The Democratic advocate., 1901-04-27
THE PENINSULA PLANT FARMS.
Largest strawberry Plant Grower
In The World.

The Salisbury (Md. Advertiser of April
20 publishes the following, which we COM
mend to our truckers and farmers, to many of
whom it will read like a fairy tale, but there
are several other large growers of small fruits
on the Eastern shore of this State, Delaware,
and the two adjoining counties of Virginia.
Read it:
To say of thing that it is the biggest of its
kind in the world is broad statement, and
one especially interesting when the thing for
which the claim is made is located in ones
own community.
This big claim is made of Mr. w. F. Aliens
strawberry plant business. Mr.. Allen does
not claim it, for he is a modest man whose
motto in life is ssDeeds, not Words. and the
deeds are there. Of course Mr.. Allen can
talk and will talk of his business when con-
vinced that his listener is intelligent and ap-
preciative The writer, by letting drop in an
off hand way a few remarks on farming in
general, during recent visit to Mr.. Aliens
home, on the Tony Tank road, succeeded in
convincing the latter that his visitor possessed
those attributes, with the result that some in
teresting facts concerning Mr.. Aliens farming
operations were gathered
Mr.. Allen owns and is farming the PENN
sula Plant Farms" containing 400 acres of
sandy loan, just outside Salisbury; and Egypt
Farm, . of 485 acres of red clay land, just out
side the town of Princess Anne, in Somerset
county. The last farm he has only recently
acquired. The time consumed in reaching 1t
from Mr.. Aliens residence on :he Tony Tank
road, including the drive to the railway station,
is little under thirty minutes. This farm has
long been regarded as one of the most desira-
BILE in Somerset county, and was very highly
priced by its former owner, the late James U.
Dennis, who was accustomed to growing prize
crops of grain and hay on it. Mr.. Allen will
fruit strawberries on it, having just finished
planting 100 acres of it in choice varieties,
including the Candy, and grow grain, hay and
eventually live stock. His overseer on Egypt
farm is Mr.. George w. Powell.
There are l25 acres on the Peninsula Plant
Farms in strawberry plants, embracing every
variety in the country of known merit; sixty
acres in Lucretia and Austin Llackberries.
The blackberries begin to ripen for market
about AS strawberries go out, and Mr. Allen
calculates that be will have $4,000 quarts of
each the coming season, which will require for
the harvesting 200 berry pickers for period
of about eight weeks. He has fifty acres in
cantaloupes, about eighteen acres OF which
are under glass. For this experiment Mr..
Allen expended the neat sum of 500 for the
glass alone at the factory, 40, 200 panes being
required. incidentally, the same glass would
now cGSJ MIN 9oUU MT. AllcH Ca PCStS ftpO"t
5000 crates of cantaloupes. Ten acres, have
just been planted in asparagus which will re-
quire two years to reach the harvesting stage;
ten acres are seeded to truck for this season $
Salisbury market. One hundred acres will be
seeded to cow peas during the early summer,
for hay and seed. Several months in the year
from SO to 85 daily laborers are employed on
the Peninsula Plant Farms, independent of
the berry pickers.
There were shipped from the Peninsula
Plant Farms last season over eight millions of
strawberry plants. This seasons plant bust
ness is the most satisfactory Mr.. Allen has
ever had from the money point of view.
Mr. Allen started as boy fifteen or sixteen
years ago with $25 borrowed capital, as has
been told before. Since then he has, by in
telligence, industry, and matchless courage
created business which has made his name
known in all parts of the country, aud it has
reached beyond the seas. Since he has grown
plants for market he has received orders direct
from Bermuda, Canada, England, France,
Australia and Japan.