THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
OCT S' 
S72 
ijoilixitilitrai. 
REQUIREMENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL 
“ TRUCK FARMER.” 
I have bad a good deal of experience in 
raising vegetables for the market as a “truck- 
farmer,” Earliness, quality as well as prepara¬ 
tion are large factors in our success. Our 
Southern brethren, owing to their advantage 
of climate, get earlier in the market than wo 
can, thereby getting the cream of the trade; 
except in the early part of the season,however, 
they cannot compete in our markets at all, 
and we must get in the market as soon as 
possible, by good selection of varieties and 
seed, early planting,good care and cultivation. 
Our greatest success must depend on quick 
growth and superior stock, made so by good 
soil as well as careful and thorough tillage. 
Much also depends on our preparation of 
vegetables for the market. We must make 
all our stock look clean, fresh and presentable. 
Ignorance should not be one of the truck 
farmer’s failings; neither should carelessness 
nor laziness. “ Early to bed and early to 
rise ” must be his motto, and he must plant 
and cultivate intelligently. He must try to 
know his enemies and how to hold them in 
check, and then when he does get into market, 
be it early or late, he will with well-grown, 
mature stock fresh and perfect, have but 
little difficulty in making sales at remuner¬ 
ative prices. bates. 
Rockville, Ind. 
SOWING SEEDS OF VEGETABLES. 
W. FALCONER. 
An instructive article; how far will an ounce 
of seed go, sown as in ordinary garden 
culture ? Beets, celery, cabbage, carrot, 
leek, lettuce, onion, parsley, parsnips, rad¬ 
ish, spinach, turnip, tomato, cucumber, 
melons , sweet corn, beans, peas, etc. 
Market gardeners know very well about 
how much seed to depend upon to sow a given 
space or produce a certain number of plants 
and with their exact system of cropping and 
use of seed-sowers they can make a certain 
quantity of seed go a looger way than can 
the farmer or amateur gardener who grows 
only vegetables enough for his own family, 
sows by band and keeps up a regular suc¬ 
cession of fresh vegetables. The market gar¬ 
dener confines himself to a few kinds, sorts 
that he can grow well and profitably, and 
these he raises in large quantity and at one 
time, rather than in small quantity and in 
continuous succession. And this saves seed. 
Thinking it might interest some of the Ru¬ 
ral readers to know how far an ounce or 
pint of some sorts of vegetable seeds will go 
when sown by hand in a regular every-day 
practical manner, 1 had my vegetable-grow¬ 
ing foreman to make the following sowings 
on September 14, just as he does in his every¬ 
day practice, and we measured and noted 
every sowing as it was made. He is a respon¬ 
sible and intelligent person and has been my 
vegetable-growing foreman for the past five 
years, and for twenty-five years before that 
time he had been intimately and continuously 
engaged in the Long Island truck-garden 
business. We here regard him as the best 
giower in this town; hence the value I place 
upon his work. 
One Ounce of Beet, Early Blood Turnip, 
sowed 68 feet of drill. This wouldn’t need 
much thinning; if any of the young plants 
were to be used as greens, that would be thin¬ 
ning enough and in time enough. !Sown 
thicker than the above, they might need thin¬ 
ning a fortnight after the seedlings appeared. 
Early and summer sowings should be thick. 
Cut-worms are partial to beets and destructive 
from April to June 20th. Summer’s drought 
often spoils a full germination of the seed, 
and thunder showers and other heavy rains 
in late summer often bury the seeds so deep 
that all cannot come up. 
One Ounce of Celery, Henderson’s Half- 
Dwarf. sowed 248 feet of row. In this drill the 
plants migh t remain unthinned till three or four 
inches high before being pricked out if need 
be. Fresh celery seed has great vitality and 
always comes up well, but if not fresh the 
seed does not all germinate. If the rows are 
eight or ten inches apart we needn’t hasten to 
thin out so early as we would were they four to 
six inches apart; but never let them spindle be¬ 
fore thinning. 
One Ounce of Cabbage, Late Flat Dutch, 
sowed 118 feet of row. In this drill the plants 
might remain unthinned till large enough for 
planting out permanently; but the rows 
^ould be a foot or more apart so as to give 
ample room for stocky growth, 
One Ounce of Carrot, Early Scarlet Horn, 
sowed 359 feet of row 7 . This is a small seeded 
variety, hence an ounce of it will go a much 
longer distance than will any late variety. 
These will need a little thinning. In the case 
of weedy or rough ground, carrots should be 
sown thick, as they are not vigorous plants at 
first. 
One Ounce of Leek, Large American 
Flag, sowed 130 feet of row. The seedlings 
could remain in this row till one-third 
grown, if need be, before being finally 
transplanted. Fresh seed germinates well and 
the seedlings are possessed of much vitality, 
but seeds over a year old refuse to germinate 
at all; hence we had better sow thick and 
have the pleasure of thinning out a heavy 
crop, than sow thin and have the mortification 
of having less than enough in the row. 
One Ounce of Lettuce, Large White 
Summer Cabbage, sowed 288 feet of row. 
Here the plants might remain unthinned till 
fit for transplanting. Good seed germinates 
well in spring and fall, but in summer, if the 
weather is dry, it germinates irregularly or 
with uncertainty. Two-year-old seed is good 
enough, but you cannot depend on seed older 
than that. 
One Ounce of Onion, Early Flat Red, 
sowed 161 feet of row. This can remain un¬ 
thinned till the bulbs mature. We seldom 
thin seed onions. The onion maggot attacks 
the young onions in May and June, and thrips 
in July, and where these pests occur it is not 
well to sow thin. 
One Ounce of Parsley, Champion Moss 
Curled, sowed 137 feet of row. We always 
sow parsley moderately thick, and thin it out 
a little, but thinning it out to six inches apart, 
as we are sometimes told to do, would be 
throwing ground away. 
One Ounce of Parsnip, Long Smooth, sowed 
203 feet of row. If these seeds should germi¬ 
nate well we would have plants enough, and 
have to thin them, too ; but parsnips often 
come up irregularly from some unaccountable 
cause. While some parts of the row may be 
thick enough, other parts may show consid¬ 
erable blanks Wet weather after sowing is 
very destructive to parsnip seed. This year 
we had so many blanks in our parsnip patch 
in heavy ground that we had to sow the gaps 
a second time, and even this second sowing 
showed gaps. In light land the seed germi¬ 
nated fairly well all through; but light land 
is poor soil for parsnips except in a moist 
summer. 
One Ounce of Radish, Early Scarlet 
Globe, sowed 74 feet of row. This may re¬ 
main unthinned till fit for use. It wouldn’t 
pay to thin radishes unless necessary to hurry 
them along. In summer weather, from three 
to four weeks after sowing, we can pick tur¬ 
nip radishes, taking the biggest first, and this 
thins them enough. Five yards of row, sown 
once a week, will keep any ordinary family 
in radishes enough for their own use. 
One Ounce of Spinach, Savoy-leaved, 
sowed 49 feet of row. There is no use in sow¬ 
ing spinach thin. It germinates better in 
spring than at any other season and then we 
are all hungry for some green vegetable and 
soon thin out the early spinach. In summer 
it runs to seed so soon that we have got to 
sow thick in order to get anything worth 
picking, and in fall thunder showers often 
bury the seed so deep as to spoil half of it. 
This has been the case this year. 
One ounce of turnip, Early White Flat 
Dutch, sowed 369 feet of row. We always sow 
turnips with the view of thinning them after 
they come up; every farmer does this. But 
we should never sow many spring or summer 
turnips at one time; 20 to 50 feet of row once 
a fortnight from the middle of April till the 
end of July will suffice for most families. But 
about the end of July we make a large sowing 
of rutabagas, and in August, about the mid¬ 
dle or end of the month, according to local¬ 
ity, make a large sowing of white or soft tur¬ 
nips. 
One ounce of Tomato, Perfection, sowed 
108 feet qf row. Here the plants might re¬ 
main unthinned till planting out time. Of 
course, we usually raise our tomatoes indoors 
and some weeks before we could venture with 
safety to sow the sesd out-of-doors, still those 
sown out-of-doors about the first of May give 
us our finest tomatoes in September, and al¬ 
most always the healthiest vines. 
One ounce of Cucumbers, Nichols’ Medi¬ 
um Green,contained 1,198 seeds.and we sowed 
12 seeds to tUe hill, the hills being four by six 
feet apart. After the plants grow up two or 
three inches, four to the hill will be enough to 
leave. Before the middle of June we are 
obliged to sow thick to make allowance for 
cut-worms. But by sowing in the hill as I 
would any other crop, only quite thin, I have 
had less trouble and as good results and better 
provision against cut-worms than by sowing 
in hills. It is an easy matter to hoe out the 
surplus plants after they get four or six inches 
high. An ounce of seed sowed 311 feet of 
row. 
One ounce of Musk-melon, Surprise, con¬ 
tained 770 seeds,and I sowed 14 seeds to the hill, 
hills six feet by six feet apart. Afterwards thin 
out to four or five plants to the hill. As all mel¬ 
ons should be sown before the middle of June, 
cut-worms usually work such destruction 
among them that we have to resow some of 
the hills once or twice. Sowing thinly in 
drills six feet apart, I have also found beneficial 
in the case of melons. An ounce of seed 
sowed 171 feet of row. 
One Ounce of Watermelon, Phinney’s 
Early, contained 250 seeds, and 12 seeds were 
used to the bill; the hills eight feet apart. 
The same annoyance with cut-worms is exper¬ 
ienced with watermelons that we find with 
musk-melons and cucumbers, and I have 
practiced sowing them in drills with advan¬ 
tage. An ounce of seed sowed 106 feet of 
row. 
One Pint of Corn, Roslyn Hybrid, con¬ 
tained 1,139 grains, and we sowed nine “seeds’’ 
to the hill; hills three feet apart each way. 
We thin out the corn to four or five plants to 
the hill. Crows sometimes prey on the corn, 
but I mix the “seeds” with a little red lead 
before sowing and find that crows, mice, 
Guinea hens, and other depredators let them 
alone. Nine “seeds” to the hill, considering 
that we only retain five plants, may seem a 
waste of seed; but this may be taken as an 
average of what the farmers use, and as the 
planters never wait to count the seed, they 
measure it by feeling, and aim at planting 
just about enough, with one or two extra, in 
case of accident. 
One Pint of Lima Beans, Dreer’s Im¬ 
proved, contained 263 beans, and we sowed 
six beans to each pole. Afterwards thin to 
four or five. This number of beans to a hill 
is safe enough after the first of June, but risky 
in May. Of my May sowings this year I had 
to resow, in whole or part, half of the hills in 
the plantation, on account of the prolonged 
cold, wet weather after planting time, and 
consequent rotting of the seed in the ground. 
But I have never had Lima beans grow more 
luxuriantly or bear a heavier crop than they 
have done this summer. 
One Pint of Snap Beans, Golden Wax, 
sown in a row went 82 feet. I am sick-tired 
of the advice to sow snap-beans—“drop the 
beaus singly and four or five inches apart in 
the row,” with the view of getting stocky 
vines and a heavier crop of beans on the 
plant. That’s all very well for experiment or 
to get a handsome sample for a seedsman’s 
advertisement, but we who have to work in 
earnest and get a crop of beans in earnest, 
sow a good deal thicker. 
ors in this department were W. E. Barrett 
& Co. and Hamlin, Johnson and Co., both of 
Providence. In one end of the building a 
corn stalk cottage built of enormous corn 
stalks was erected. The effect was novel and 
pleasing. 
The building devoted to art work, paint¬ 
ings, etc., was well filled with a great variety 
of articles of domestic manufacture. The 
poultry tent adjoining, contained some fine 
specimens of poultry and a great number of 
pet rabbits, Bantam chickens, etc. A cage 
containing a number of raccoons attracted a 
crowd. The building devoted to vegetables, 
fruits and flowers was the chief resort of the 
farmers and was crowded every day. The 
fruit, especially the pears and the apples, were 
excellent; the vegetables were al ; o large and 
of good quality. A new corn having a 
chubby, abnormally developed cob was shown 
in this department. One of the finest exhibi¬ 
tions of vegetables I have ever seen was from 
the Dexter Asylum Farm. This is a public 
institution located within the limits of the City 
of Providence. Only about 30 acres are cul¬ 
tivated, yet there was sold last year 818,400 
worth of produce. The exhibit consisted of 
over 180 varieties of fruits and vegetables. Of 
the 10 varieties of potatoes Early Rose was 
given the preference. Mr. Knowles, the 
superintendent, said that he should select as 
the best celery Boston Market and Rawson; 
as the best corn Squantum or Potter, and as 
the best squash Marblehead or Essex Hybrid. 
Messrs R. & J. Farquher showed a very 
Scrofula 
Probably no form of disease is so generally di3 
tributed among our whole population as scrofula. 
Almost every individual has this latent poison 
coursing his veins. The terrible sufferings en¬ 
dured by those afflicted with scrofulous sores 
cannot bo understood by others, and their grati¬ 
tude on finding a remedy that cures them, aston¬ 
ishes a well person. The wonderful power of 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
in eradicating every form of Scrofula has been so 
clearly and fully demonstrated that it leaves no 
doubt that it is the greatest medical discovery of 
this generation. It is made by C. I. IIOOD & CO., 
Lowell, Mass., and is sold by all druggists. 
IOO Doses One Dollar 
DOUBLE 
Breech-Loader 
$6.75. 
RIFLESS2.25 
PISTOLS 75c 
All Kinds cheaper than 
elsewhere. Before yor» 
buy send stamp foi 
Catalogue. Addrei. 
POWELL & CLEMENT. 
1 HO Main Street* 
Cincinnati. Ohio 
POULTRY SUPPLIES 
AND 
One Pint of Peas, McLean’s Advancer, 
sowed a row 66 feet long. This variety is mid¬ 
dle sized, and somewhat small-seeded a large- 
seeded variety, as Stratagem or Telephone, 
would hardly go as far. In the case of peas, as 
of snap beans, 1 have no patience with the thin 
sower; we sow thickly and make allowance 
for rot, weevils and immature seed, and we 
get peas in abundance; in fact, from a given 
piece of ground I cannot raise nearly as many 
peas from thin sowings as I can from thick 
sowings. Then, does the difference in crop 
compensate for the extra quantity of seed 
used? Yes, and a deal more. 
FEKTCI3NTG-. 
Send two-cent stamp for Catalogue. 
BROCKNER & EVANS, 
iiS.VESsEy ST., NEW VORK CITY. 
THE WEEKLY 
COURIER-JOURNAL 
—AND THE— 
RHODE ISLAND STATE FAIR AND 
CATTLE SHOW. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
The 68th annual anniversary of the R. I. 
Society for the Encouragement of Domestic 
Industry was celebrated at Narragansett 
Park, Cranston, R. I. from the 24, to 28, of 
September. Among the special attractions 
there were a tournament of American wheel¬ 
man ; a meeting of the State Grange and an 
address by the Hon. Mortimer Whitehead, of 
N. J.; a marriage and a bridal tour in a mam¬ 
moth balloon and a visit from the Governor of 
the State accompanied by his staff. 
The most striking feature of the fair was a 
long row of refreshment tents. Either the 
people of Rhode Island are enormous eaters or 
there is a lively competition in the restaurant 
business. However, restaurant tents are vast¬ 
ly better than the line of fakirs’ booths usu¬ 
ally located in similar positions on other 
grounds. The absence of fakirs and liquor 
sellers adds very largely to the attractiveness 
of this fair. One building was devoted to the 
products of home manufactures and exhibits 
of local implement dealers. The chief exhibi* 
R. N.-Y. 
TRIAL TRIP. 
a safTtrip. 
Both Three Months for Only 
SO* Cents! 
The character of the Courier-Journal 
under the editorial management of Henry 
Wattkuson is thoroughly known. 
Under this Unusual Offer all h'uh- 
scriptions must he sent to the 
. COURIER-JOURNAL, 
Louisville, Ky. 
OECDI ECO nV£C Aro the BEST, 
r CCKLloO VICw SuLUBYbBUMm 
