St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1921-09-03

Market Gardening Can Not
Be Made Successful
Without Drainage.
BRIGGS TELLS WHY
THIS is TRUE.
This Section Has Advant-
age Of Most Trucking Lo-
calities in Business.
(By A. 3. Briggs)


Heretofore we have considered the
advantage Of drainage in general
farming almost to the exclusion OF
the most profitable single type OF
farming which can be developed here
namely, trucking and orcharding.
Because OF the very high profits
which may be derived from intelli
gent growing and marketing OF
cruck crops, it would have been
easier to prove the profits from
drainage, but wanted to show that
that kind OF farming which is gen
orally success in farming sections
Will pay better here than any other
uses besides crop farming such as
timber growing or speculative ''bets''
like letting the land lie idle. But
there are sections at least, il not the
whole parish, and especially the
southern part OF the parish, which
could be most protitably developed
Tor growing vegetables and fruit.
Orchard, truck, and poultry farm
ing in bination can >be done on
small tracts, and to these might be
added few COWS and pigs. A we'll
managed tract Of as little as five
acres could be made to produce as
good profits as the average Middle
West or Northern farm of 16O acres
in rich farming districts. But this
type Of farming is feasible only with
drainage, and on such tracts an irri-
cation plant would also be profitable,
and for some crops even necessary.
Truck Farming.
To this type of farming the rota-
ton system is also applicable as in
general farming. Prof. M. G. kains
says in Farm knowledge: -Four
year rotations are about as popular
as in general farming. A
gross feeding crop such as cabbage,
potatoes, or corn, generally follows
the legume.. Then come general
truck crops for two years before an
other year of rest soWn to legumes.' 7
The truck grower plans to have
a variety of crops that naturally fol-
low one another through the season.
A favorite way of doing this is to
have two different crops upon the
same area at the same time. One
popular pair is potatoes and straw
berries. After the potatoes are har-
vested early in the season the berries
have full possession. Perhaps "a bet
ter combination is tomatoes or beans
with Strawberries, since neither. OF
these vegetables requires the stirring
of the soil to- the possible disadvant-
age of the berries. In any case the
companion crop should both pay the
cost Of growing the strawberries and
also return a fair profit itself. Crops,
such as parsnips, that demand a long
season to mature are often COM
panion cropped with cucumbers, can
taiOupes or tomatoes, since these hot
weather lovers leave the roots in sole
possession at the time they need
plant food and moisture most. Gu
cumbers are often planted among
string beans that are already up.
Quick growing crops-lettuce, spin
ach, radishes-are often planted be-
tween rows of other crops-cabbage,
tomatoes, potatoes, etc. By COM
binging these methods, series of 8
or 4 crops may be secured in one
season for the same area. In the
South, a favorite cycle (1) is fall
soWn lettuce sold in December; (2)
.ettuce again, sold in late March;
"(3) beans soWn among the lettuce
shortly before harvest and solds in
late May; then "a 5coWpeas for
green manure plowed in October
This gives three highly profitable
crops and one soil enriching crop in
a year.
The natural fertility of the soil
.ia a secondary consideration since
green manuring and fertilizing will
adjust that Abundant stable ma
nure-20 to so tons to the acre
and quickly available fertilizers, at
the rate of 500 to 1000 pounds to
the acre are most used by success
full truckers. Because of the de-
mands made by three or four crops
in a season, no soil is naturally cap
BILE of supplying the needed plant
food without liberal feeding.
Market gardening may be COM
Tined with other farm work as part
Of the regular rotation of crops. As
there is always more or less low
grade uce-trimming waste
leaves and the 1ike-it is often ad-
to kee pliyestock, especially
pigs, to turn this otherwise waste
material into profit
Some years ago the North LOuisi-
ana Experiment Station published
results from it's truck crops grown
over the period from 1892 to 1907,
years which included some of the
lowest market prices experienced in
the lifetime of our oldest men, which
therefore may be taken as the ex-
treme of conservative statement, the
low level of market returns, and is
a fair indication also Of average
Yields which should be obtained.
quote results as follows:
Cabbage: For the last three
seasons, since the yields per acre
have been obtained the average yield
per acre has been 1866 pounds,
and the average price at which the
crop has been sold, (. O. b., was two
cents per pound. :,
Bush beans: The average yield
s150 bushels per acre. and the aver