The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-03-15
SUFFOLK REPORTS 4.
WORK WELL ADVANCED
tsnectnl TO The Times. Dispateh.l

SUFFOLK, VA, March 1.-THE mid
\ die Of March finds the truckers OF Nan
3%senond and nearby counties equally as
Il far. advanced with their operations as
5in any year during the past five. The
mild winter has tended 20 hflp tl,e,r
work, and tho progress would have been
Is cven greater than IL Is. but for the re-
Y 1ardinE Influence Of too much rain
E#f the only products shipped to any en-
1eTt SO far are spinach and kale. The
latter vegetable has not been profitable
$&nnd truckers have almost stopped
shipping 1T. They have done fairly we'll
with spinach. sst 81 s.i 4. |,
THE potato crop has nearly all been
s. nlanted. There will be slightly moro than
tho average acreage in this section. The
percentage OF increase Is not obtainable
4 principally because Of the fact tina t no
accurate estimate can be furnished by
2 seed dealers u
Farmers last year grew better second
crop than usual, and they nave h az
d buy fewer seed potatoes. 4
Il In fact, most of the truckers I'll plant
& aIlTcrops In larger quantities than usual,
4. Nearly all Of them did we'll last year.
IA and they are not so much hlndered by
lack OF ready cash as Is sonnet ines me
case. nor are they so much dependent
on guano, and commission houses 10 run
fHihem TILL "a harvest tille' s.tlH y. 455tts n
/. HARD TO PREDICT q
a.5e5 chn,,1d the season be conducive to a
" large WELD, and they have been very fa-
Il fyornble tlp to now, tits feared that tho
ruling prices will not be so good as they
4 we're last year, though none can predict
with certainty at this stage OF advance
sneM.s !, -,
Spring cabbages are doing well, but
q they had a setback by the recent cold
speiI that vas more marked than the
5f severity OF the weather iustificd. That
Il was because the preceding warm days
II had made the plants tender ana more
& susceptible to the frosts,
1.-THE plans OF Heinz. the pickle man,
carry and a representative said this
week. they would mltcralizc, to nave
ES n 4 sailing station at Suffolk. more cu-
Plumbers will be grown IN this section
than ever before Heinz expects to have
j. least 200 acres. and as many moro
= as possible, planted on his account..eln
answer to the farmers objection that tho
q required pulling of tho cucumbers when
mot over two and onc-half inches long.
would lessen the yield. the pickle peo-
3ssple say, on the contrary. their experience
III has becn that more bushels vii! be grown
when tho product Is picked 'at II small
4 size for that keeps the vines green and
keeps them bearing.
8Hcinz'S representative says II costs
from twenty to twenty-five cents 70 grow
IA buslcl Of !GueumbePrs, and they ng s, {,
Y "a p:,# fifty cents for' every, bushel 5deliv
crpl at their place, They are seeking Y
IN a. two-acre site, with an option or
Contiguous space.
THE PEANUT CROP. ga
e3 The outlook IS for a large acreage 4 Q
peanuts. which Is the staple mopey Gro
in the counties or Isle OF Wight, Surry
sussex, the western portion of Nanse
mond and the northern part of South
ampton The president OF Il large pcann
factory said to-day that the extent OF III
x acreage would depend somewhat uponsth
n condition OF the market at planting un,t
Notwithstanding tho unprecedented ylci
S OF 1902. the peanuts are being worked U
and sent away at factory capacity. Th
same authority said no believed the fou
Suffolk factories have enough order
ISL booked to last them forty days and sc
a there is lio slack UP in the demand.
Speaking Of 1903 acreage. the pcanu
man said there would be falling off J
the cotton section of Eastern North Can
Dina, where they We're grown largely las
year. The cotton planters believe there ]
more money in cotton, and besides the
s are less familiar with the more up-to-dat
4 methods of growing peanuts than al
Virginia farmers.
THE labor PROBLEM.
The financial condition OF the farmer
In the surrounding eight or ten connti'
K is regarded as better than during the pre-
c,,t generation and there Is but one s
nous problem which threatens to obstru
future progress. That is the scarcity
labor.
4 With all tho modern labor saving m
chinery. it's hard to hire us many mi
as are needed III the cultivation OF croI
and the difficulty Is even more pronounce
IN their harvesting. Last year pean
pickers had their little strikes, and farl
ers were forced TO resort to machine
whose work is not satisfactory. and Viii
tend 10 reduce tho price Of the nuts.