32 
curb mai'ket was to be al)aii(loiiecl because the 
liucksters were bu.viui' uj) a large sliare of the 
jtroduce before it reacljed the curb. The people 
wanted the market Imt the huckster.^ and grocers 
did not want it. I had plenty of offers from gro¬ 
cers for the load, but they did not suit me, and I 
jieddled. One street took the apples of the be.st 
(piality (luickly at oOc to GOc for a IG-ciuart basket, 
while anotlier bought in one-quarter pecks and 
wanted lower prices. 'Die net I’esult was that I 
j)acked the crop and shijjped to Philadelphia to be 
sold on commission. York, Pen Davis and Dickin¬ 
son, No. 1 and No. 2. and including droi)S shipped 
in bulk, Iii'ouglit an average of 40c per bu.shel after 
deducting the cost of barrels. 
At present it would be po.ssiltle to sell from five 
to 20 bushels of a]iples on a market day in any 
one of the towns I visited, many of the sales in 
one-cpiarter pecks, and at iibout ,$1.25 i)er bushel. 
All packages are returned on the local market, 
which is a consideralde saving in exi)ense, but it 
means small business, and it means good storage 
and steady work during the Winter. The grocer.s 
in these towns will now pay good prices for lim- 
it('d (luanties. but where there are good local mar¬ 
kets the grocers buy in small t|uantities and fre¬ 
quently, as well as the i)eo]ile. They cannot get 
more than the curb i)rice; they give credit and 
handle the stuff on clo.se margins. They often get 
the greater part of their profit in the difference be¬ 
tween the one-quarter ])eck i)rice and the bushel 
price. The rule here is that one can get about 12 
quarts out of a bushel or. if he is very expert he 
can nu'asnre out 14. The law requires 4.5 pounds 
for a bushel, and fractional paids must hold out in 
weight. To measure so as to be safe makes it diffi¬ 
cult to get more than the 12 to the bushel. The 
fine for .shoi-t weighting is .$2.5 or more and confisca¬ 
tion of the goods offered. Incidentally our local 
markets will not touch Pen Davis aiqdes before 
5Iarch 1. and they go shy on York Imperial. We 
have good towns, but we are in a iiroducing section, 
and tlie.v are well supiilied. 5Iany of the people 
have themselves lived on farms and know varieties. 
Those wlio know and have the money are over 
critical as to quality and varieties, but Avill pay 
good prices, while others will take very low quality 
if cheap. Pach one has his time for coming, the 
good buyers usually eaidiest. These curb markets 
in a country of good farms and small farmers make 
an outlet for all grades, and every imaginable sort 
of product from firewood to cake. The competition 
is keen, and there is usually an over-supply, but 
the peoide who Imy fare well, and the producer even 
when he is compelled to take part of his load home 
dees well. A. w. stepiiexs. 
yienteur f'o.. I’a. 
Profit from Small Greenhouse 
Having a small greenhouse to begin with, how would 
an exi)ert go about growing the earliest possible crop 
of cabbage, tomatoes and Irish potatoes (if desirable 
to consider .starting potatoes inside in small amounts) 
in this climate of Central Indiana? T. c. F. 
Mooresville, Ind. 
N reply to T. C. F. tvill try to outline the income 
that may be expected from each square foot of 
gi'owing space in a greenhouse, provided intelligent 
attention is given to all crops in order to keep them 
growing in the healthiest po.ssible condition. 
Cabbage as an indoor crop would not pay. Irish 
potatoes could be jilaced in flats in any location 
where they would receive light and heat, a few 
weeks before time to plant in the field, and heavy 
green si)routs would result. Whether you would 
gain 'much in time of maturity of the crop I can¬ 
not say. This would be an easy crop to experiment 
with. 
Cabbage and cauliflower plants can be grown in 
large quantities in a small house. Reed should be 
sown .Ian. 1.5 to Feb. 1, and soon as large enough, 
tran.splant into flats 21/3 in. deep, made by sawing 
various boxes obtained at the grocery .store into 
two or more parts. A box 12x20 in. will hold 100 
plants. When the jdants in these boxes have made 
a heavy stocky growth remove to a cold frame, to 
harden them off. a few weeks before time to plant 
outdoors. .Do not have the soil too rich, and do not 
over-water, or the plants will be too soft. Large 
well-hardened i)lants of Extra Early Jer.sey Wake¬ 
field will grow into remarkable heads early in the 
season. 
Tomato, eggplant and pepper plants can be 
grown in the same manner, though the seed should 
l)e sown Feb. 15 to llarch 1, and the temperature 
.should be 55 degrees at night, whereas cabbage will 
do well at .50 degrees, allowing in each instance 10 
to 15 degrees higher in daytime, except on cloudy 
days, when five degrees higher is sufficient. 
Tomato plants should be hardened off same as 
XShe RURAL N E 5Y-Y O R K E R 
cabbage, though they should not be exposed to a 
temperature lower than 3,5 degrees without careful 
protection. Eggplants and peppers being more 
easily injured would best l)e kept in the greenhouse, 
as they do not want a check. 
In most localities a large trade in vegetable 
plants can be built up in a short time, juid if you 
grow good stock you can usually obtain 50c per 
flat of 100 plants wholesale for cabbage, 75c for 
tomato and iie])per and 75c to ,$1 for cauliflower and 
eggplants. Y"ou can easily figure how many plants 
you can grow to any given space, allowing 100 to a 
12 x20 in. floor space. 
P.onny Best and .lohn Baer tomatoes are the best 
early varieties. Earliana is earlier, but does not 
grow smooth in many localities. Rtone and 5Iatch- 
less will be called for very largely for late and main 
crop in some sections, and I.ivingston Globe in 
others. Do not buy cheap cauliflower .seed. . Get 
the be.st on the market, and charge more for your 
plants; Early Snowball from some reliable dealer 
for earl.v, and what he recommends for main crop. 
There is also a large call for beet and lettuce 
plants, and later for Golden Self-blanching celery 
and the Winter varieties in .Inly and early August. 
This plant business is growing rapidly, and some 
men are building up an excellent and fairly profit¬ 
able business each Spring and early Summer. Their 
greenhouse space during the Fall and the early 
Winter can be devoted to growing lettuce, radishes 
rnd tomatoes, though the latter cro]) should be used 
by the beginner as a Spring, and not a Fall or Win- 
t.'^r crop. Detailed directions for the growing of 
these three crops were published in The B. N.-Y". 
Dec. 2, 191G, page 1409, and need not be repeated 
here. 
Due grower who has sold his crops direct to the 
con.sumer on the Lancaster markets for a number of 
years states that Grand Rapids lettuce will average 
12c to 15c per square foot for each crop, and Icicle 
radishes will average 10c to 12c per .squai’e foot each 
crop. Tlu’ce crops of s lettuce and possibly four 
crops of radishes can be grown each Winter, pro¬ 
vided no time is lost between crops, and lettuce 
plants are large size Avhen the preceding crop is 
harvested, so that the minimum time is required to 
grow to maturity. A good method of growing rad¬ 
ishes is to mark the bed ci-osswise about four or 
five inches apart, and then have a lath of sufficient 
length to reach across the bed. ui)on which small 
pegs are tacked about l^^ in. apart. Press these 
I)ointed pegs into the soil, making a row of holes 
across the bed, then drop two seeds in each hole. 
Some will not germinate, and where two show at 
one place one should be removed. This gives a uni¬ 
form stand, and will not require as much seed as 
.sowing haphazard to get heavy enough stand to 
thin out properly when sufficient height. 
Parsley is an easily grown crop of the cut-and- 
conie-again type that pays very well in any shady 
location in the greenhouse. It will grow luxuriant¬ 
ly where scarcely any other crop will grow. Many 
florists plant parsley along the edge of beds where 
other crops are growing, which appear to be ideal 
locations for it. The roots .should be spaced about 
six to eight inches apart in the row. One carna¬ 
tion grower informed me that he paid the gi'eater 
part of his coal bill each season in this manner. 
Pennsylvania. elmeb j. weaver. 
Farming on Long Island 
HE New Y’’ork Telegram recently printed the 
following: 
Careless Farming. 
While during the last 10 years succe.ssful efforts 
have been made to increase the production of food 
products on Long Island largely through experiment 
stations maintained by the State aiid by the railroads, 
it is very evident there is necessity for much more 
work along that line. 
The Soil Improvement Committee of the National 
Fertilizer Association calls attention to the fact that 
while Long Island has practically the same area and 
population as Holland the produce taken from the 
soil of Holland is 21 times as great as that taken from 
Long Island. 
Lack of proper cultural methods in part accounts 
for high cost of green stuff with one of the garden 
spots of earth right at our doors. 
•This seems to us like a needless reflection upon 
I.ong I.sland farmers. There is no possible com¬ 
parison between the deep, rich and moist soil of 
Holland, or at least the greater part of it, and the 
dry arid land of most of Long Island. Holland is 
one of the riche.st countries in the world, having 
for the most part been brought up from long de- 
l)osits of i-ich mud in the ocean. On the other hand 
Long Island, or the greater part of it, is exactly the 
reverse, being made in large part of dry, open 
sand, lacking in humus, and not extra sti'ong in 
natural fertility. Again, the climate of Holland is 
moist, and there is usually a good supply of soil 
water, while Long Island is quite the reverse, being 
.Tamiary 13, 1017. 
frequently troubled by severe drought. It is true, 
however, that acre for acre there are large areas 
on Long Island which produce as much in value 
as any areas in Holland, and some of the best 
farming in the world may be found along the shores 
and at the east end of the island. It would aston¬ 
ish some of our Western farmers to see the corn¬ 
fields along the Sound, or south along the ocean. 
In size of plant and in yield of grain the corn will 
excel the best jTelds on the black soil of the Mi.s- 
sissippi Valley, while the price for the grain will 
run at least 50% higher than the Western corn in 
the field. With potatoes, great yields are obtained 
on suitable soils of the island, and the quality is so 
high that it is recognized in the Now York market 
so thiit it commands the highest price. Through the 
center of the island there are dry waste lands which 
will i)robably not be found fully jirnductive until 
some form of irrigation has been worked out. but 
it is a great mistake and a needless criticism to 
compare the entire area of I.ong Island with that of 
Holland. Give the Long Island farmers their due, 
for they deserve it, and do not saddle upon them 
the thin, poor lands upon which a Holland Dutch¬ 
man could stai've to death. And give the Long 
I.sland farmers their due again, for they, and not 
the experiment stations, are responsible for the 
splendid farming done in that section. 
Value of Rural Credits 
T he East, apparentl.v, is not much interested in 
rural credits, but there are two benefits aris¬ 
ing from the Federal Farm Loan Act that should 
appeal to them. 
1. There is no hope for the farmer except through 
cooperation ; but unfortunatel.v it has been difficult 
to get farmers to work together. The Federal Farm 
Loan Act forces a strong union of the most con¬ 
servative and stalde farmers in a communit.v. the 
owners of land who are actually farming it. Such 
an organization could be chartered for doing other 
business than looking after farm loans, since there 
is nothing in the act to preclude this. The mem¬ 
bers would receive a training of inestimable value 
and they would be indissolubly bound together. .\t 
present the act is inelastic, even i»onderous, but 
given a trained and experienced body of farmers in 
every communit.v. it would be but a stej) to make the 
act elastic enough to meet the l)usiness needs of the 
communit.v. This training in business methods and 
training in team work is of much greater benefit 
than the getting of money at a low rate of interest. 
2. The working classes, the farmer, the artisan 
and the laborer, have no well understood, conven¬ 
ient and safe form of investment. The bonds to 
be issued based on farm loans will make a form of 
investment as s.afe as government bonds. The East 
must not be behind in interesting itself in a Avork 
lu-oductive. of so much good. w. w. macpiieusox. 
Corn in Hills or Drills 
I N answer to G. YY. ])age 15G0, would say that in 
my estimation he will get over 25% more corn 
])or acre by planting in rows. I have tried it both 
way.s. If he Avill plant one piece in hilis and a idot 
in rows, keep an account of the work done on each 
idece, I feel quite sure the extra he gets from tlie 
corn planted in rows will be more than pleasing 
I'he trouble with most people Avho plant in I’ows 
is that they will not start in time to get ahead <'f 
the weeds. Do not, in the first place, plant the 
corn too thick. Ret the planter for 14 inches: then 
if your grains are uniform they will be on tln^ 
average about 12 inches apart. Then if the ground 
is not too Avet harroAv it Avell Avith a slanting-tooth 
harroAA', not once or tAvice, but three times. I think 
this is the m.iking of the crop, and then when the 
corn is up say tAvo inches put the AA’eeder on it. If 
you do break a spear once in a Avhile .a-ou still have 
enough left, and by so doing you let the sun in 
around the roots, Avarming the ground. If. after 
the corn is planted and sprouted, you think it might 
be catchy Aveather, put your riding cultivators in 
Avith tAvo-inch teeth on in front atid throAv dirt over 
the roAV. say about in., then have a piece of 
plank on any kind of stick about three' feet long. 
Fasten this to the back of the cultivator frame 
Avith Avire, so it Avill scrape about one inch of this 
dirt off. That leaves about one-half inch of fre.sh 
dirt on the roAv, and I Avill guarantee that you can 
row your corn before the AA'eeds start. Then go 
over it once Avith the vveeder, and you Avill have no 
trouble w'ith Aveeds. Don’t plant as deep in roAA's 
/as you would in hilhs, say one-half inch less in 
depth. I have tried it both Avays, and always get 
considerably more in roAvs, more .sound corn, and 
very little waste or hog corn, as some call it. 
NeAv Jer.sey. O- 
