132 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



SALSIFY. 



The salsify is a hardy plant and is grown in all respects like the carrot, sow- 

 ing in rows far enough apart to cultivate, and thinning out to four or five inches 

 between the plants. Sow most any time in the spring and keep clear of weeds 

 from the start. It may be left out all winter, but is better to put into pits like 

 parsnips. 



SPINACH. 



Concerning this vegetahle Peter Henderson says: "I could never account 

 for the fact that some vegetables always continue to be more profitable to raise 

 than others that require the same expenditure of labor. Here we have a marked 

 case in point. Spinach, which certainly requires no more labor in raising than 

 a crop of potatoes, continues to give a profit of at least three times as much 

 per acre on fields divided only by a post and rail fence. The men that grow 

 the spinach are never foolish enough to encumber their ground with potatoes." 

 Spinach should be sown in early spring and at intervals thereafter for succes- 

 sion, and about all that is required is to sow the seed and cut off the greens 

 when large enough. As it is perfectly hardy it may also be sown just about 

 the time for sowing wheat and left out all winter for early spring use, covering 

 lightly with straw or marsh hay as winter approaches. 



SWEET FOTATO. 



This is usually thought to be a vegetable requiring a very warm climate and 

 not adapted to the north at all, but it may be grown here successfully if the 

 soil is light and warm. The plants must be procured about the first of June 

 and set in ridges made by plowing two furrows together about one foot apart, 

 with the ridges three or four feet apart. They must be kept during the winter 

 in dry sand in a warm, dry chamber. 



And now having watched these vegetables from the seed to the mature state, 

 and put them carefully away in cellar and pit, I have finished my part of the 

 work and relinquish to fairer hands the task of placing them before us on the 

 table, where we will hope they may often be found, no longer deserving the 

 name of "less common vegetables." 



J. N. Stearns, Kalamazoo. — Celery in Kalamazoo would be hardly ranked as a 

 " less common vegetable ; " large quantities are grown to supply our own market 

 and to ship to neighboring towns. Our people have learned to grow it well, 

 and at ordinary prices it is made a very remunerative crop. 



Wm. Saunders, Ontario. — Asparagus is one of the most delicate and satis- 

 factory vegetables grown, and I regret that it must be classed as a less com- 

 mon one. I sometimes question whether the elaborate plan of preparing for 

 and growing this vegetable, as recommended by so many, is not responsible for 

 the lack of it upon so many tables. I should take issue with the author of the 

 excellent paper, upon this point. It seems to me there is really no necessity 

 for the expense he recommends in connection with the preparation of an 

 asparagus bed. My experience leads me to advise, if one has ordinary good 

 corn land, a very cheap way of raising this vegetable. I would invest in a 

 few cents' worth of seed and sow it, with the opening of settled spring weather, 

 in a good rich border. It takes but little space to raise a great number of 

 plants. At one year old these plants are strong and vigorous, and can be 

 transplanted in their permanent quarters. As I said before, good corn land is 

 suitable for the bed ; it should be plowed and well fitted and each autumn 



