New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-05-06
Putting the Roof
To Ork
U~oCoANUT GROVE" on the Century

Roof, has nothing on the thousands
of other New York City roofs which,
under the stress Of war, may blossom into full
hcdgcd vegetable patches.
What Farms on city roofs'
Now, don't laugh. One can figure it out for
ones SELF 1t is pretty big thing If one looks
at it from the right angle. For example, there
are $3.50 city blocks in the Borough Of Man
haitian. Manhattan is nearly all built up, and
there are only about 100 vacant blocks on the
whole island. Therefore, there are 2l0o city
blocks solidly covered with buildings, practi-
caly all of them having fat roofs.
Now, any one who cares to Jog along further
on this problem might as we'll bring out his old
grammar school arithmetic and get ready to
do sum or two. When he has done that, let
him turn over the pages and refresh his mem
DRY on the old rules of addition, multiplication
and division and he can proceed about in this
fashion:
The sizes Of the city blocks vary from 500
by 200 feet and 900 by 200 feet down to much
smaller dimensions, but, take them all in ell,
the average size is about 600 by 200 feet 1t
is plain, then, that in the average city block
there are 10000 square feet, and in the 2,10o
built-up blocks in Manhattan there are 252,-
100000 square feet of space.
So far so good. But, if one is going to be =
farmer, one should go little bit further in
the arithmetic class before passing into the
agricultural college. How many acres are
there in 252,00ooOo square feet? There are
1880 square feet in an acre, and here is where
division comes in: to reduce the area Of the
city roofs to acreage. The answer is, giving
good measure, $3.50 acres.
Imagine, then, $3.50 acres on the top Of New
York buildings going absolutely to waste! II
that acreage were planted in wheat, the yield
in an average season would be 1l5,so0 bushels,
and if the wheat were sold at $40 bushel-
the price that it brought the other dsy-ths
value Of this roof crop would be s277,s20. Or,
if the roofs were planted in corn, the yield
would be 23l 500 bushels; or, in potatoes, $685.
500 bushels.
But IL is safe wager that no one is going
to start q wheat field or dig potato patch on
the top of apartment house. hotel or a pri-
vate dwelling. However, housetop vegetables
can be raised just as easily as flowers in win
dow boxes. AS a matter of fact flowers have
been cultivated on the roofs Of New York
buildings for several years, and The Tribune
last Sunday printed an interview with man
and his wife who were raising vegetables on
top of an apartment house.
The scheme is entirely practicable. The ma
terial needful may be summed up as follows:
Boxes, soil, fertilizers, seed little capital,
whole lot of energy and unfagging enthusiasm.
The vegetables that can be raised without a
question Of doubt are lettuce, peas, string
beans, radishes, spinach, tomatoes, onions-yes,
and even cabbages and potatoes but these in
such small quantities that it would hardly pay.
NOW, there may De laugn IN all tnis-ahu
there may be bit Of common sense. A great
deal has been printed about the back yard gar
den and the vacant lot garden and the com
munity farming schemes-and they all seem 10
be good, for they stimulate many persons to do
outdoor work, which in reality is outdoor sport
And while there will doubtless be numerous
amateur crop failures, there will be no failures
from the hygienic standpoint. The Man
haitian cliff jewellers have no back or front
yards; they cannot take the time 10 travel TO
the vacant lot districts of Staten Island, Queens
and Brooklyn. They must have something
nearer at hand, and the nearest space is the
roof
Say-for a mere hint-that the dwellers in
big apartment or a tenement house should form
roof garden clubs and all join in the pleasing
pastime of gardening. The expense would be
little, the fun would be great, and, perhaps, the
results would astonish the Doubling Thomases
who think that efficiency is laid out in hard
and-fast rules.
Most Of US remember the block beautiful"