The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-05-11
wRRKLY DIGEST
OF Experiment Station Bulletins.
EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE.

" &CSOA@6 Va AS8 SARSS
ments at the three stations Of that State
i'm 1895. Lying at the lower end of the
Mississippi valley, with cheaply-con
gtructed railroads over level valley
lands to Chicago, ST. Louis, Louisville,
Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, whose
rates are held down by river competl-
ton, Louisiana is favorably situated
for supplying winter and early spring
fruits and vegetables to those cities
One difficulty has been the trouble
of getting fast freight lines established
to deliver truck and fruit IN a fresh
condition, The roads could not afford
to rush an occasional car load through,
and they have been waiting for the
farmers to engage in the business on a
scale sufficiently extensive to justify
the running of a special fast train,
while the farmers have been waiting
for the train to be put on before en-
barking in the business. At length
the Illinois Central road, which runs
from New Orleans to Chicago, solved
the problem by making contracts a
year ahead, and settling many North
ern and Western farmers along the
line of the road to help those already
there to keep the fast freight line sup
piled with sufficient business to keep it
running. This fast freight train fol
lows closely behind through passenger
train, picking up T at all stations
loaded with berries, fruits and veget-
Ables, which are landed in Chicago in
bright, fresh, crisp condition.
The result is, that whereas, a few
years ago the road ran through a dense
pine forest for 100 miles from Lake
Maurepas well up into Mississippi,
dotted here and there by a cotton farm,
with scarcely a station that paid the
expense as a local agent, nov there are
many prosperous towns surrounded by
we'll cultivated truck and berry fields,
paying the road a large revenue. The
Mississippi Valley road is nov moving
in the same sort of policy, and the
Missouri Pacific and Southern Pacific
have already successfully i~naugurated
q similar policy.
Louisiana has large areas of sandy
loan soils admirably adapted to this
industry, and her seasons, both as to
temperature and rainfall are exceed
ingly favorable. OF course all soils
used for trucking must be made ex.
ceedingIy rich, either by applications
of stable manures so we'll rotted that
M mad m ono 90 Goods oro loft oliUo nv
by turning under COW peas, crimson
clover, beggar weed, or other legumi-
nous crop which, has been well fertilized
with potash and phosphoric acid. For
such crops as cabbage, c%aulihower,
celery, onions, radishes, beets. Irish
potatoes, and turnips, which require
an excessively rich soil, the above
treatment may be ~proftably supple
mented by dressings Of cotton seed
meal or nitrate of soda.
To get the best that the land is capa-
bic of, and to avoid insects and dis
eases SO rotate the crops that no crop
shall follow a crop of the same kind or
family. Melons, cucumbers and
Equashes belong to one family; egg
plant, tomatoes and Irish potatoes be
long to another; beans and peas belong
to still another, and so IN. Follow a
root crop with a grain or foliage crop.
Follow a tap rooted crop with a fbrous
rooted crop, etc.
The best seed are of primeimportance.
Tests at the Louisiana Station show no
advantage of Northern grown seed
over that grown in the South, except
in case of peas and beans. For rs
plant, butter beans, okre, cucumbers,
melons, and Irish potatoes, Southern
grown seed give decidedly better re
suits than those from the North.
Hot beds and cold frames a1e valu
able accessories to the trucker, and in
this climate those covered with cheap
cheese cloth are as good as those made
Of glass.
Asparagus is a very profitable crop,
and the fact that it requires two or three
years to start a profitable plat of it de.
tiers many from growing it, SO it is less
likely to be overdone than almost any
other crop. Palmetto, Bars Nam
moth, Conover's Colossal and Moore's
Cross bred are recommended by the
Station.
Snap beans do best on light soils.
Early Mohawk, Extra Early Refugee,
Extra Early Valentine are recon.
mended for the early crop. For the
later crop, hesitation fnds little choice
of varieties.
Ranferann'a Bush Lima ia hest of all