬ 
ing some of the cut fodder and trying to place it upon 
the market. At $5 a ton for this baled product, I get 
10 cents a shock for the fodder in the field.” 
“ How much corn did you grow this year ? ” 
“ Fifty-three thousand bushels. The average per 
acre was 66 bushels of shelled corn.” 
“ How much wheat ? ” 
“ Fifteen thousand seven hundred bushels on 509 
acres. I raise wheat only on account of the rotation 
on this bottom land.” 
“ How do you manage to get all this land plowed 
in time ? ” I asked. 
“I have a steam plow that does the work of six 
three-horse teams, and that helps us out. I do not 
know that steam does any cheaper plowing than 
horses, but we use it as a reserve force.” 
‘ ‘ Does not the engine pack the ground ? ” 
“ No. If the ground is dry enough to plow, the en¬ 
gine does no harm. The engine, when standing in its 
house, is connected by belt to the grinding and fan¬ 
ning mills. The corn and cob are crushed together 
for feed” 
“ You believe that the crushed cob is valuable, 
then ? ” 
