55
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON VEGETABLE GARDEN.

The committee to whom was referred the recommendations in Mr. Davenport's essay on farm gardens and who were instructed to report a list of vegetables for farmers to grow signified their readiness to report.
In submitting the report of the committee, the chairman spoke of the

IMPORTANCE OF HORTICULTURE.

To strengthen the Society we should embrace garden culture. The importance of this is nearly equal to fruit culture. The two go hand in hand, and it
is impossible to divide them. Small fruits coalesce with kitchen and even ornamental gardening. The committee beg leave to remind the Society that a
farmer is not a vegetable gardener. He cannot go into the general cultivation

56
of vegetables for sale. He may raise potatoes for the market, perhaps, but
this is about all. He had better feed all other surplus of the kind to his stock.
He can raise vegetables sufficient for his table for a succession throughout the
year. This he can afford for profit and health. The principal standard vegetables upon a farmer's table are, potatoes for nearly each meal, then cabbages, onions, squash, tomatoes, turnips, and corn. Most of farmers grow
peas, parsnips, rhubarb, beets, beans, cucumbers, melons, radishes, and lettuce. It is not true that farmers have no gardens, for these vegetables are
found upon the tables of the farmers generally in their season. Fresh vegetables, as grown by the market gardeners, are the delight of city life. The
city vegetable market is the resort of all good housekeepers.

SUGGESTIONS.
We recommend that asparagus be introduced more extensively into farm
living. It is a healthy, luscious dish when well cooked. As has been stated,
a well planted asparagus bed will last a lifetime. We also recommend that
celery become a plant of general growth and that it more frequently grace the
farmer's table. Cauliflower is a vegetable of the cabbage kind that makes a
delicious and easily cooked dish.' Horse radish is a common relish on almost
every farmer's table. The vegetable oyster, or salsify, is an early plant to grow
and a nice dish, and every farmer can easily grow it. The following is a list
of vegetables which we recommend for a farmer's garden. It must be recollected that varieties may not succeed in all localities. Different soils and exposure require different varieties. Farmers are recommended to exchange garden seeds and to select the best seeds. The list recommended is the result of
experiments made for several years by Prof. Beal at the Agricultural College
and by others.

THE LIST RECOMMENDED.
Asparagus-Conover's Colossal, color, deep green and crown close. It is a
large variety, grows vigorously and sends up sprouts from one to two inches
in diameter, where the soil is rich.
Beans .- Wax or Butter, a tender and rich variety, of buttery flavor, and as
early as any. It is good as a snap bean for early cooking, or as a shell bean
for winter use. The White Marrow, a large white bean, round and oval, very
productive, tender and rich, and one of the best beans grown.
Beets-Early Blood Turnip, good early and late; blood red, turnip-shape,
standard early sort.
Cabbage-Early Winnigstadt, considered by very many the best in cultivation for general use. Early and late, heads hard and solid, full and of good
quality, and conical. Keeps well in all weather. Premium Flat Dutch, a
superior late variety, a sure header, considered by some superior to any other
late cabbage.
Carrots-Early Half-Long Scarlet, Stump-Rooted, is of a medium size;
flesh is brittle, of fine flavor and bright scarlet. Popular for early market.
Cauliflower-Erfurt Dwarf-one of the best for general cultivation; heads
close, large, solid, measuring from seven to ten inches in diameter. This is
classed among the most delicious of vegetables.
Celery-Sandringham Dwarf White, said to have originated in the garden of
the Prince of Wales; crisp, solid, not coarse but large, and a good table sort.
Corn-Early Minnesota Sweet, or Sugar; cars pointed and rather small,
and though it matures early, has good qualities. Moore's Early Concord

57
 Sweet, of first-rate quality, large ears, and is intermediate between early
and late. Stowell's Evergreen Sweet is suitable for boiling and will keep the
table in this delicious food until late in the fall; productive, tender and
sugary.
Cucumber-Early Frame, makes a beautiful pickle and keeps well. Early
White Spine, good for table use, straight, smooth, tender and excellent
flavored. Improved Long Green is highly esteemed and considered by some
as the best variety in cultivation for table or pickling.
Lettuce-Early Tennis Ball, grown extensively by market gardeners, in cold
frames, for early spring marketing; small, hardy and the head blanches ten-
der and white. Malta Drumhead, a fine summer variety.
Melon-Nutmeg, a rich, sweet, melting variety of the muskmelon sort.
Black Spanish, a round, dark green watermelon, of rich, sugary flavor.
Mountain Sweet, a large, long, oval sort of a watermelon, with solid flesh to
the center and very sweet and delicious.
Onion-Wethersfield Red, Large Yellow, and White Globe, familiar sorts
with which all are acquainted.
Peas-Laxton's Alpha, and Champion of England.
Parsnips-Hollow Crown, grows mostly below the surface; has a smooth,
clear skin.
Radish-Early Long Scarlet Short Top, the best variety for table and market use. It is six or seven inches long, half out of ground, quick to grow,
crisp and brittle, bright scarlet, straight and smooth.
Rhubarb-Victoria, a large heavy variety, a well grown stock will weigh
about two pounds; red at the base. The Linneus is worthy of cultivation, it
is early, high flavored, crisp, and is a good sort for family use.
Salsify-The vegetable oyster is hardy and may remain out all winter. Recommend the common sort; wholesome and nutritious.
Squash-Early bush, Crookneck, Marble-head and Hubbard. The last is
the best winter squash known, dry, sweet and rich-flavored.
Spinach-Round Summer, the best variety for a delicious dish of "greens."
Tomatoes-Early Conqueror, an early variety of great prolificness, smooth,
handsome, well formed. Trophy, solid to the center, heavy, smooth and well
formed. Mr. Waring, its originator, is entitled to the thanks of the tomato-
loving public for this variety, which has stood the test without failure.
Turnips-Strap Leaved White Top, an early, sweet, tender table sort. Rutabagas,-Skirving's Liverpool.
Potatoes-Extra Early Vermont, Early Rose, Alpha.
Unless gardens are near a market the committee recommend the raising of only a few kinds of vegetables. This subject was recently discussed by the Massachusetts Worcester Horticultural Society, and it was there said that it is better to cultivate but a few kinds and to devote to them special attention and culture. John B. Moore said he was 16 miles from market, and raised but few crops; he had a strong hold on onions, and described his management, which briefly, is to put the rows 14 inches apart, to kill the weeds before they come up, to select lands entirely free from stones, and to raise his own seed. He found wood ashes valuable; he had obtained 800 bushels to the acre. Another leading crop with him is asparagus, which usually paid him $300 to $500 per acre. The crop requires a sandy soil and high manure. He said the salt theory is a myth, and that salt is of no value to the plant. A heavy dressing renders the crop later. He sets his plants eight inches under ground and plows over them. After this every inch deeper makes the crop a week later; he

58
plants in rows three feet apart and fifteen inches to the row ; a greater distance would doubtless give larger plants. He grows 10,000 cauliflowers each year, manures heavily, adding 100 pounds of muriate of potash to the acre; procures all his seed from Italy, and is sure there is no good seed raised here. Your committee heartily endorses the sentiments of Mr. Davenport's excellent paper.

J. P. THOMPSON,
W. J. BEAL,
E. F. GUILD.