The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1467 
The  Fall  Lettuce  Industry  in  South  Jersey 
INCREASE  IN  THE  CROP.— The  past  five  years 
have  shown  a  marked  increase  in  the  consump¬ 
tion  of  lettuce  in  the  United  States.  In  1918  the 
carlot  shipments  of  lettuce  were  a  little  over  10,000 
cars,  while  in  1922  this  had  increased  to  22,000  cars. 
Immense  quantities  were  also  hauled  to  market  by 
auto  trucks  from  farms  within  a  radius  of  50  miles 
of  the  larger  cities.  A  few  years  ago  most  of  the 
lettuce  came  from  market  gardening  areas  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  larger  cities,  hut  today,  thanks  to 
the  development  of  refrigerator  cars  and  fast 
freights,  the  distant  shipping  sections  dominate  the 
markets.  While  most  of  the  development  in  lettuce 
culture  has  been  in  the  Far  West,  some  eastern  sec¬ 
tions  have  also  increased  their  acreage  considerably. 
One  of  the  eastern  sections  that,  is  rapidly  coming 
to  the  front  in  lettuce  production  is  the  Bridgeton 
area  in  Cumberland  County,  N.  J.  The  1919  census 
placed  the  total  lettuce  acreage  in  Cumberland 
County,  N.  J.,  at  263  acres,  which  increased  in  1922 
to  over  690  acres  in  1922  in  the  Fall  crop  alone,  ac¬ 
cording  to  a  survey  conducted  by  Coun¬ 
ty  Agent  F.  W.  Jackson. 
TIME  OF  HARVEST— Some  lettucd 
is  produced  in  South  Jersey  in  the 
Spring,  but  the  Fall  crop  is  by  far  the 
more  important.  This  crop  begins  to 
come  on  the  market  in  late  September, 
and  often  continues  to  the  first  of  De¬ 
cember,  but  the  bulk  of  the  crop  is 
harvested  the  last  half  of  October,  and 
the  first  part  of  November. 
VARIETIES.— A  little  New  York  or 
California  Iceberg  is  being  grown  ex¬ 
perimentally  by  some  of  the  growers, 
but  almost  the  entire  acreage  is  planted 
to  varieties  of  the  Big  Boston  type. 
The  original  Hopkins  Big  Boston  was 
formerly  the  favorite,  but  it  is  now  be¬ 
ing  crowded  out  by  the  New  or  Un¬ 
rivalled  lettuce,  often  called  Green 
Leaved  or  Improved  Big  Boston.  This 
latter  variety  has  the  advantage  that 
it  is  free  from  the  reddish  coloring  on 
the  edges  of  the  leaves  in  cold  weather, 
which  is  the  main  drawback  of  the 
common  Big  Boston. 
SOIL  AND  PREPARATION.— The 
soils  used  for  lettuce  growing  are 
sandy  loams,  often  with  a  little  gravel. 
They  are  light,  and  easily  worked,  and 
dry  out  on  the  surface  quickly  after  a 
rain.  The  open  texture  permits  the 
rapid  development  of  a  good  root  sys¬ 
tem,  which  is  essential  for  a  good  head. 
Preparation  for  the  Fall  lettuce  crop 
begins  in  June  or  July.  As  soon  as  the 
Spring  crop  of  strawberries,  onions, 
cabbage,  lettuce,  or  roots  is  harvested 
the  soil  is  plowed.  Then  frequent 
harrowings  keep  the  weeds  down,  and 
the  soil  fine  and  mellow  until  seeding. 
Usually  one  ton  of  fertilizer  is  applied 
per  acre.  Many  men  use  a  complete 
fertilizer,  analyzing  4-S-4  or  4-8-6,  but 
others  put  on  one  ton  of  bonemeal.  The 
fertilizer  is  applied  shortly  before  seed¬ 
ing,  and  thoroughly  worked  into  the 
soil.  In  preparing  for  seeding  no  pains 
are  spared  to  put  the  seed  bed  in  per¬ 
fect  shape,  for  experience  has  shown 
that  this  factor  alone  means  50  per 
cent  of  the  crop.  The  soil  is  worked  with  the  disk 
and  harrows  and  the  finishing  touches  are  put  on. 
•SOWING  THE  SEED. — Almost  the  entire  crop  is 
raised  from  seed  sown  in  the  field  and  thinned.  The 
first  sowings  are  made  the  third  week  in  July,  and 
successive  sowings  made  later  until  August  25.  the 
bulk  of  the  seeding  being  done  the  second  week  in 
August.  Hand  seed-drills  are  used  almost  exclu¬ 
sively,  but  on  some  of  the  larger  areas  gang  seeders 
drawn  by  horses  are  employed.  Rows  are  spaced  12 
in.  and  14  in.  apart,  and  the  seed  is  covered  %  in- 
deep.  Enough  seed  is  used  to  insure  a  uniform 
stand  of  plants. 
THINNING  AND  CULTIVATING.— Thinning  is 
started  when  the  seedlings  are  one  inch  high.  Wo¬ 
men  and  children  are  preferred  for  this  work,  for 
they  will  do  more  than  the  nen,  at  less  cost.  Most 
of  the  work  is  done  by  Italian  families  from  Phila¬ 
delphia,  who  spend  the  entire  Summer  working  on 
South  Jersey  farms.  The  plants  are  thinned  to 
stand  12  to  14  in.  apart,  the  excess  plants  being 
scraped  away  with  short-handled  -weeding  hoes. 
The  early  cultivations  are  given  with  the  wheel-hoe, 
but  when  the  plants  get  larger  hand  hoes  must  be 
used.  Hand-hoeing,  though  more  expensive,  is  bet¬ 
ter,  for  it  permits  cultivating  between  the  plants  in 
the  row.  When  hoeing  the  workers  also  remove  any 
surplus  plants  that  escaped  the  attention  of  the 
thinners.  Two  plants  are  never  allowed  close  to¬ 
gether,  for  neither  makes  a  head.  Four  or  five 
wlieel-hoeings  or  liand-hoeings  are  required  for  the 
crop.  Weeds  are  seldom  troublesome  at  this  time 
of  the  year,  especially  if  the  soil  has  been  well  har¬ 
rowed  a  long  time  before  seeding,  but  it  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  stir  the  soil  often  to  maintain  a  mulch  on 
the  surface. 
IRRIGATION. — Most  of  the  lettuce  is  irrigated, 
overhead  irrigation  being  universally  used.  Imme¬ 
diately  after  the  seed  is  sown  the  soil  is  given  a  good 
soaking  to  insure  a  rapid  and  even  germination. 
Successive  irrigations  are  given  whenever  the  crop 
needs  it,  the  number  depending  upon  the  amount  of 
rainfall. 
HARVESTING  AND  SHIPPING.— •When  the  crop 
is  ready  to  harvest  crates  are  hauled  to  the  field 
and  stacked  at  the  ends  of  the  rows.  The  New  York, 
height,  30  ft.  4  in. ;  38  ft.  long,  and  26  ft.  wide.  The 
smaller  rock  in  the  picture  is  more  like  a  pyramid 
and  is  26  ft.  10  in.  in  height.  Both  rocks  are  of 
limestone  formation  and  the  grain  of  the  rock  runs 
from  top  to  bottom.  The  hillside  on  which  these 
rocks  are  is  strewn  with  many  large  bowlders,  and 
Avas  evidently  a  playground  of  the  elements,  Avliile 
near  the  center  of  the  meadow  are  two  large  oval 
drumlins.  mother  bee. 
R.  N.-Y. — A  “drumlin,”  Ave  may  explain  to  those 
unfamiliar  with  the  word,  is  an  elongate  or  o\ral  hill 
of  glacial  drift,  compact  and  unstratified,  usually 
with  its  longer  axis  parallel  to  the  direction  of  the 
movement  of  the  transporting  ice. 
Giant  Rocks  in  a  Windham  Co.,  Vt.,  Meadoiv.  Fig.  658 
Building  an  Icehouse 
Would  you  give  me  some  information  about  building 
an  icehouse?  My  present  icehouse  is  10x12x9  ft.  high, 
of  cement,  with  a  flat  tar  roof.  Ice  melted  all  away  by 
July  15.  .  b.  B. 
TO  keep  successfully  ice  must  be  piled  compactly 
and  the  ice  pile  kept  covered  with  some  ma¬ 
terial,  as  saAvdust,  that  retards  the  passage  of  heat 
into  it.  This  covering  must  surround 
it  on  all  sides,  top  and  bottom. 
To  make  the  outside  surface  of  the 
ice  pile  as  small  as  possible  compared 
with  its  contents,  the  best  shape  for 
the  icehouse  is  cubical.  In  a  small 
house  approximately  50  cu.  ft.  of  space 
should  be  alloAved  for  each  ton  of  ice  it 
is  desired  to  store,  in  addition  to  the 
space  left  for  sawdust  or  other  insulat¬ 
ing  material.  This  should  be  at  least 
1  ft.  thick  on  all  sides,  and  better 
thicker  where  it  is  possible  to  have 
it  so. 
The  location  and  outside  construc¬ 
tion  of  the  house  has  much  to  do  with 
the  success  of  keeping  ice.  The  drain¬ 
age  should  be  perfect,  as  wet  sawdust 
permits  the  passage  of  heat  more  read¬ 
ily  than  dry.  If  it  can  be  protected 
from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  another 
factor  has  been  added  to  its  keeping 
qualities.  All  openings  should  be  tight¬ 
ly  closed  around  the  bottom  of  the 
house,  preventing  the  circulation  of 
air  down  through  the  ice  pile,  and  the 
roof  should  be  of  the  gable  or  gambrel 
type,  with  considerable  space  between 
it  and  the  ice  pile,  to  prevent  the  heat 
from  the  roof  penetrating  to  it.  A  ven¬ 
tilator  should  be  provided  in  each 
gable  to  permit  a  circulation  of  air 
through  the'top  of  the  house,  in  a  house 
in  which  the  ice  is  packed  in  sawdust 
and  eoA-ered  with  a  blanket  of  it,  to 
prevent  the  air  in  the  loft  from  becom¬ 
ing  over-heated  and  melting  the  ice  be¬ 
neath.  This  is  probably  the  chief 
characteristic  in  which  your  house  is 
faulty,  the  flat  tar  paper  covered  roof 
absorbing  heat,  and  because  of  its 
shape,  lying  so  close  to  the  ice,  that 
the  heat  was  transmitted  to  it. 
ROBERT  H.  SMITH. 
Clearing  Well  Water 
A  Pen  of  Young  Miscovy  Ducks.  Fig.  659.  See  page  1468 
or  Eastern  lettuce  crate,  holding  two  dozen  heads  of 
first  grade,  is  used  to  market  the  crop.  At  times, 
however,  when  the  market  is  high,  the  loose  heads, 
which  are  ordinarily  left  in  the  field,  are  packed  in 
bushel  hampers.  The  crates  are  packed  in  the  field. 
Experienced  men  pick  out  the  heads,  ready  for  mar¬ 
ket,  cut  them  at  the  surface  of  the  ground,  trim  off 
the  discolored  leaves,  and  toss  them  in  piles  for  the 
packers.  The  filled  crates  are  carried  to  the  edge  of 
the  field,  Avhere  lids  are  nailed  on.  The  lettuce  is 
shipped  in  refrigerator  cars  to  the  NeAV  York  and 
Philadelphia  markets,  or  hauled  in  auto  trucks  to 
Philadelphia.  The  price  usually  runs  from  $1  to  $2 
per  crate,  though  occasionally  it  is  higher.  In  1922, 
422  cars  of  lettuce  Avere  shipped  from  South  Jersey 
in  October  and  November,  besides  the  quantities 
trucked  into  the  Philadelphia  markets.  h.  f.  h. 
Vermont  Has  the  Rocks 
HIE  picture  of  the  big  rock  of  Whitingham,  page 
1338,  was  of  interest  to  us,  as  there  is  a  coun¬ 
terpart  on  our  farm,  and  many  have  said  it  is  the 
largest  rock  they  ever  saAv  on  top  of  the  ground.  We 
took  as  good  measurements  of  it  as  we  could ; 
T 
I  have  a  good  well  of  steady,  running 
water,  but  always  in  Summer  the  water 
is  not  clear,  kind  of  milky  color.  The 
water  is  nice  and  fresh,  and  has  no  bad 
taste  at  all.  The  well  has  been  cleaned 
out  lately.  What  can  I  do  to  clear  the  water?  F.  S. 
Bloomsbury,  N.  J. 
TURBIDITY  of  water  is  due  to  organic  and  min¬ 
eral  matters  in  suspension  in  the  water.  The 
organic  substance  may  be  dead  vegetable  or  animal 
matter,  or  even  living  plants  and  animals  of  micro¬ 
scopic  size ;  however,  the  turbidity  commonly  des¬ 
ignated  as  milkiness  is  likely  to  be  due  to  very  fine 
particles  of  clay,  which  may  not  settle  out  of  the 
water,  even  though  the  latter  remains  undisturbed 
for  some  time.  Some  ground  xvaters  are  clear  when 
drawn,  but  acquire  a  milky  appearance  upon  stand¬ 
ing,  due  to  compounds  of  iron  which  form  and 
change  its  color.  If  the  turbidity  is  due  to  clay,  the 
addition  of  a  few  grains  of  alum  to  the  gallon,  or  a 
little  lime,  should  cause  the  particles  of  that  mineral 
to  come  together  and  settle.  This  may  be  used  as 
a  test  for  the  presence  of  clay. 
SeAvage  may  also  be  responsible  for  turbidity,  and 
the  presence  of  a  possible  source  of  pollution  should 
be  sought  for.  This  may  be  a  privy  vault  or  cess¬ 
pool  so  located  that  it  can  contaminate  the  Avell. 
Of  course  a  polluted  well  should  not  be  used. 
M.  B.  D. 
