The news & observer., 1905-12-03


$40 an acre has since been put under
cultivation for Strawberries and could
not today be bought for $500. These
people claim that their strawberry
crops never fail. and they have raised
each year an average of $50 crates of
berries to the acre, representing a net
profit, all expenses off, of $110 per
acre
OF course, all of this is scientific
farming, but it is the best kind of
farming. They take as much care OF
their plants, and more, than the av-
erage housewife does of her window
garden.
While they have an annual rainfall
of nearly 60 inches. or about five
inches per month, one man is so en-
terprising and sees such possibilities
in the development of his place that
he has erected, at large cost, a sys-
tenn of overhead pipes, which, sup
piled. from tank and pumping sta
ton, spray his beds at regular inter
walls; and the scheme is so uniquely
devised that the same tank and pipes
serve for spraying liquid fertilizer.
To tho man in the North, where the
long winter has already set in, all o.
this may sound too good to be true,
and, as the people of Wilmington just
ly say the statements that they are
purposely mild, because they realize
that the simple truth if stated accu-
rately would be regarded as a fairy
Storv.
Whether the average farmer wants
to consider or not the hard work that
is necessitated by trucking (for, of
course, it is hard work., it is mighty
tempting to have such large profits as
sured from a business which is, un-
fortunately, in many sections not prof
liable. and to realize that a few years
spent in this territory will almost GER
fanny give one something for the pro-
verbal rainy day. 1t is a question
which each man must decide for him
self. AS city man, knowing the
cares and perplexties of business life.
] must confess to a yearning for q
farm which yields such assured profits
and with tho conditions for working
the most favorable that nature could
devise. How much more attractive 1T
must be to the experienced farmer
who understands, almost from intui-
tiion. the possibilities of soil of all
grades, climatic influences and what
he has been accustomed to earn from
his abor.
The soil In this section is very large
ly what the government terms "Nor-
folk sandy loam" and Norfolk fine
dunn or fine sandy loan, grading into
yellow sandy clay of 2 to 90 inches,
by stiff. tenacious yellow
clay. On account of the light, sandy
nature of these surface soils they arc
the first to warm up in the spring.
and consequently produce the earliest
yields. The clay subsoil acts as self
irrigating reservoir, supplying mois-
ture to the plants as needed while the
e for
vents an accumulation of water detri-
mental to the growth and cultivation
of crops 1t is the ideal soil for truck
farming.
The railroads of this eastern coast
particularly the Atlantic
Coast Line have established a fast
freight service which supplies the
of New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and Washington, where
there are 6,500,000 people to feed and
a growing demand for early vegetables
and fruits to fill. The refrigerator ser
vice from Wilmington brings the pro-
ducts of these fields to New York ia
bles in SO hours, and, as a usual thing
the grower of truck is relieved of
most of the responsibility in shipment
as it is the regular order for commits
sion merchants of the eastern cities to
have their buyers constantly on the
ground at Wilmington and the neigh
boring towns during the maturing
season, buying the produce on the
station platforms and paying cash on
the spot.
There is an association to notify it's
members every morning of the mark
ct prices prevailing the previous day
"a practical board of trade, as it
were-enabling every farmer to know
exactly what his produce is worth.
In every way. so far as | was able
to judge, the conditions of handling
produce in an up-to-date and thor
oughly businesslike manner are met.
The roads over which the hauling
must be done for miles around Will
are of a good grade of mac
adam, and labor is not high as COM
pared with other sections. [ have
never seen anywhere in an agricultur-
al community more abundant evil
dence of optimism and the cheerful
which makes life worth
the living.
Many a successful man sidestepped