The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-10-25
Money in GreenshOuSe work lof
Southern Truckers.

Money in GreenshOuSe WORK iof
Southern Truckers.
was out at Grand Rapids, Mich
recently. attending the annual con
vention of the Greenhouse Negetapie
Growers and Market Gardeners ~
America. and | wished that L coulu
have had some of our southern tiuch-
ers there who are afraid to put money
into glass houses. was o
greenhouse there, 2lOX5UO IetI, ar
all planted in cucumbers for the
Christmas trade, and the vines OF
wire treIlises now six feet high. rms
house covers nearly two n a hali
acres. and was not the only one on
the place, nor the only large place l
visited.
And there are hundreds Of these
winter-forcing establishments at 10
ledo. around Rochester, n. y, ana
around Boston in New England. mat
men have made fortunes on ten or
| twelve acres Of land by this inten-
sive work in a climate where the sun
rarely shines in winter, and where
the mercury is away down below zero,
shows what could be done IN the
South if our people once realized the
Importance of intensive, rather than
extensive trucking. We have every ad-
vantage over these owe IN our
winter sunshine and milder tempera-
ture.
I saw at Cleveland. Ohio, in June,
two wagons loade with tomatoes n
cucumbers ready for the ornlng
market, and they expected at leas,
$500 tor each load. and this was the
last and fourth crop out of those
houses for the winter. At A~shatabula
one firm has seventy greenhouses
growing lettuce. tomatoes and cucum-
berS, ana at ITondeQuolt, near Roches-
ter, n. Y, there are 200 establish
ments in this line of work. And the
greenhouse men ave beautiful homes
and ride IN their automobiles, and do
not want more than ten acres, IS an
average. The place I mentioned at
Cleveland IS twelve acres, and the
owner has refused $500 900 for it.
And yet, our Southern truckers VIII
potter over q lot of C"lOth-cOVered
frames and hesitate to use glass when
the glass in the long run is far cheap
er and more profitable than cloth.
At P~inehurst, n. c., any one can see
how his winter forcing is done, for
Mr.. Swinnerton there is a very ex-
pert hand at cucumber and tomato
and lettuce growing under glass. and
he knows that they can be grown as
well and cheaper there than at Bos-
tor where he learned the art. True,
We do not need the heated greenhouse
for lettuce in the South. but we dc
the glass sashes on the frames
to grow lettuce and other winter
crops.
I have lettuce now growing in my
that I expect to cut out in
November and at once SOW beets and
radisheS in the frames, for / use the
doubIe-gIazed sashes that keep out all
frost, and am certain that [ can get
off a crop of radishes in the winter
- nj - 1-n- nf h4nfc in NfnTaI 7 ur;y>
SOW them in alternate rows six inches
part. and when the radiSheS are out,
the beetS Will have plenty of room.
when the beets come off | will
plant a hill Of cucumbers under each
sash and get these a month ahead of
the Foreground crop.
OF course, it takes more capital to
run a place equipped with green
houses and frames with glass, but
there is no line of soil culture thar
pays Il better profit, TOT. as q rule,
all the greenhouse vegetable growers
North have made fortunes at the bus
mess, any many of them on land
worth $4,000 to $4,000 an acre.
PROGRESS goes onward and in ii
few years it Will be as common to see
corn shocked in the South as in the
North. Either way of saving the
stover is better than the Western
practice of swapping off the ears and
then letting the cattle range the
fields. for the Western farmer Is al
ways WaSteful.
Deep Flowing and Soil Improvement.
Fall is the time to deepen the soil.
1t is the best time for subsoiling the
hill lands that are inclined to wash,
for the Subsoil is now in a condition
to crumble, while in spring it is pasty
"hap tho CJlyfaan -, in Dan1 nlou,ir o. 1
state.
The red hills need the deepest
breaking, for these red lands resulting |
from the decomposition in place OF
the granite rocks are all soil down |
to the fast rock and only need alter
as deep az you can drive a subsoiler
after a turning plow that runs eight
inches deep.
And nothing YOU can do will tend