THE RURAE NBW-YORKER 
October 12, 
1048 
PREPARING FOR FROST ON A SOUTH 
JERSEY TRUCK FARM. 
Getting in the Crops. —Last year 
frost held off so long that practically 
no injury or loss to crops resulted from 
it But this year heavy rains followed 
by cold nights make us feel that it is 
almost upon us, and high time that we 
were getting all perishable crops under 
cover. We have many baskets of egg¬ 
plants, peppers, Lima beans and toma¬ 
toes still on the vines, some sugar 
corn growing and a small patch of Win¬ 
ter squash. With other Fall work press¬ 
ing we are tempted to leave these crops 
for a few days, but past experience has 
taught us that it is too chancy. There¬ 
fore, we will try to keep all fruits of 
eggplants, peppers, Lima beans and 
string beans and also sugar corn picked 
off and marketed just as fast as they 
attain a marketable size. That will leave 
only the Winter squashes and the green 
tomatoes for the hurry-up call. If frost 
holds off a little we will get the 
squashes in anyway, but the tomatoes, 
almost an acre planted after the 1st of 
July, will be left on the vines until the 
very last minute. When frost seems 
certain we pick the large green tomatoes 
and place them under glass to ripen. 
We have done this successfully several 
times. The tomatoes can be placed on 
the greenhouse benches, or else in a 
cold frame having boards in the bot¬ 
tom to keep them off the damp ground. 
They will ripen in about three weeks 
and sometimes bring much .better prices 
than if they had ripened before frost. 
I know of a few growers who have 
stored their last picking of well-glazed 
peppers, made just before frost, in the 
barn or an enclosed shed. The peppers 
are piled up in baskets so the air can 
circulate through them, and often they 
can be held for a month or more, by 
which time the price may have consid¬ 
erably advanced. The price does not 
always advance, but some have done 
well at different times by holding them. 
Aside from the crops mentioned above 
we have no quantity of produce that 
will be injured by frost. Sweet pota¬ 
toes are not yet out of the ground, but 
a light frost does no damage and dig¬ 
ging can proceed as well after frost as 
before. But there is one. small test plot 
of berries that we dislike to see injured. 
Late Strawberries.— Last Spring we 
set out 500 plants of Superb strawber¬ 
ries in order to test them. This is one 
of the Summer and Fall or everbearing 
varieties of berries, and we are sorry to 
see frost come and kill the fruits. They 
have been giving us a continuous crop 
of berries since the middle of July, and' 
as the season advances the yield be¬ 
comes heavier. They are large berries 
of good flavor and exceedingly attrac¬ 
tive and showy. The 500 plants have 
given us several quarts. Some we have 
marketed, not in a fancy market, but to 
a commission firm in Chester, Pa., 
where we send much of our produce. 
Last week we received returns for 11 
quarts at 40 cefits a quart. Just now 
the parent plants, together with many 
of the runners, are full of bloom and 
berries that will come to maturity 
should there be no frost. Strawberries 
in September seem almost too good to 
be true, but this variety is producing 
them and in much larger quantities than 
we had supposed. They have impressed 
us so favorably that next Spring we 
•will set out a large plot for fruiting. 
• « 
Late Fall Work.— Now, preparing 
for frost is but a small task compared 
with the other work -that must be done 
before the cold short days of early 
Winter. The light, sandy fields that 
have been growing truck crops during 
the Summer will have a rye cover crop. 
It is growing on most of them now, 
but the ground occupied by sweet pota¬ 
toes cannot be sowm until they are dug. 
This may be as late as October 20, but 
it will be in time for rye. Then crop 
remnants and rubbish must be removed, 
for if left in the field they harbor in¬ 
sects, are unsightly and finally must be 
removed before Spring planting, when 
work is always more pressing. All 
heavy sod land intended for truck crops 
next year wall be plowed and left with¬ 
out a cover crop so that the furrow's 
will be exposed to the elements, and be 
in workable condition in early Spring. 
When the asparagus tops are killed by 
frost they are cut and usually burned, 
thus leaving the field in good shape for 
broadcasting manure. 
Spreading Manure. — After other 
work is squared up we commence haul¬ 
ing and spreading manure over the 
fields, where it will be of most value. 
New York manure usually costs $2.25 a 
ton cash delivered at the station. This 
is a big price, but money invested in ma¬ 
nure, even at that figure, is well spent. 
The usual application on fields intended 
for tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and 
Lima beans that have a rye cover crop 
growing on them is six to 10 tons per 
acre. Asparagus beds, having no cover 
crop, get 10 to 12 tons. Fields intended 
for onions, cabbage and garden crops 
sometimes get a little heavier applica¬ 
tion, but we never have gone above 15 
tons per acre. When crops are planted 
in the Spring they get an application 
of fertilizer in varying amounts to start 
them off, and that with the manure ap¬ 
plied in the Fall gives them an ample 
supply of plant food. The rye turned 
under in the Spring adds to the supply 
of humus, and in our sandy soil an 
abundance of decaying vegetable matter 
seems to be the master key to the prob¬ 
lem of successful crop production. 
Therefore, while we pay considerable 
attention to feeding crops and the de¬ 
tails connected with grow'ing them, our 
main object is to feed th- soil and keep 
just as much decaying vegetable matter 
in it as we possibly can. trucker, jr. 
SHIPPING PEACHES TO EUROPE. 
Was an effort made a few years ago 
to ship pekches from this continent to 
Europe? If my memory serves me cor¬ 
rectly a trial was to be undertaken to 
send some Elbertas to England, as a 
test, to ascertain whether it would be 
practical to start a regular export busi¬ 
ness. Was there ever anything done in 
this line? If so, wdiat was the result? 
I find that some of the Elberta seedlings 
I have been fortunate enough to prod¬ 
uce are much firmer in texture than is 
their great mother. I have sent this 
past season about 10 lots of the different 
newcomers to the Pomological Division 
of the Dept, of Agriculture at Washing¬ 
ton, and Mr. Gould, the expert in 
charge, informs me that most of them 
arrived in fine condition, some even 
keeping yet for about eight days perfectly 
sound after a four-day trip from Texas 
there. Since it only takes now about 
six days to cross the Atlantic, what is 
the reason, with proper handling and 
refrigeration, that they might not be 
safely shipped? I myself have kept 
the Joe, Tough Skin and Barbara in the 
house 10 days after they were ready to 
ship. At the end of this time the skin 
was yet perfect. Although in the high 
temperature, never less than 90 during 
the day in the house for the time, the 
flesh of those peaches so kept had not 
begun to ferment. With careful han¬ 
dling to avoid bruising, and refrigera¬ 
tion, such peaches ought to hold up for 
a month. Unfortunately for many of 
our planters, the Elberta is too tender 
to hold out any length of time, hence 
severe losses often result. 
Of the prominent crosses, Elberta 
Mamie Ross and Elberta Belle, I have 
made, there are only two that are no 
firmer in texture than Elberta. All the 
rest will prove better shippers. I have 
made a proposition to Mr. Gould, po- 
mologist at Washington, that in the 
event of his Department wishing to 
make a trial of shipping peaches to a 
foreign country I would furnish the 
fruit gratis for the business. I feel al¬ 
most safe in saying that the Carman 
kinfolks will be "welcome visitors 
abroad. They possess an inviting ap¬ 
pearance, are firm in texture and satis¬ 
fying in quality. Why should they not 
be welcome? j. w. stubenrauch. 
Texas. 
CAN YOU NAME THE SECTION? 
My community is an antediluvian settle¬ 
ment when it comes to modern business 
methods. The first settlers settled into a 
rut and the present day natives have not 
yet left it. The idea of scientific farming 
and cooperation has not struck this neck 
■of the woods and no telling when it will.. 
They still adhere tenaciously to the old 
style of diversified farming—“Jacks at all 
trades and masters of none”—and to the 
old custom of being “skinned.” The farm 
cereals—principally wheat—are sold to the 
buyer’s best advantage; the few stray 
head of cattle go to the ubiquitous horse- 
trader and stock-buyer—skinners, all of 
them : dairy products consist of butter that 
is fully old enough to vote but would not 
poll a single vote on the “Progressive” 
ticket; fruit consists of a few measly cider 
apples full of worms; garden crops include 
some cabbage. From the above you might 
form the opinion that it must be a settle¬ 
ment of lazy good-for-nothings, but this is 
certainly not the case. This entire section 
contains a good okl solid strain of people, 
hard and steady workers all of them, but 
slow when it comes to modern ideas. They 
are wary, and no gold bricks and land 
schemes go with them, but they are too 
careful, accepting any new idea witli the 
biggest distrust. We have organized an 
agricultural club among the younger ele¬ 
ment and are in hopes that these will pry 
the work-wagon out of the old worn rut. 
Old-time methods are seemingly an inherit¬ 
ance ,and the people around here are as 
loath to part with them as a foreigner is 
with his brogue. s. J. 
R. N.-Y.—Now, then, from this descrip¬ 
tion, can you name the locality? 
Shaking and Canning Apples. 
I write to ask your advice about the 
apple crop. Do you think apples will be 
cheap this Winter? My Winter apples are 
mostly Northern Spy and Ben Davis. I 
have been shaking my Snow and Twenty 
Ounce and am taking them to the canning 
factory; get 85 cents for Snow, as they 
are not extra large, and §1 for the Twenty 
Ounce. * I thought this was as good as 
shipping them to Boston for $2 or less. 
What would you think, if apples are going 
to be cheap, of shaking the Winter fruit 
and selling them to the factory for $1 a 
barrel, of course barrel not included? I 
have to pay $1.50 a day and board to the 
pickers, some ask more than that; barrels 
have cost 40 cents for the past two years, 
and probably will this year. I have also 
to board the packers free, but the buyers 
of the Winter apples pay the men for 
packing. How would you compare $1 clear 
money now with $2 this Winter, when we 
sell to buyers? F. j. p. 
Skowhegau, Me. 
Here is a case where it is next to im¬ 
possible for one man to advise another— 
especially where the adviser is a stranger 
and does not know all the local conditions. 
The total crop of the country is large. 
Yet it is scattered, some sections being 
light while others are very heavy. In 
Western New York the growers believe 
there are not apples enough to warrant 
the low prices which buyers are offering, 
and many are holding out for a higher 
price. The game goes on each year, the 
advantage usually going to the side which 
is best informed, and which shows the 
best nerve to hang out. Large growers 
or a strong combination of several growers 
may often force up the price, but the 
smaller grower, with only a limited crop, 
cannot hope to gain much by holding back 
unless he has a very superior crop which 
the buyers must secure. This gives one 
of the best illustrations of what true co¬ 
operation could do for fruit growers. Situ¬ 
ated as T. J. P. is, our advice would be 
to shake and sell at $1 per barrel. We 
should regret to handle apples in any such 
way and do not like to advise it, yet there 
are cases where it may be the best way. 
The $1 per barrel is clear money—all ex¬ 
cept the cost of gathering and hauling. 
It really represents more than many fruit 
growers will obtain after paying for bar¬ 
rels, picking, packing and hauling and 
freight. The method is wasteful and slip¬ 
shod—not at all what a first-class fruit 
grower should care to do. Frankly, we 
dislike to print such suggestions, yet we 
know there are conditions under" which 
this shaking and picking up are most 
economical. We should like a discussion 
of this matter, showing what proportion 
of orchards are handled in this way and 
why! 
The Curse of Dodder. 
We find where we have cut our rye this 
year a very good catch of clover, but also 
find a very bad case of dodder. How can 
we kill this dodder? Would you cut the 
clover this Fall? I believe the dodder is 
just out in blossom. This is the first time 
we have ever been bothered with it, so 
know nothing about it. c. J. b. 
Hastings, Pa. 
The dodder probably came in the clover 
seed. As you know, this pest is a parasite 
which grows around the clover plants and 
strangles them. In very bad cases where 
the dodder is spread all over the field, 
plowing and planting some cultivated crop 
is the best remedy. You might cut the 
entire growth, drj and burn over. Where 
the dodder is in patches the plan is to 
mow these places over, rake the clippings 
into a pile, pour on kerosene and burn 
thoroughly. 
Human Hair Industry. 
The problem of women’s work is world 
wide. The Italian trade in human hair 
amounts to $4,000.00o per year. Most of 
this hair comes from combings, yet U. 8. 
Consul Armstrong of Naples reports a 
definite industry of the hair crop: 
“The concerns in Naples send men to 
Switzerland and Dalmatia each year, who 
buy up all the hair they can obtain, and 
as fast as a bundle is made up ship it to 
Naples. The women have a special method 
by which they can produce a supply of 
hair regularly and yet not appear to have 
been clipped at all. This is done by having 
half of the hair at the back of the head 
cut off and then twisting the remaining 
half over the exposed part and dressing it 
in such a manner that it is quite unex¬ 
posed and not disceruable. By this means 
an annual supply is produced, and when 
the human-hair agents come these vyomen 
always have a new yield to dispose of. In 
such a way their own hair is a source of 
income each year to the women who live in 
the impoverished districts and are badly in 
need of all the money they can obtain.” 
Advertisements on Private Property. 
We are told that the New York law pro¬ 
hibits the use of advertisements on private 
property without consent. What is the law? 
s. E. J. 
The following is taken from Chapter 316, 
approved June 13, 1011: 
11. A person who willfully or malici¬ 
ously displaces, removes, injures or de¬ 
stroys a mile-board, milestone, danger sign 
or signal, or guide sign or post, or any in¬ 
scription thereon, lawfully within a public 
highway; or who, in any manner paints, 
puts or affixes any business or commercial 
advertisement on" or to any stone, tree, 
fence, stump, pole, building or other struc¬ 
ture, which is the property of another, 
without first obtaining the written consent 
of such owner thereof, or who in any man¬ 
ner paints, puts or affixes such an adver¬ 
tisement on or to any stone, tree, fence, 
stump, pole, mile-board, milestone, danger 
sign, danger signal, guide sign, guide post, 
billboard, building or other structure with¬ 
in the limits of a public highway is guilty 
of a misdemeanor. Any advertisement in 
or upon a public highway in violation of 
the provisions of this subdivision may be 
taken down, removed or destroyed by any 
one. 
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