1901 
787 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
UNLOADING BEETS AT RAILROAD. ElS. 3.56. 
JERSEY POTATOES. 
Big Crops and Good Prices. 
YIELD IN AN OFF YEAR.—Monmouth County, 
N. J., may usually be depended on to produce a fine 
crop of potatoes, the sale of which often brings in 
considerable revenue. Even in this year of general 
potato failure some large and profitable yields have 
been made within her borders. The crop imme¬ 
diately about the old town of Freehold is noticeably 
good, and accounts of profits sufficient to pay off 
mortgages and buy new farms have been freely cir¬ 
culated. An investigation by The R. N.-Y. shows 
that the reports are well within the facts, and that 
really big yields, considering the trying nature of 
the season, were quite common about Freehold, as 
well as in restricted localities in the adjoining County 
of Middlesex. Wm. M. Moreau marketed 1,900 bar¬ 
rels from 19 acres; D. H. Buck got 2,000 barrels from 
22 acres; Ben. Hayes 1,781 barrels from 14 acres, 
and W. T. Clayton 2,072 barrels from 20 acres. The 
barrels, of course, are computed at 180 pounds, or 
three bushels each. The prices received for delivery 
to buyers in bulk at the freight station were about 
$2.75 for those first out of the fields, and $1.60 for 
the main crop later, the average being close to $2 
per barrel. Even the small sizes brought over $1.25 
a barrel. It is thus evident that some of these crops 
brought in more than $4,000 cash to the growers. 
Larger yields and greater profits are spoken of, but 
the above may be taken as entirely reliable. These 
yields, without exception, were made on well-equipped 
farms by experienced potato growers, who rely on 
this useful vegetable as a money crop. Only twice 
within the last 15 years has there been an equal or 
better yield, and in neither case was the price, based 
on failures elsewhere, as favorable, so that a repeti¬ 
tion of this season’s financial success is not to be 
expected soon. 
SOIL AND CULTURE.—There is quite a remark¬ 
able uniformity in the soils and methods of cultiva¬ 
tion, the former being clay loams of good consistency, 
with rather retentive clay subsoils. A four or five- 
year rotation is carried out, which is sometimes 
curtailed by the use of Crimson clover. The ordinary 
method is to use all available stable manures on a 
suitable field of sod, and grow a crop of corn, giving 
especially careful cultivation to keep down weeds. 
Crimson clover is often sown at last cultivation, but 
the practice is not gaining, as the clover at times 
makes but an indifferent growth in the dense shade 
of tall corn. As early the next Spring as the ground 
can be worked it is deeply plowed, the usual practice 
being to shave up the subsoil. This brings up the 
decomposed sod and manure turned down the pre¬ 
ceding year, and mixes it well through the’ whole 
furrow. A Cutaway or Acme harrow quickly follows 
and levels the furrows, which are further fined with 
drag harrows until brought to the necessary tilth. 
These potato farmers are great believers in thor¬ 
ough preparation, and act on the conviction that no 
subsequent cultivation can make up for slovenly 
harrowing. The potatoes are now planted with one 
of the standard horse planters, set to drop about 14 
inches apart in the rows. Wider intervals are not 
approved, as in the case of missing plants there is 
an unprofitable interval, while the 14-inch space is 
usually filled by the extra development of the nearest 
plants. The rows are spaced about 34 inches apart, 
as repeated trials show this distance favorable to a 
maximum crop on a given area of land. The planters 
are set to cover as deeply as possible, and work very 
well on these well-prepared fields, there being prac¬ 
tically no stones, and the surface generally very level. 
The effort is made to get the seed pieces in deep 
enough to average two inches under the soil when 
field is leveled with harrow after planting. This 
means covering at least four inches under the ridges 
left by planter, w’hich is about the limit of effective 
work as the machines are now made. 
FERTILIZERS AND TILLAGE.—The question of 
fertilizing with chemicals is of great importance, 
and seems well worked out locally. From 800 to 
1,200 pounds of some reliable “potato manure,” an¬ 
alyzing about 4^ per cent of nitrogen, 9 of phosphoric 
acid and 10 of potash, is used, put in with the 
planter. Most of the standard brands of commer¬ 
cial fertilizers have been used with good results, 
but the chief dependence of the farmers mentioned 
now seems to be on a local mixture prepared by J. 
H. Denise, of Freehold, himself a practical and suc¬ 
cessful farmer, as a result of experiments carried 
on for 20 years for the purpose of finding the com¬ 
bination best adapted to the retentive soils and 
average climate of the vicinity. He disposed of 1,000 
tons last Spring within a 12-mile radius, nearly all 
being used for potatoes, with the results above re¬ 
ported. Thorough preparation and good fertilization 
are most important factors, but these Jersey potato 
men well know the absolute necessity of constant till¬ 
age, and keep their cultivators and weeders going 
throughout the growing season until the vines meet 
across the rows, and even then break up the centers 
with narrow shovel plows if there is any sign of 
crusting. There is but little variation in the method 
except in the use of riding and walking cultivators, 
the tendency being to go back to the single-horse 
walking type, so commonly used by truckers. The 
fields are harrowed immediately after planting to 
A LOAD OF CALIFORNIA SUGAR BEETS. Fl6. 357. 
level the ridges, though some practice deep cultiva¬ 
tion first, followed by a weeder across the ridges, 
which answers very well. The object is to get the 
ground in thoroughly good condition and the weeds 
pretty well killed off before the plants are more than 
three inches high. They try to cultivate twice a 
week, or at least after every rain, as long as possi¬ 
ble. The weeder is run after nearly every cultiva¬ 
tion, taking out a tooth immediately over the rows 
as the tops gain in height. Much stress is put upon 
cultivating as near the plants as possible, and the 
fining and filling in of fresh soil about the stalks by 
the weeder teeth. Where this implement is intelli¬ 
gently used there is scarcely any need of the hand 
hoe. The Potato beetle is disposed of with Paris- 
green, applied at the rate of to 2 pounds to the 
acre, preferably with a dry powder gun, whenever 
a new brood appears. These guns are often operated 
A LOAD OF CALIFORNIA APPLES. FiQ. 3.58. 
from the tail of a light wagon driven between the 
rows, thus enabling the operator to work away from 
the dust. Two men and a quick-stepping horse will 
cover 12 to 15 acres a day in this manner. The 
potatoes are dug as soon as mature, or even before 
if the price warrants, with one of the later power 
diggers and hauled to the shipping station in bulk, 
where they are awaited by buyers who ship to various 
Pennsylvania points, chiefly in the mining districts. 
VARIETIES SELECTED.—This brings us to the 
question of varieties, the least creditable feature of 
these agricultural operations. The American or 
Summer Giant is planted almost to the exclusion 
of better-quality kinds. It suits the soil, grows and 
yields well, and it is not subject to scab, or grub, as 
the affection is locally known. The growers don’t 
eat them—they are too soapy to be liked when better 
varieties can be had, but they are acceptable to the 
mining trade. The seed potatoes come from the 
northern counties of New York, Onondaga, Oswego 
and Ontario, as the product of this section is found 
to succeed better about Freehold than that from 
points farther south. Repeated trials have convinced 
the growers that home-grown seed, no matter how 
high the apparent quality may be, gives less satis¬ 
factory results than northern, and they say that they 
cannot afford to plant potatoes of their own growing 
in quantity. For home use an acre or so of Rural 
Blush, State of Maine, or Bovee is grown, but under 
exactly the same conditions a yield 25 per cent less 
is expected than from the Giant. Wheat or rye is 
usually put in after the potatoes, the unappropriated 
plant food left by the Spring fertilization being suf¬ 
ficient to insure a good crop, and the land seeded to 
Timothy and Red clover in the usual manner. A 
year or two in meadow and pasture completes the 
rotation mentioned in the early portion of this ac¬ 
count, but a frequent practice is to sow Crimson 
clover thickly as soon as the potatoes are out, and 
turn down the growth next Spring for another crop. 
How long this may be safely carried out has not been 
demonstrated, but one of the best crops of the season 
was made by Ben. Hayes, of East Freehold, in this 
manner, though he coated his clover field with stable 
manure before plowing it down, and used 1,000 
pounds of chemicals in addition. His crop of 1,781 
barrels on 14 acres, however, scarcely represents the 
full yield, as he dug half his field before maturity 
on account of attractive prices, which netted him 
more than the greatly increased turn-out of the por¬ 
tion left to gain full size. 
An important feature of these operations is the 
intelligence and energy of the growers. All the 
farmers visited were found personally directing the 
farm work, and planning still better yields if Nature 
will allow it. They make a careful study of the 
local needs of their crops, and spare no reasonable 
expense and labor to insure favorable conditions. 
They say that they can grow potatoes in average 
seasons for 30 to 40 cents a bushel, and are much 
encouraged at the result of this year’s work. They 
expect potato planting to be overdone next Spring, 
but purpose to keep right on in their investigations. 
w. V. F. 
SOiV/JVG CLOVER IN THE CORN. 
Believing in clover gathering nitrogen last year 1 
sowed it in corn at the time advised by many, viz., 
early in August. It caught well, and lived through 
the Winter, and was plowed again this year for corn. 
The disadvantage I find with this late sowing is that 
corn is large and apt to be broken by the horse and 
singletree of cultivator. The corn being large makes 
it hard to sow seed well, unless one does it from 
horse’s back, in which case, considerable seed is lost 
on cornstalks and leaves. This year I sowed it about 
July 5, just before a rain. The corn was not high 
enough to interfere with sowing or cultivating, and it 
is now but little larger than clover sown a month 
later last year. It has not made any stalk so (as I 
understand if it does it will not live through the Win¬ 
ter) I claim I have made a gain. If it draws nitrogen 
from the air the longer it has to grow this year the 
more nitrogen it draws, as in plowing again for corn 
next Spring it will have but little opportunity to grow 
then. Another point; if fodder and corn are taken off 
by November 1 there is a nice lot of pasture for cows 
for a couple of weeks, certainly more than enough to 
pay for seed and labor, and a clover sod to plow down. 
Westchester, Pa. o. b. l. 
R. N.-Y.—Do we understand that you used Crimson 
clover? In our experience this has proved better for 
Fall seeding than the common Red. It makes more 
and quicker growth through the Fall and Winter. We 
have tried several experiments in mixing the Crim¬ 
son clover seed with rye, rape and Cow-horn turnips. 
While we have not gone far enough in this to be sure, 
we conclude that the mixture of clover and turnips 
in the corn is as good a “cover” crop as we can get. 
By “cover” crop we mean one to be plowed under in 
early Spring. _ 
GRAPE PROSPECTS.—The vineyardists on this belt 
are not pulling out their grapes. On the contrary, they 
are buying more vines to put out more acreage, although 
we have 30,000 acres on our belt. The exact reason, I 
think, that they are not pulling out vineyards, and are 
going to plant more, is that the grapes here are bringing 
big prices, better prices than they have before in many 
years. geo. s. josselyn. 
AN ORCHARD OF CALIFORNIA BELLFLOWERS. Fig. 859. 
