CHAPTER XII.

ST. HELENA, N. C., NORTH ITALIAN TRUCK GROWERS.

INTRODUCTION.

The Italian colony at St. Helena, in the Wilmington, N. C., trucking district, owes its existence to the efforts of the Carolina Trucking Development Company to establish a permanent Italian colony on lands owned by them. Through the efforts of the company's agents, working near Řoviego in northern Italy, 37 families had been induced to emigrate to St. Helena (named by the colonists themselves) up to March, 1908. In all there were at that time in the colony 38 families of North Italians, numbering 180 persons, settled on a compact group of small farms. The thirty-eighth family is that of an Italian carpenter, who lived one year in Passaic, N. J., before coming to the colony.

The purpose in the mind of the development company is to divide the lands they own into somewhat extensive tracts, sell the land of certain tracts in small parcels to homogeneous groups of immigrants from different parts of Europe, and make the conditions of settlement as favorable as possible by selling on favorable terms, employing the men at fair wages to clear land, cut timber, build roads, and improve the tract generally until their farms return a living, and by giving expert advice and aid in all matters pertaining to agriculture and the marketing of farm produce. The settlement to which more paternalistic oversight and philanthropic assistance has been given than to any other of the several now (1909) established by this company is the North Italian colony at St. Helena. In many ways the progress of this colony is worthy of study.

METHOD OF SETTLEMENT.

The land allotted to the Italians was almost all uncleared virgin soil, much of it wet and swampy, covered with a heavy growth of pine, cedar, and other wild vegetation. They almost invariably bought it in individual parcels of 10 or 20 acres, at a uniform price of $30 per acre for wooded land and $50 for land cleared and ready to cultivate. The difference in price represents very nearly the actual cost of preparing the land for cultivation when this is done by the Trucking Company. After clearing, the land is devoted, almost without exception, to truck crops and fruits, but some alfalfa and cotton. are raised. A cash payment equal to one-fourth of the purchase price is supposed to be made when the immigrant takes possession, the balance to be paid in three equal annual installments. In no instance have these terms been strictly enforced, however.

• The second vice-president writes that in 1910 there are approximately 53 families.

Arrived in December. 1905; the hence when visited by an agent ut two years old. One family of , 1906, the wife having grown ess than six weeks' sojourn. This n to the time of the investigation, exception, hopeful and contented. wever, that subsequent to 1908 there wing to a disagreement respecting

Felice Ferrero estimates the total na at 300 in July, 1909, with good ists had been farmers in one Venetian t more than a few dollars to the United

advanced money for the passage of ished transportation from New York families, without money or knowledge wn in the middle of winter in a wild, vered with timber and swamp, distant which might demand their labor. The r them from the beginning.

selected their 10-acre plots the company ow, costing perhaps $240, on each lot, at , to be paid for on the same terms as the advanced each family the provisions immemplements and animals required to begin

for cultivation. The total indebtedness who purchased 10 acres of wild land was

$600.

ionists an opportunity to become immedicompany offered work cutting cord wood, at $1.25 per day of ten hours to all ableed. More than this, they agreed to buy e Italians cut on their farms, paying 90 a living assured and with the prospect of a short distance before him, the Italian fly. By the spring of 1908 the Italians of land, approximately 150 acres of which and put into cultivation; and besides this

most 150 acres. Partly from their earnid almost every colonist had made a pare had purchased and had cleared at least any and the settlers were very sanguine be improved and cultivated and entirely

CLIMATE, SOIL, AND AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS.

The climate in the vicinity of Wilmington, N. C., is exceptionally mild, owing not only to the latitude and the low elevation, but also to the moderating influence of the sea. The summers are long and the winters are so mild at Wilmington that winter lettuce can be produced out of doors if cheese-cloth covers are used. Occasional light snows fall, but melt very quickly. The average date of the last killing frost in the spring is March 29 and the first in the fall, November 25, giving a growing season of approximately eight months. It is said by Wilmington truckers that four successive truck crops frequently can be grown in a season, and five or six cuttings of alfalfa are sometimes made.

The annual rainfall at Wilmington is 54.37 inches, nearly 60 per cent falling from May to September. These favorable conditions are very significant in truck growing and help to explain the success of the Italian, since they, in a measure, offset the wild, unsubdued character of the soil. The following table gives the Weather Bureau averages of temperature and precipitation and dates of first and last killing frosts at Wilmington, a few miles south of St. Helena:

TABLE 51.-Normal monthly and annual temperature and precipitation and dates of first and last killing frosts, Wilmington, N. Č.

TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION.

[United States Department of Agriculture. Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils, Bureau of Soils, Annual Report, 1906.]

The topography of the country is comparatively level, the elevation above the sea being less than 100 feet. There are considerable areas of lowland and swamp, but the prevailing type of soil is the sandy or light sandy loam typical of the Atlantic coastal plain. This soil is excellently adapted to truck crops after it has been drained and fertilized. It is very easily worked, loose, porous, and "warm," and responds quickly to applications of manure. The Wilmington trucking district is well known to produce dealers in northern cities, for

thousands of dollars worth of produce are shipped out of the district by rail every season.

The chief truck crops raised are peas, beans, beets, lettuce, Irish potatoes, cabbage, onions, canteloupes, cucumbers, asparagus, and some other vegetables. Strawberries are likewise a commercial crop. Some of the Italians grow tobacco and cotton, and there are a few fields of alfalfa and cowpeas for forage. Other vegetables, grapes, and very soon peaches will be grown for home consumption.

In the summer of 1906 no crops worth mentioning were raised for sale. The Italians devoted all their time to clearing land and raising enough vegetables to supply their families. Schedules of 10 households taken in the spring of 1908 show the crops sold on 10 individual farms in 1907-the first crop produced on the tract. One farmer, who is a skilled carpenter, had no land in cultivation in 1907. The other 9 reported 33 acres in crops in 1907, from which they gathered enough to supply their tables and sold $1,309 worth in the market. The amount of sales is not strikingly large, but taken in addition to the income from outside labor it seems to be a very satisfactory showing. The returns for 1908 are not available, but the colony is well satisfied with the progress made.

In several respects the colonists are more fortunate than the members of many of the colonies who settle on farms elsewhere in the United States. The services of an expert agriculturist and practical farmer are at their disposal at any and all times. He remains on the ground and gives advice in all matters of fertilization, methods of culture, treatment for disease or pests, and manner of gathering and preparing crops for market. Not far distant is an experimental farm on soil similar to that in the Italian colony, on which the Trucking Company conducts tests and experiments of a practical kind with crops, soils, and fertilizers. The colonists receive the benefit of all findings, which the experts in charge take pains to explain to them in a language they understand. Their crops are marketed for them by expert agents who ship all perishable produce to northern markets by fast freight from St. Helena. The returns mean as much to the company as to the colonist, for the company usually keeps one-half of the receipts from sales of produce to apply on the debts of the Italian. Too much emphasis can not be laid upon careful businesslike methods of marketing, especially when agriculture is very highly specialized. In a great number of instances foreigners have found that inadequate markets and ignorance of marketing methods were causes of discouragement, of great financial losses, or even of ultimate failure. There is no doubt that in a few years the Italians will be educated to market their own produce cooperatively.

COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISES.

The cooperative endeavor of the colonists deserves some notice. The Italians came from districts in Italy where numerous cooperative business enterprises were in operation, and it is but natural that the principle should be transplanted to North Carolina soil. Their cooperative ovens for baking bread are interesting. The first one was built in the center of the settlement soon after their arrival, all contributing to its construction. Each family used the oven at certain