1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
SEVEN YEARS ON OUR TRUCK FARM, 
Progress from Poverty of Soil. 
PART II. 
SELLS PART OF FARM.—During the following 
Winter a neighbor, who desired to increase his acre¬ 
age, offered to buy 12 acres of my land adjoining his 
at a price considerable in advance of cost. I have a 
weakness in common with most farmers for hroad 
acres, but I knew that intensive rather than extensive 
operations led to prosperity in farming; so Wife and I 
concluded to sell. That reduced the farm to its present 
size and placed it on a financial basis that was fairly 
safe. 
VEGETABLES AND TURNIPS.— 
But the problem of successful manage¬ 
ment was still unsolved. Now that 
strawberries had failed, I cast abotit for 
somc money crops in some measure to 
take their place, while T experimented 
further. I knew something of profits in 
growing vegetables for market, but had 
a prospective dread of selling produce at 
retail. Moreover, although I had read 
of success in the abundant use of chemi¬ 
cals, I had little hope that commercial 
fertilizers, the only extensive source of 
fertility in sight, would he adapted to 
the growing of vegetables in a soil so 
scant in the supply of humus. Still, as 
1 had a chance to sell a limited quantity 
of vegetables at home to a brother who 
bought produce, I planted about an acre 
in potatoes, table corn, a few sweet po¬ 
tatoes and tomatoes, applying what then 
seemed to me and everyone here the 
enormous quantity of one-half ton of 
high-grade fertilizer. It was my first 
lesson in fairly liberal fertilization. The 
result was satisfactory, and it seemed to point a way 
to success. Two short rows of tomatoes, comprising 
about one-thirtieth of an acre, yielded about as much 
cash value as five acres of oats in the same field the 
year before. This certainly gave a broad gleam of hope. 
The field crops were little if any more successful than 
the year before. Profits from stock were again satis¬ 
factory, so much so that a new hoghousc was built 
and room for the hens enlarged. 
HORTICULTURE VS. LIVE STOCK.—However, 
as horticulture was always more in accord with my 
tastes than live-stock, to simplify operations the latter 
have been gradually reduced, as the possibilities in 
small fruits and vegetables have 
become more and more apparent. 
The hogs, being most trouble¬ 
some and least profitable, were 
the first to go, and the new hog¬ 
housc, some 40 feet in length, 
has been silent for several years. 
More lately a cow has been sold, 
only one retained, and that only 
because required for home sup¬ 
ply, and lastly the faithful hens, 
one of the most profitable lines 
on the farm, are being gradual¬ 
ly reduced, because growing the 
young stock interferes seriously 
with the crops, both in time and 
space required. But I want to 
say to the man of limited means, 
starting on a small farm, if he 
will only treat her well, the hen 
will stand by him bravely in the 
hour of need. The bees have 
been retained as distributors of 
pollen, but of late have been 
largely left to care for them¬ 
selves. 
KEEPING ACCOUNTS.— 
Whatever (accounts may have 
been kept of the first year’s 
work have been destroyed or 
lost; but at the beginning of the 
second year my wife undertook 
the task of keeping account of all income and expense, 
as well as taking notes of time of planting various crops 
each season and other valuable facts, and has kept it 
up faithfully ever since. The cash account has been 
extremely valuable, especially as we early began the 
practice of estimating the receipts for each kind of 
produce every market day and entering them separately. 
1 his has required some time and a good deal of pa¬ 
tience, but it has enabled us to tell exactly where the 
profits lay. These accounts have been kept in the sim¬ 
plest possible manner, income and expenses entered 
separately, accounts balanced monthly, and they have 
not always quite balanced, the whole classified and 
thoroughly studied at the end of the year. Nothing 
about it that anyone who can write and exercise some 
patience cannot do, yet this has been one of the greatest 
factors of our success. That reminds me that as yet 
little has been said to indicate that there has been 
any success. However, I think we are in a position 
now to take up the more direct facts. At the close 
of the year 1898 accounts showed the total receipts to 
he $351, the total annual receipts for the successive sub¬ 
sequent years are as follows: $956.18, $1,649.26, $2,350.- 
14, $3,215.19, $3,123.22, $3,452.97, $4,108.23. As to net 
profits, they have been satisfactory. An extended ac¬ 
count of receipts and expenditure for last year will be 
given at the close. 
HELP AND MARKETING.—Believing now that in¬ 
telligent use of commercial fertilizers would solve the 
problem of profitable production, I decided to purchase 
AN EXAMPLE OF DOUBLE CROPPING. Fig. 225. 
several tons for the following season and hire a man 
to help, intending to sell the produce at home if possi¬ 
ble, and if not, brave the supposed terrors of selling the 
goods myself. Hiring help was a new problem; but 
we decided from the first that we would not turn our 
home into a boarding house; that all help should be 
hired by the hour and board themselves. This decision 
has been steadily adhered to ever since, and the result 
has been entirely satisfactory. Our location near a 
small village is some advantage in this respect, though 
some of our men have come quite a distance, carrying 
their dinner-pail. In studying crops I had become inter¬ 
ested in potatoes, and hoping to make them a special 
BUSY DAYS IN THE HARVEST FIELD. Fig. 226. 
feature planted two acres; while about three acres were 
planted to various crops, including corn, sweet pota¬ 
toes, cantaloupes and tomatoes. Besides these there 
were small plots of cabbage, beans, onions and perhaps 
a few other vegetables, also a new planting of one-half 
acre of strawberries and a few raspberries. It was sim¬ 
ply a delight to watch those crops grow and see the 
abundance they produced—about all but the potatoes. 
They grew well, but the crop was only fair. I con¬ 
cluded to test and not to guess what crops would suc¬ 
ceed. Of course I have grown better crops since; but 
to grow such crops of fine vegetables on what had 
been an almost barren field only a few months before 
was a pleasant surprise. And the marketing? Very 
soon the limited channel of trade overflowed, and I 
had to go on the market myself, which proved not to 
be altogether unpleasant after all. With the greater 
number of crops successful and profitable, we were now 
in a fair way by the aid of our accounts to increase 
profits by discriminating in planting according to the 
profits from each crop. As we have eight miles to mar¬ 
ket, with roads—well, just as they are—and handling 
produce in Winter is no pleasant task, our work is con¬ 
fined entirely to Summer crops, butter and eggs being 
sent in Winter with a neighboring butcher. This ar¬ 
rangement makes the Winter a season of comparative 
leisure, some of which is devoted to study, attending 
institutes and—scribbling. 
VARIOUS CROPS.—Contrary to the practice of 
many gardeners, little effort is made to maintain a suc¬ 
cession of each crop; but rather to se¬ 
cure a good supply of successive crops at 
the time of best demand, which, of course, 
in most cases implies earliness. The first 
crops ready for market arc radishes, 
lettuce, spinach and pansies. These 
come in together, and following them 
and overlapping each other come 
strawberries, beets, early cabbage, snap 
beans, raspberries, both red and caps, 
blackberries, early corn, early tomatoes, 
eggplant, cucumbers, cantaloupes, grapes, 
late cabbage, late “snaps” and celery. 
These are the principal crops, but some, 
onions, Lima beans, watermelons, sweet 
potatoes and cauliflower are grown. The 
first few years being rather hot and dry 
watermelons and sweet potatoes proved 
to be among the most profitable, but in 
late years have been less successful and 
have been largely dropped. Tomatoes 
are generally profitable throughout the 
season and are always kept in full 
succession. The same is true to 
some extent with corn. Naturally it 
would be desirable to grow some crops not perishable, 
to be sold in bulk after the busy season; potatoes, onion 
sets and Winter celery have all been tried, but from 
various causes with indifferent success. Raspberries 
were found profitable, and about three acres are occu¬ 
pied by them. One hundred Concord grapevines, set 
soon after coming on the place have been very profitable, 
and 1,200 vines of different varieties have been added, 
which have not yet come into bearing. Blackberries are 
a promising crop. The bush fruits are satisfactorily 
grown by a system of close planting and close prun¬ 
ing. Some farm crops were continued for a few years, 
hut on the principle that less profitable must give way to 
more profitable work, all have 
been dropped, except that some 
fodder corn is grown. Hay and 
feed are bought, and litter is 
supplied by “Winter cover” rye, 
cut when in bloom, and by the 
use of forest leaves. 
FERTILIZERS.—During all 
this time commercial fertilizers 
have been almost the entire 
source of fertility, very little ma¬ 
nure being used besides the small 
amount made on the place. What 
has been used was mostly made 
to reach as far as possible suc¬ 
cessively on different parts of 
the farm; more with a view to 
stimulating useful bacterial ac¬ 
tivity than for the elements of 
fertility contained. Small but 
frequent applications of lime 
have also been made. At first 
one-half ton per acre of complete 
fertilizer, analyzing 4-8-7, was 
used for all crops. It was soon 
found, however, that for many 
crops much more and better ma¬ 
terial could be used to advan¬ 
tage. These goods had been 
bought from a local agent, but 
asking for better grades, and 
failing to find any on the mar¬ 
ket, mixed in the proportion wanted, I prepared a for¬ 
mula and stating the ingredients and quantity of each 
desired, had the goods mixed to order and shipped 
direct by a reliable firm. This method has been followed 
five years and has been satisfactory. These goods are 
guaranteed to contain nearly 6 per cent ammonia, 8 
per cent available phosphoric acid and 10 per cent pot¬ 
ash. The elements have been kept the same, though the 
ingredients have been varied some from year to year. 
At first a large portion of ammonia was supplied by 
organic matter and a portion by sulphate of ammonia. 
Nitrate of soda was found to be the cheapest and most 
effective source, so this ingredient was increased. Sul¬ 
phate of ammonia being suspected of evil effects, its 
use was discontinued. I shall say more on this subject 
later. p. L, hartmaii, 
