Long Island Rail Road Demonstration Farm

[1][2] The hundreds of thousands of acres of "Scrub oak wastes" and "pine barrens" located on Long Island were available for fertile small home garden plots.

[1] It was the object of this demonstration farm, to show the small farm or market gardener that he need not go to a territory distant from New York to test new vegetables and other growths showing promise, new varieties of regular species in order to compare yields, qualities and salability, in order to secure the greatest profit from their acres.

The demonstration farm would be used to understand the cause of so-called blights and rots, and by careful experiments, to endeavor to prevent entirely or reduce as much as possible their injurious effects and consequent financial loss to the Long Island grower.

[2] In order to demonstrate that the most unprepossessing territory on Long Island could be utilized as a truck farm, or market garden, one of the most desolate, burned-over pieces of land on the North Shore was purchased, after consultation with many old residents and expert growers, who unanimously agreed that the worst piece was a little over a mile west of Wading River station, and contained 18 acres (7.3 ha).

[1] An orchard was set out, also the usual variety of berries and small fruits, rhubarb, asparagus, horse radish and other crops of this kind.

[1] While dynamite thoroughly loosened up the soil and virtually sweetened and aerated it to a depth of from twenty-four to thirty inches, it left many low places in the ground.

[1] Two hundred and eighteen varieties of plant life were raised on the Experimental Station within ten months after clearing was commenced.

It included also Virginia horse tooth and White Flint corn, sorghum, millet, teosinte, Canada field peas, cow-peas, and alfalfa, all raised to test the value of the so-called "waste lands" for fodder crops.

Irrigation by means of sprinklers helped germination in the early spring and matured such crops as radishes, lettuce, carrots and cabbage most satisfactorily.

Alfalfa planted late, on June 1, when it began to bloom had reached a height of 26 inches and cut at the rate of 3,700 pounds to the acre.