St. Tammany farmer., 1922-12-30
GROWINGTRUCK
AND FRUIT VS..
PLANTING THE
PINE TREE
Where Is There AS Healthy
a Place To Live AS st.
Tammany Parish?
$500 A YEAR ON
TOMATOES ALONE
Thompson of Bonfouca Be-
ieves Trucking a Pay
ing Proposition
BY A. E. Briggs

By A. E. Briggs
High-priced land never was made
by forestation or reforestation, Dut
one need only visit any orchard OF
truck section anywhere TO be cOn-
vlnced vegetable and fruit growing
bring wealth not only to the land
owner, but to the farmer and mel CHI
ant as we'll
The pessimist and skeptic in this
parish are willing to agree Win "a.
Alexander and his Conservation De
partment. After listening to their
doleful and disagreeaD Die comment
that st. Tammany parish is fit only
for growing pine trees, it is con-
soling relief to visit and talk with
man like Mr.. Thompson Of Bon
fouca. He is man who has done
and is doing things. And he says
he has only one fault to find with
large number Of the natives here.
Otherwise they are as estimable peo-
pie as to be found anywhere, but
too many of them lack patriotism
toward their native parish. 1t seems
hard for them to believe that any
good can come out of st. Tammany
parish. Certainly a man who feels
that way ought to go somewhere
else. Why does he stay here? Well,
the knockers are not to be blamed
for staying here. Where is there as
healthy or pleasant place to live?
But If we are going TO stay. here, we
ought to get our eyes wide open to
the many other advantages and op-
portunities which we can make for
ourselves right. here. With co op-
Grafton and a boosting spirit among
us all this parish can be made the
most prosperous country in the en-
tire South.
Mr.. Thompson is one of those
who is showing the way. He is
looking to the future and preparing
for his old age an assured income
which probably could not be equaied
by anything else. IN short, he is
growing a considerable orchard, and
it will only be a short time now until
he begins to realize on his first plant
ing of pecan trees. Pecans and
pears and oranges are his present
provision for the future.
But Mr.. Thompson is practical
man, and while that orchard is grow
ing he is paying it's way and more
with "a truck crop. He has thus
earned local sobriquet as "The
Tomato King" and there is no
doubling the fact that he has earned
even a better title than that.
For five years Mr.. Thompson has
from half acre plot sold over $500
Of tomatoes every year. Last year
with a drought and short season
his sales amounted to over $500.
That signifies a high degree of sue
cess. In view of the utter farce Of
reforestation in Louisiana, l claim
that it is better return than the
Conservation Department can show
for any tract Of timber since it be-
gan it's reforestation propaganda.
Mr.. Thompson gets a fancy price
for his tomatoes by reason of the
fact that he is very careful to grow
the very. finest of tomatoes, most
careful to select perfect fruit of uni
form size, and to pack it so that it
arrives at his customers in the very
best of condition. How does he do
all this? Read this carefully and
see if you can't do it too, Mr.. Farmer.
You won't drive Mr.. Thompson out
of business, I assure you, for there
is a big demand for his class of
goods, bigger than he can supply.
He selects Livingston Globe.
Says there are others just as good,
or may be better, but he likess this
one. He plants the seed in the hot
bed or cold frame in January, and
sets out the plants in March. The
main point is to get hardy plants.
They should have plenty of sunlight.
Any garden book will ten how to
harden up the plants.
He prepares the ground by plow-
ing and replowing and narrowing un-
til all the grass is killed out. He
has gotten his land in good shape
by blowing under lot of vegetable
matter which has rotted and made an
abundant supply of humus. Then
about week before planting out he
puts the fertilizer into the drill row.
1u6 u6 uoCS ID J~t-i u.
He regards the potash as the most
important single element. He makes
but one application.
Each tomato vine is staked AMI
tied, and all the shoots are pincned
off as they come out, excepting only
the first which is allowed to grow,
so that the matured vine has only
two branches. After punches Of
fruit are set all others are pruned
away. This system insures a large
and uniform size of fruit.
When it comes to packing, he
chooses crate which will hold just
12 tomatoes, no more and no less.
He sells on his reputation for stand
ard quality, and is proud to say that
the man who taught him the blsi-
ness had to admit that the pupil had
done better than the teacher.
Perhaps the most interesting part
of this story is that this successful
tomato grower was not born or rails
ed a farmer, but came from the city
only a few years years ago. What
mainly distinguishes him from other
men as he sees it himself is his dis
position to study his business and
to believe in his ability to achieve
things. When he starts to grow any
thing he reads all the literature he