Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-01-15

like all other unsuccessful farmers, busi-
ness or professional men, the world over.
They say the tomato business is a failure.
They rarely ascribe the failure to their
own shortcomings. But 1t seems to be a
fact that ii requires a greater amount Of
energy, a greater amount OF intelligence
and a greater amount OF patience to be a
successful truck farmer than It does to
be successful in almost any other branch
of agriculture. II the rewards are great
er. the effort and the toll has been
greater.
But witness the pride of this successful
truck gardner! There he stands on tip
toe, reaching up to touch the topmost
leaf of the tomato plant which is one OF
the thousands growinging up against the
stakes ne has provided. One stake bears
the weight OF a whole crate of beautiful
tomatoes. They are worth dollars. That
truck gardner has made a fortune since
he came to Florida ten years ago. He is
rich and he knows the winters crop viii
add ten thousand dollars more to hts for
tune. Is he thinking OF that? Not at
all. He is thinking OF the fact that he
can show the visitor tomato field with
out a weed, q tomato field without rot
ting fruit. a truck farm that is as clean
as Dutch canal He is an artist, draw
ing living pictures on the background Of
a palmetto waste with seed and fertilizer
and modern methods OF cultivation. In
the finished picture he has the pride OF
an artist. -.-r----.-sssss-..
If the tomato is an aFistoerat among
vegetables the Florida tomato is the
haughtiest Of aristocrats. Next to the po-
tato, the tomato ranks as the most val
fah hxr
truck farms. Both the tomato and the
potato are American plants. they are
close kin and both belong to the deadly
"night-shade" family. Within the men,
DRY of thousands of living Americans the
tomato was regarded as poisonous and
wholly unfit for food. 1t was often grown
as an ornamental plant, and it's rich red
fruit gIoried in the name of love apple.
Then the people found it was good to eat,
its popularity grew and the tomato be-
came commercially important.
In six states, New Jersey, Delaware,
Maryland, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri,
the business of growing tomatoes for can
ming purposes is a considerable and q
profitable one. Every other agricultural
state of the central west 10 paying more
and more attention to this crop. Twenty
years ago the canned crop amounted to
100000 cans. Now It is more than $780,
100000 cans a year.
The average yield per acre of tomatoes
grown for canneries in the states named
is $50 bushels. This is with old-fashioned
methods OF farming. On any land that
will grow tomatoes at ALL the yield can
be increased to 800 bushels by the applica-
ton of hard work and modern methods
The farmer who is growing tomatoes as
a speciality will not content himself with
less than 300 bushels. At this rate, the
cIOp is profitable and the land has re-
turned a much greater value than could
be obtained from wheat or corn or any
staple product.
But the Florida tomato is not Of this
class. He isn't grown to be shut up In
a can. He is born to the purple. He is
tended and watched with almost individu-
al care He is wrapped and Grated as II
he were a jewel. and he is shipped to the
frozen north to delight the palates OF
those who like fresh tomatoes in the dead
of winter, and who have the money TO
indulge their tastes. An acre of Florida
land, well cultivated, will yield from 300