fW RURAL NEW-YORKER 
I 101 
Green Pea Crop oi Madison County, N. Y. 
Q* ATISFIED GROWERS.—Tlio green pea growers 
O of Madison County, N. Y., are smiling—yes, 
a smile that reaches from ear to ear. The more 
acres of peas a grower lias, the larger the smile, 
and it’s the kind that won’t rub off. Nature has 
been kind to the local pea grower, and this, with a 
goodly portion of co-operative spirit, has given him a 
crop that has not only paid, but will cause many 
growers to fill out large-sized income tax blanks. 
WEATHER CONDITIONS.—Green peas for the 
large city markets are grown in three small sections 
very widely separated. The early crop is raised in 
New Jersey and on Long Island, and as the crop 
from this section begins to wane, a second crop 
matures and is harvested from the other end of the 
State, namely, the Buffalo section. The peas from 
the third section, that is Madison County, in the 
very center of the State, follow the Buffalo section, 
and many seasons the last end of the Buffalo peas 
Fastening the Baskets. Fig. J t 61 
compete on the market with the early Madison 
County peas. The past season was the one great 
exception. Peas need a cool climate, with plenty of 
rainfall, and this was lacking in New Jersey and 
the Buffalo sections. As a result the pea crop was 
almost a total failure, and there were very few early 
peas until the local section began to ship. Here in 
the hills of Madison County the storm clouds broke 
at just the right time, and peas have been a very 
fair crop. The first peas were shipped June IS, or 
nearly two weeks earlier than normal, and the price 
started high and has remained so. The showers 
have continued, and the peas are still yielding a 
bountiful harvest and, strange to relate, the price is 
the highest that has ever been known right in the 
middle of the season. (On Saturday, July 30, 550 
bushels of peas shipped from Morrisville station 
sold for $5 a bushel, the highest price ever known 
for that quantity.) 
COLLECTIVE SALES.—There is another reason 
for the high price than the natural forces, and that is 
the great advancement this season along marketing 
lines. The growers seem to have adopted The It. 
N.-Y. motto. “We must do it ourselves,” to get the top 
price at the farm, and they have made good. The 
New York market can handle approximately nine 
carloads of peas per day. The local pea shippers’ 
association has known this right along, yet in mid¬ 
season the market has been flooded with peas, some 
days as much as 20 carloads going to New York. 
Early this season the pea shippers met in conference 
and finally decided to employ a field expert to work 
the two shipping months of July and August for the 
purpose of showing each shipper how to pack uni¬ 
formly, and for a primary purpose of knowing sev¬ 
eral days in advance approximately how many bas¬ 
kets would be shipped each day. The peas are 
normally sent to New York in express cars, but this 
season, when the manager of the association got a 
report a day or so in advance, that there would be 
more peas shipped than the New York market could 
take care of without reducing the price to the grow¬ 
er, freight cars were secured, iced, and shipped to 
Philadelphia, Pittsburg and even to Baltimore. As a 
result the various markets have been evenly sup¬ 
plied and the grower has received the benefit. 
PRICE TO CONSUMER.—The consumer does not 
receive the benefit of the flooded market, even though 
the grower must accept half as much for his pro¬ 
duct. Tor instance, if peas are selling at $4 a 
bushel, which has been a uniform price for this sea¬ 
son. the consumer pays about twice that. (The 
Hope Farm man tells me that green peas of poor 
quality are retailing at 25 cents a quart, or $8 a 
bushel.) Now. if a large shipment is sent to New 
Part I. 
York and sells at .$2 a bushel, the difference disap¬ 
pears between the commission man. jobber, whole¬ 
saler and retailer, and the consumer still pays the 
$8 a bushel. 
COST OF CROP.—The cost of grow ing green peas 
is much lower this season than it was in 1920, being 
nearer the 1919 mark. Last season the crop cost 
Yard Boss and Pickers. Fig. J t 62 
about $125 an acre to harvest, depending on the 
yield, and the 1921 crop is costing nearer $S0 an 
acre. The following figures give a comparison of 
the major items: 
1919 1920 1921 
Fertilizer (pkos.), ton. $28-30.00 
Seed, bu. 8-10.00 
Baskets, each . .17 
Picking, bu. ,30 
$33-35.00 
12-18.00 
.30 
.40 
Express-cartage, bu. .. .27 .27 
* In car lots; 34c in broken shipments. 
Commission, 10 per cent. 
Average yields are 100 to 125 bu. per acre. 
$33.00 
8 - 10.00 
,18 
.30 
* 97 
The help problem this year at harvest time was 
simple compared with the years previous. The 
“back-to-the-farm” movement lias started in earnest 
as far as pea picking is concerned. Many factories 
in the vicinity are running on half time, and the 
employees pick peas to help make ends meet. The 
cost of picking has been reduced incidentally to 30 
cents a bushel instead of 40 cents, as was paid last 
year. Many factory hands who were earning $00 
A Factory Band at Work. Fig. S/63 
to $70 a week last year are only too glad to earn 30 
cents a bushel on peas the three days they cannot 
work in the factory. 
SOWING.—The majority of the peas in this sec¬ 
tion are planted after corn, though many farmers 
have emphasized the fact that greensward is the 
best to produce peas. A few farmers sow broadcast, 
but the great majority sow in rows three feet apart. 
More seed is required when sowing broadcast, but 
the yields are higher. When sowing broadcast the 
vines are cut with the mower and piled up, and the 
pickers go over the piles, removing the pods. When 
grown in rows, each picker takes a row, pulls the 
vines and removes the pods. These are placed in 
bushel baskets, the covers slipped on and fastened 
and the peas are ready for their trip to market. 
GOOD SEED NEEDED.—One of the great trials 
of the pea grower is the seed problem. Pea seed is 
secured from the Middle West, principally from 
the State of Idaho. The kind of seed desired is a 
variety that will ripen the majority of the pods at 
the same time, as the peas are gone over just once. 
Sometimes a grower secures fine-looking seed, but 
on planting he finds the vines bear mature pods, 
small pods and blossoms all at the same time. Such 
a field is a problem, for if left too long the oldest 
peas become white, wrinkled and worthless, while 
the smallest are too green to harvest. The pickers 
also object to picking over such fields because of the 
small returns to themselves. Some growers never 
harvest such a crop, sustaining complete loss. One 
such field this year was turned over to a picker to 
A Busy Job of Pea Picking. Fig. J/61 
harvest on shares, the picker agreeing to pick the 
ripe peas the first time and to go over them a sec¬ 
ond and third time, as the pods ripened. This is 
slow work and of doubtful return to the grower. In 
time the pea shippers’ organization will see the 
value of good uniform seed, true to name, and will 
send a representative to the pea seed section to 
secure (he best seed grown for their organization. 
T. H. TOWNSEND. 
(Continued Next Week) 
Crowding Fruit Together 
P ROF. L. C. CORBETT of the United States 
Department of Agriculture is reported as giving 
the following report of a great fruit orchard in New 
England: 
A concern lias an orchard of 1,400 acres, so densely 
set that machine cultivation or the introduction of a 
horse-drawn spraying machine is impossible. Apple 
trees are sot two rods apart and are headed high, 6 or 
7 feet from the ground, the spread of limb being more 
than 0 feet from the trunk. Between the apple rows 
plum trees are set midway and also headed high ; be¬ 
neath the plum and apple trees currant and gooseberry 
bushes are set in rows 3 feet apart. 
Before the war culture was by hand, even to the 
spading. When the war took away man-power the 
owners saved themselves by introducing small “wheel¬ 
barrow tractors,” manufactured in the United States, 
which have a tread of only 18 to 20 inches. The density 
of the orchard, of course, precludes horse-spraying. To 
meet this condition a complete waterworks system has 
been run through the roadways, which are placed at 
intervals, and lime-sulphur mixture or Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture is pumped through the mains from a central power 
plant, spraying 200 acres. The mixture is taken off by 
hose connected at intervals. The company owning this 
orchard has a large preserving plant for the manufac¬ 
ture of jam when the market is poor for plums and 
apples. 
Some years ago Mr. IT. E. Yandemau told us of a 
place in Virginia where water pressure was to bo 
used for spraying. A big tank at the top of a moun¬ 
tain, and fed from springs, was filled with spray 
mixture. The orchard was located on hillsides below 
this tank, and pipes were run down the mountain 
and through the orchard with hydrants at intervals. 
In spraying the tank was filled with the spray mix¬ 
ture and hose with nozzles was connected with the 
hydrants. The pressure of the water in the pipes 
forced out the spray. Tn time of drought this outfit 
could also be used, partly at. least, for irrigating. 
We have seen a number of so-called English gar¬ 
dens where fruit trees and plants are crowded to¬ 
gether as described by Prof. Corbett. In one case 
strawberries, cucumbers, raspberries, grapes, plums 
and apples grew together, the last named headed 
high and trimmed to a narrow top. Such things are 
possible on limited areas where the grower knows 
just how to product fruiting wood, but the amateur 
would make sad work of it. and would better spread 
out his trees to the sunlight. 
