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The Garden State: This nickname seems to have originated at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia on Jersey Day, August 24, 1876. Alfred M. Heston states in his 1926 work, Jersey Waggon Jaunts, that "The Garden State" was used by Abraham Browning, of Camden. "In his address Mr. Browning compared New Jersey to an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and the New Yorkers from the other. He called New Jersey the Garden State, and the name has clung to it ever since."
In later years, the explanation has evolved to reference New Jersey truck farms that provide floral and agricultural produce to cities in the area instead of an "immense barrel." These farms have catered, particularly, to the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. Some support the nickname with stories of the Revolutionary War and the food provided to soldiers by the small farms of New Jersey.
Probably the most intense promotion of this nickname for New Jersey began when the legislature voted to add the legend "Garden State" to New Jersey license plates in 1954, in spite of the Governor's refusal to sign the bill, in part because "New Jersey is noted for its great strides in manufacturing, mining, commerce, construction, power, transportation, shipping, merchandising, fishing and recreation, as well as in agriculture. I do not believe that the average citizen of New Jersey regards his state as more peculiarly identifiable with gardening for farming than any of its other industries or occupations
• New Jersey produces five major fruit berry crops. They are apples, blueberries, cranberries, peaches and strawberries.
• New Jersey ranks 2nd in the nation in blueberry production growing 54 million pounds of berries in 2007.
• The state ranked 3rd in the nation in total production of cranberries in 2009. Cranberry produc- tion accounted for $30.9 million in agricultural sales.
• Farmers grew 70 million pounds of peaches in 2010.
• The equine or horse industry had $85 million in sales in 2008.
• New Jersey also grows potatoes, peaches, tomatoes, corn, hay, and soybeans.
Keep in mind the following is from 1997 (I didn't find anything newer) but is still probably reflective of which counties have the most farmland:
Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 1997 Counties Percent of state's
total receipts Million $ 1. Cumberland 13.5 94.2 2. Burlington 12.6 87.5 3. Monmouth 9.7 68.0 4. Salem 9.7 67.9 5. Gloucester 9.6 67.0 State total 697.4 For more information about the Census of Agriculture see the National Agricultural
Statistics Service's (http://www.usda.gov/nass/ - broken link) web page, or call 1-800-727-9540.
If you attended the University of Delaware in 1949 this is what you learned about the difference between north and south Jersey. Excerpt from "College Geography", copyright 1949.
" The backward pinebelt of NJ lies o the very border of the greatest industrial and commercial district of the US, yet most of the land is still covered with pine and brush, and the cultural landscape indicates that the people are classed among the most backward of this prosperous country.
Many inhabitants dwell in cabins that have neither have carpets or paint; most of the adult population go barefooted in the summer; and the limited agriculture development indicates a shiftlessness which is in sharp contrast to the energy displayed by farmers who cultivate intensively the well-kept truck farms located on the clay loam soils farther north. The backward conditions of the pine belt have persisted through the centuries......."
Rutgers extension service was responsible for much of NJ's Ag reputation.
nO BECAUSE THE GARDEN SPOT MAKES NEW JERSEY CALLED THE GARDEN STATE
Uhhhhhh, what?
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NJ truck farms, blueberies, peaches, cranberries, rutgers tomato
