Truck Farming IN The Everglades ALTER WALDIN TABLE OF COSTEXTS CHAPTER PAGE I . To the Prospective Truck Gardener ............. 5 I1 . Agricultural Schools .......................... 7 I11 . The Man Fitted for the Business ............... 9 IV . Capital Required ............................ 12 V . Location and Selection of Soil ................ I5 V1 . The Everglade Section ........................ I7 V11 . Preparation of the Land ....................... 21 V111 . No Present Danger of Overproduction .......... 23 IX . Selling F . 0 . B ............................... 26 X . Drainage ................................... 29 XI . Irrigation ................................... 34 XII. Stable Manure and Fertilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 XI11 . Culture of Tomatoes .......................... 48 XIV . Culture of Potatoes ........................... 5.5 XV . Culture of Peppers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 XVI . Culture of Egg Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 XVII . Culture of Beans ............................. 70 XVIII . Culture of Celery ............................. 75 XIX . Culture of Cucumbers ........................ 81 XX . Culture of Cauliflower and Cabbage ............ 84 XXI . Culture of Lettuce ........................... S XXII . Culture of Watermelons and Muskmelons ....... 9I XXIII . Culture of Onio . . s . ......................... 93 XXIV . Culture of Okra ............................. 96 XXV . Culture of Squash and Pumpkins .............. 98 XXVI . Culture of Sweet Potatoes .................... 99 XXVII . Culture of Strawberries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 XXVIII . Culture of Bananas ........................... 105 XXIX . Culture of Paw-Paws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 XXX . Culture of Pineapples ......................... 112 XXXI . Culture of Jamaica Sorrel ..................... 116 XXXII . Culture of Forage Plants ..................... 118 XXXIII . Insects and Fungi ............................ 123 XXXIV . Tree Growing in Connection With Trucking .... 129 XXXV . Notes on Frost ............................... 132 XXXVI . Birds ....................................... 137 XXXVII . Summary ................................... 139 CHAPTER I. TO THE PROSPECTIVE TRUCK GARDEXER. 0 the city man, living on . a salary, often in a dark or stuffy office, always at1 underling, working in a narrow grooGe, dependent on todays wages for tomorrows food, the independent countrymans life must appeal, for he is a free man, master of himself, is conversant with nature in its many moods, enjoys the first fruits of the earth with the gleam still on them, and all its first impulses and pleasures. Often, as we hear country boys, on the threshold of manhood, taunted with being farmers, it makes me feel that the city boy requires training other than agricultural to teach him relative values. City people sojourning in the country for fresh air and cheaper living, looking down on the farmer as inferior, will scarcely believe that it requires more brains to run a farm properly than to sit over a ledger, nor can they fathom the many experiences that the countryman must necessarily first master before he call be classed as a successful landholder. The city, glistening with its many frivolities, has drawn young people from the country to such an alarming extent that universal comment has been aroused, much the larger percentage of our population being today engaged in other than pastoral pursuits. This in itself would not be so alarming, were it not that the vitality of our nation is being drained proportionately, for it is a wellknown fact, if the country should today cease to replenish the city with new blood, the city would soon die for want of population... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.