Bridgeton pioneer., 1891-02-12
FARMERS AND PACKERS,
a VERY IMPORTANT PAPER
FOR BOTH.
The Relation Of the New Jersey
FARMERS to the Gamers OF the
STATE

The Relation Of the New Jersey
Farmers to the Gamers OF the
State.
AT the recent meeting of the West
Jersey Gamers Association, the fol-
lowing paper was read by Prof. E. B.
voorhees, one of the most useful and
valuable of the State authorities.
AS an official of the New Jersey Ex-
pertinent Station, established for the
benefit of practical and scientific
agriculture and for the development
of our unimproved lands, it is entirely
fitting for me to be present at your
annual convention. For whatever is
of interest to the farmers is interesting
to those who consume their products;
whatever benefits the packer, directly
or indirectly benefits the farmer.
1t is not my purpose to attempt to
tell you anything about your business
or its Improvement, but rather suggest
lines of development that will be Of
advantage to yourselves and to the
farmers of the State. The time has
come when the New Jersey farmer
finds it much less profitable than for
merly to raise, corn, oats, wheat and
hay. The land has been robbed of it's
plant-food elements to such an extent
that large crops cannot be grown
without the addition of commercial
fertilizers, and the crops grown on the
free and rich lands of the Western
States can be shipped and sold in the
Eastern markets at price SO low as to
make the profitable application of
fertilizers on these crops a matter of
some difficulty. So the farmer must
turn his attentionon lines of practice
that promise more remunerative re.
turns. While many have already
changed, the majority still adhere to
the old practice, and it is obvious that
it would be impossible for all to be
market gardeners, or fruit growers, etc.,
first, because their location is not
adapted for the profitable dispo-
sition of these crops, and second, be-
cause the markets could not profit
ably handle all the produce. This
difficulty has been relieved in certain
portions of the State where packing
houses have been established, though
the crop chiefly used is the tomato.
The question that arises is, why should
the PACKERS be limited to the tomato?
Is it not possible for them to begin in
May with asparagus, continue in June,
peas and beans, in July. with corn,
and follow in Angus. and September
into October with the tomatoes, there
! by running their works at least six
months Of the gear instead of two or
less. The success of such scheme
depends upon both the farmer and
the packer. The farmer must be as.
sured that the growing of these vege.
tables can be made profitable and the
packer that the quality of the product
will be OF high character.
First, can the farmer successfully
grow these crops?
It has been demonstrated by scien-
titio experiment that the free develop.
ment of a crop depends to large ex-
tent upon the presence in the of
sufficient amount and proportion of
the plant-food elements, nitrogen,
phosphoric acid, pot ash. lime, etc.,
and that the size of the crop is only
limited by changes in climatic and
SEASON conditions op6 auop tbof %bo
influences of any unfavorable condi-
tions are greatly lessoned when the
proper amounts and kinds of plant
food are present. Knowing the mag
nitude of the tomato growing indus
try in this State, its former value to
the farmer and the present feeling
among some farmers that it is grow.
ing less profitable, experiments were
instituted by the Station in 1899 to de-
termine whether something could not
be learned in regard to the wants of
the plant, and also whether the crops
could not be protitably increased.
These experiments have taught some
valuable lessons among which are 1st,
that nitrate of soda is valuable fer
tilizer for tomatoes, increasing the crop
in remarkable manner, and 2nd, that
the hest effect is secured when the
nitrate is used in connection with a
liberal supply in the soil of the mineral
elements, phosphoric acid and potash.
In the experiment in 1889 the yield was
increased from 10 to 16 tons per acre,
and in 1890, on the same field, in which
the previous treatment had been the
same, from 13 to 20 tons per acre. The
cost of the fertilizer, including the
phosphoric acid and potash, was $15;
the increased values at SO per ton wss
$50, and $42, per acre respectively.
That the tomato is a subject to failure
as any other crop cannot be denied,
and an experiment in Cumberland