Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1914-09-22

to embark in the grocery business in
small way. To use his own words:
II did plenty of business, but at the
end of the year someone else had the
money"
A family Of five, arriving in sue
cession at the Maxon home, aided in
keeping the family finances at lowest
ebb. Debts began to pile up.
The balances on the grocery ledger
grew heavier and heavier on the
wrong side. 1t was then that Albert
Maxon brought himself suddenly,
Right about face" and made quick
decision for better or for worse.
Tables Are Turned.
Five years ago the family moved to
small truck farm. The results have
been hundreds of dollars Of debts con-
tracted in the grocery business paid
off, comfortable living for his family
Of five, the children kept In the city
schools, and $500 year on the profit
side Of the ledger at the end Of each
season.
Would you 60 back into the gro
Gerry again " was asked of Mr.. Max
on as he stopped over a hotbed care
fully scattering a package of tomato
seeds.
mo, decidedly not" he replied
'Why would rather be planting these
Seeds"
AS Mr.. Maxon is not farmer by
birth or training, and knew little of
gardening before he made the venture,
it is interesting to study his methods.
Tomatoes, he says, are his best paying
crop. However, he doesn't carry all
his eggs in one basket and also raises
heets, onions, radishes, lettuce, egg
plants, peppers and other garden truck
which is demanded in the local
market.
His Methods.
Tomatoes and cabbages are sown in
hotbeds and later transplanted to the
fertile fields. The cabbage seeds are
sown about the middle of February,
transplanted March Is, and go into
the ground April LIST. Early and late
varieties Of tomatoes are sown in hot
beds March LIST, transplanted April list,
and are set in the field May goth.
From less than an acre Of tomatoes,
not tied UP, but grown In fields parti-
ally filled with weeds to protect the
ripening fruit from the hot sun, Mr..
Maxon has cleared $500 a year. Each
day during the marketing season this
disciple Of agriculture drives to the
city with load Of vegetables which
averages him a net sum Of $35 in 4
few hours. All Of the truck 10 sold to
dealers, none is retaiIed or he wked
about.
Mr.. Maxon tells OF peculiar season
three years ago, when all the market
gardeners were fooled into setting to-
matoes earlier than usual by the
spring-like weather. A few days later
frost leved the plants to the ground.
Luckily Mr.. Maxon had been unable
to transplant his crop, although he ad
mits he was crazy" to do so. After
the frost he put out his plants and
his crop was so much in demand on
account of the shortage in the local
markets that he took 10 or Is bushels
a day to the city, selling them at $3.50
and $500 bushel. That was an un-
expected Godsend to the new market
gardener.
Help for the Maxon market garden
is easily secured among the school
boys. If school is in session he takes
a load of youngsters out to the garden
on Saturday, carrying them to work
and home again in large lumber
wagon. The boys carry their own
dinners and consider the affair
great lark, especially for so cents, IS
cents, and 81 q day, according to size
and ability Of the boy. Mr.. Maxon has
no complaint to offer as to the cost
or the quality Of work of his helpers,
and he says he has never had a short
age OF labor. His two sons have
been on the job when necessary.
The question Of fertilizers and prod
,ctivity Of the soil has never bothered
Iowa black prairie loan 10 the richest
n the world. In the second place sta
bic manure 10 to be had from the city
for the cost Of hauling. On tho first
land farmed by the Maxons several
hundred loads Of manure were used In
ono season, but another ten acres has
been secured, known 40 "hazei brush
land" 80 rich that Mr.. Maxon fears
some Of his crop will suffer. This 10
an unheard Of condition back In Jer
sey or Connecticut, but Il 10 true In
Iowa, where the fertility Of the coll
may cause such vegetables ~ radIshes
to grow too fast and too large, 80 they
become pithy and unfit for the table.
For this land Mr.. Maxon pays the
normal rental Of $500 per acre annual.
ly.
Although Mr.. Maxon is in market
gardening on a small scale he il sat.
isfied that the opportunity is greater
than in any mercantile business on
little capital. He may branch out and
make name for himself in the mar
ket trade. Anyway he has made .
success. His family is the better for
going back to the soil" One daugh.
ter is a graduate ~ hiph cchon and