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The Rural New-Yorker 
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The Business Farmer’s Paper 
VoL. LXXVI. NEW YORK, FEP.RUAKY 10. 1017. X,,. 44 i(j. 
South Jersey Trucking Season 1916 
A Lively Spot of the Earth 
WO SEASONS COMPARED.—report in 
The R. N.-Y. of the season of 1015 made rather 
dismal reading. Yields were large, help plentiful 
•and prices on almost everything were away below 
cost of production. Thousands of farmers 'actually 
lost out on the season’s work. The more fortunate 
barely broke even. The season of 1016 has on the 
whole been a much better one, but the prosperity 
was not so general as it should have been. The sea¬ 
son of 1014 was a poor one for many. The .season 
of 1015 was still worse. White potatoes sold at 
25 cents a Imshel. Peas in many instances could 
not be .sold at a price .sufficient to pay for gathering. 
Other crops sold in proportion. Therefore when 
truckers began to prepare for 1016 they had no 
assurance whatever that there wonld l)e much im- 
])rovenient in prices over the two preceding years. 
In a word trucking was a big gamble. 
FORESIGHT AND COURAGE.—Tho.se who kept 
their nerve bought heavily of manures, fertilizers, 
.seeds, etc., bargained for help at wages that ap- 
peai-ed pi-ohibitive, and continued all through the 
season to assume every expense that appeared nece.s- 
Spring work could be done. Here in South .Tersey 
we did manage to keep our hotbeds going, and had 
cold frames ready for tomato plants at about the 
usual time, but outside work was away behind. 
Warmer weather came during the first of May, and 
tomatoes were set in the field but little later than 
usual. For most crop.s, though, the .season was 
about two weeks late. Thi.s, together with scarcity 
of help, made the planting of Spring crops and 
the start of the season’s work almost a nightmare. 
Most .growers got around Avith it after a time, and 
on looking back Ave feel the start Avas really the 
hardest part. When aspara.gus came on all aa’Iio 
had it be.g:in to take on a more cheerful view of 
things. Prices were very good, the crop paid, and 
many took this as an indicsAtion of better thin.gs 
to come later. It cheered them up and enabled 
them to make greater efforts for the later crops. 
PERRIES AND TOMATOES.—Early straAvber- 
ries sold at very hi.gh prices. Late berries did not 
do so Avell. This aauis largely due to unfavorable 
Aveather at ripening time, and poor quality. Peas 
and string beans sold Avell and Avere profitable. 
Then came early tomatoes. This is the main crop 
for most Gloucester County farmers, and tomatoes 
certainly did bring joy to the hearts of the ,grow- 
ance for our Avork in It w<uild .seem as 
tliou.gh our great problem for 1017 Avould be that 
of labor. Our plans must depend on the available 
supply, and Ave must plan to use to the best adA'an- 
ta.ge the labor Ave can secure. We can do this best 
on a truck farm by srowin.g a A^ariety of crops so 
planned as to cover the entiiY growing .season in 
such a manner as to avoid increasin.g or deci-easing 
the number of hands employed. The use of lal>or- 
savin.g machinery is of more A'ital' importance today 
than ever before in our history and Ave Avill all do 
Avell to see Avherein Ave c;in make better use of the 
various devices uoav on the market. The matter of 
greater coiiperation among growers, coupled Avitli 
better systems of distribution, has again been dem¬ 
onstrated. There is too much difference betAA’eeu 
prices fanners recei\'e and prices consumers pay. 
Also altogether too much criticism heaped unjustly 
upon the grower for being to blame for the high 
cost of living. During i)ei‘iods of fair prices and 
good demand growers are ai)t to become indifferent 
to plans for organization, ftuch periods ai'e the A'ery 
time Avhen codperative or,ganizations can get their 
best start and be prepared to render the best .ser¬ 
vice Avhen markets are off. 
EFFECTS OF DROUGHT.—The backward 
Potato Crop on a Hampton, Va., Farm, Planted August 1. Fig. 63. See page 190 
sary to produce the crop. These men liaA'e been 
amply repaid and have made a good profit. They 
are looked upon as the good farmers of the com¬ 
munity. Their opinion is respected. Had prices 
for the year folloAA'ed the trend of the two pi'OA'ious 
years results AA'oukl have been quite different. The 
ones who Avere so successful this year Avould even 
now be making a .scramble to make ends meet. The 
men Avho planned and planted as the experience of 
the two pi-evious years Avould seem to justify have 
had but a veiy ordinary .season. They did their 
best to “play safe” but by so doing have not been 
ill a position to secure the distinct adA'antage this 
season of good prices has brought to tho.se AAdio 
A'entured. This surely is not the Avay things should 
be for a permanent busine.ss, but Avho can point 
out the remedy? 
GOOD PRICES.—The good prices received for 
produce the past season Avere no doubt due to the 
general i)rosperity of the country, nearly everyone 
having Avork and therefore able to buy; the cutting 
down in acreage due to the low prices on the two 
preceding years, the scarcity of help available for 
farm Avork, and unfaA'orable AA'eather during much 
of the season. 
LATE SEASON.—L-ast March A\ms really a 
Winter month. Practically no plowing or other 
ers last year. The yield Avas good and receipts of 
.$200 i)er acre were not at all uncommon. Late to¬ 
matoes for canners AA'ere also A'ery lAi'ofitable, a 
few selling as high as SO cents a basket. 
POTxUrOES AND HAY.—White potatoes followed 
in the same line Avith still better reports of yields 
and profits, especially from those Avho dug late. 
Early eggplants and peppers sold Avell and acre 
for acre proved more profitable than tomatoes. The 
hay crop Avas good but much of it Avas gathered in 
poor shape, due to continued rains through July. 
DROUGHT AND LxVTE CROPS.—Beginning Au¬ 
gust l.st Ave experienced a severe drought Avhich 
continued until late in the Fall. This resulted in 
the loss of many dollai's worth of clover and grass 
seed. One hardly sees a good stand of clover in a 
day’s travel. It also interfered with the groAvth 
of sweet potatoes. Sweets gave a light yield and 
Avere but moderately profitable. Tho.se who stored 
have made up in price Avhat they failed to set in 
yield. Late crops of beans, tomatoes and garden 
crops in general sold well, but averaged rather poor 
yields on account of the dry Aveather. Those having 
late crops on low land or under irrigation did ex¬ 
ceedingly w'ell. 
LESSONS OF THE YEAR.—As we revieAv the 
past .season Ave should try to find lessons of import- 
Spring prevented many growers from planting 
straAvberries. The dry Fall prevented the fields 
that Avere planted from making a good growth. 
This condition Avas rather general and it Avould ap¬ 
pear as though it AA'ould pay aaoU to gWe extra care 
to the fruiting beds this Spring and to .set new beds 
for fruiting in lOlS. The seeding of clover and 
grass being almost an entire failure last Fall it 
Avill be necessary to depend on some quick growing 
Summer crop for hay. For South Jei-sey cow peas 
seem to be the best. Those Avho plant should order 
seed as soon as possible, before prices become pro¬ 
hibitive. 
I’ERMANENT CROPS.—One of the big les.sons 
of the season is the importance of having some per¬ 
manent crop on the truck farm. x\. truck farmer 
Avho lias an asparagus bed Avhich requires replanting 
but once in 15 years, a peach orchard that is good 
for nearly as long, and a .strawberry bed Avhich Avill 
last two or three seasons, certainly has a running 
start on his neighbor Avho is conq)elled to rei)lanfc 
eA'ery acre of his land each year. A backward 
Spring puts double emphasis on the importance of 
liaA'ing a portion of the truck farm in permanent 
crops. These permanent crops also help to at¬ 
tract and hold a more dei>endable class of labor and 
by their use one is better able to eA’en up the truck 
