£ 
- HJiaSa >' 
Vol. LXXXI. 
Published Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
333 W. 30th St.. New York. Price One Dollar a Year. 
NEW YORK. MARCH 18. 1922 
Entered as Second-Class Matter. June 26. 1879. at the Post toon 
Office at New York, S, Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. •' 0. ‘ibo- 
An Acre Under Intense 
% 
r O- 
Cultivation 
| W e always hesitate about printing an article like 
t.be following story of a ganlcu. It is. wo believe, a true 
story, yet the results obtained are so superior to ordi¬ 
nary reports that many readers will say that such a 
thing can never be done. Such reports are usually 
pounced upon by two classes of people. First come the 
land boomers and real estate men, who use sueh articles 
for what is known as "sucker bait.” They are given 
out as fair statements of what anyone can 'do—even if 
he has never seen a hoe or a plant in his life. Sueh 
statements have brought many a back-t.o-the-lander to 
grief. And then come the people who are constantly 
working to show that farm products ought to he cheaper. 
They take those large stories as normal reports and 
figure from them to show that prices ought to be lower. 
In spite of all this we can see no reason 
why the truth should not he told about - 
gardening and intensive farming. That is 
why we print the article. | 
was tlio worst year in my experience for blight on 
nearly every kind of vegetable. My celery, lettuce 
and spinach were almost a total failure. My ex¬ 
penses were low in 1921 because 1 hired very little 
help. In addition to hiring considerable help in 
11*20. I bought a small tractor cultivator at a cost 
of $155. 
Now for the different crops and methods of hand¬ 
ling. I have a 20-sash hotbed, in which I grow all 
kinds of vegetable plants for my own use and for 
When the spinach is about half grown I sow spinach 
again between the rows. I then make another sow¬ 
ing where the first sowing was about September 5 
to 10. Thus I get five crops off that plot in one 
season. 
On my second plot I sow Early Egyptian beet IS 
in. apart, with a row of radish seed (Crimson Giant) 
between each row of beets, just as soon as I can 
work the ground in the Spring. After these two 
crops are off, I prepare this crop for late crop of 
T seems 
rest being occupied by my buildings. 
When I started growing vegetables on 
this plot in 1908. my ambition was to 
grow and sell $1,000 worth of produce 
per year. Many of my friends and 
neighbors thought it could not be done, 
but in the year 1020 I far surpassed my 
fondest ambition, my sales amounting 
to $1,934.88. My expenses were $523.s7. 
leaving me a profit of $1,411.01. 
My soil i.s a heavy loam, with quite 
a few stones, running in size from a 
walnut to a two-quart measure. Those 
I have been raking aud wheeling off 
for the past 14 years. Strange to say. 
they do not get much less. When I 
began trucking on this plot it had 
grown up in a thick, tough sod of "end¬ 
less root,” I call it. for want of the 
proper name. The only way to kill it 
was to harrow it out and cart it off 
the ground. This was a heart and 
back-breaking job, but it was finally 
accomplished. 
After plowing ground I spread 29 
tons of fine, fresh horse manure on the 
plot. It has had the same amount 
applied each year since up to 1920. In 
1919 I did not get the results I was 
expecting, so T wrote to The R. N.-Y. 
about it. and their advice was to stop 
the manure and apply one ton of lime, 
with the result as stated above. It mi 
esting at this point to note each year 
expenses. 
Produce sold 
$493.44 
Expenses. 
$194.31 
195.72 
27(5.04 
177.20 
225.00 
162.43 
210.15 
191.28 
193.11 
281.80 
1908 . 
1909 .. 
1910 . 
1911 . 
1912 . 
1913 . 
1914 . 
1915 . 
1010 . 
1917 . 
1918 .. 
1919 . 
1920 . 
1921 . 
There is a big difference between the 
expenses 1920 and 1921. It is thus explair 
