A system of rotation which includes a truck crop every three or four years will usually result in increasing rather than diminishing the produc tive capacity of the soil. In a sandy region where watermelons thrive and winter wheat is the staple grain crop, a rotation of wheat, clover and melons is highly satisfactory ; or, if corn also is grown, the rotation may be extended one year, and the corn planted on the clover sod. In case clover does not thrive in the region, cowpeas are sown immediately after the wheat is harvested, and they leave the land in ideal condition for melons. On a clay soil in regions where clover does not thrive and wheat is not grown, but where muskmelons constitute an important money crop, the following rotation has given exceptionally good results : corn, cowpeas, melons, timothy. The melons are heavily manured, and the thorough tillage required by this crop leaves the land in ideal condition for seeding to timothy immediately after the melon harvest. Early tomatoes might be substituted for melons in the same rotation with almost as good results.
In regions where manure is not obtainable, and the distance from large cities is too great to war rant its shipment by rail, truck crops are some times grown with commercial fertilizer as the source of plant-food. In such cases, the supply of humus in the soil must be kept up by the plowing under of green crops. It may be necessary to plow under a crop of cowpeas instead of harvesting it preparatory to growing a crop of melons or toma toes, or to sow the land to rye after removing the cowpeas, and plow this under the following spring.
For growing between the trees in young or chards, truck crops are highly desirable, since they demand thorough tillage early in the season, do not shade the trees as would a crop of corn, and can be removed from the land in plenty of time to sow a cover-crop. .
The largest item of labor connected with the growing and handling of many truck crops is the harvesting and preparing for market. In the case of many crops, however, the harvest comes at a time when it does not interfere with the handling of the regular farm crops. For example, melons and tomatoes normally ripen after the corn is laid by, the wheat and oats harvested and the hay made, and usually may be disposed of before fall-plowing and the corn harvest begin. Winter onions con stitute a crop which is planted in the dull season of early fall, and is harvested before regular farm work opens in the spring. Rhubarb also demands little attention at a time when general farm crops need special care. The growing of a reasonable acreage of carefully selected truck crops in connec tion with general farming, therefore, may afford a means of giving regular employment to the same working force for the entire season.
Although truck-growing and live-stock-farming may not appeal to the same type of men, neverthe less there are some features about the two indus tries which would make the combination a desir able one. Truck crops demand large quantities of manure. This could be secured more readily by keeping an abundance of live-stock than by any other method. Live-stock demands more care and attention in the winter, while truck crops demand more attention in the summer, so that if the two lines of effort were combined, the farm labor could be distributed more uniformly through the year. The live-stock also furnishes a ready outlet for the refuse and unsalable vegetables, and the presence of this outlet would tend to improve the grading and leave less excuse for the shipment of culls. Hogs are especially valuable in disposing of refuse vegetables, though nearly all classes of stock feed greedily on cull melons, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Truck-growing demands greater special skill and closer attention to details, than does general farm ing. The difference between an ordinary and a superior product, and consequently the difference between the prices of the two, is much greater in truck crops than in staple farm products. The niceties of grading and packing and their influence on prices are not fully appreciated by many who attempt to grow truck crops. It is only those who give attention to every detail of growing and marketing their crops with a view to putting a high-class product on the market in perfect condi tion, that meet the highest success in the produc tion of truck crops.
Literature.
The following are references to literature on general truck-growing : A. Oemler, Truck-Farming at the South ; P. H. Rolfe, Vegetable-Growing in the South for Northern Markets ; E. J. IVickson, The California Vegetables in Garden and Field ; Thos. F. McCabe. Vegetable-Growing in Southern Illinois. Special truck crops are more fully treated in the following : F. M. Hexamer, Asparagus ; J.34. Lupton. Cabbage and Cauliflower for Profit ; C. L. Allen, Cribbage, Cauliflower and Allied Vegetables; A. A. Crozier, The Cauliflower ; T. Greiner, Celery for Profit ; E. J. Hollister, Livingston's Celery Book ; W. Atlee Burpee, How to Grow Melons for Market ; T. Greiner, Onions for Profit ; F. S. Thomp son, Rhubarb or Pie-Plant Culture ; J. J. H. Greg ory, Squashes ; R. H. Price, Sweet-potato Culture for Profit ; J. W. Day, D. Cummins and A. I. Root, Tomato-Culture ; A. W. Livingston, Livingston and the Tomato. There are many other available books on the subject. An article on the transportation of truck crops will be found in Vol. IV.