148 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



locked up in them, and the effect of that nitrogenous manure 

 which I have applied is to liberate that potash, to make more 

 potash available to the plant. 



Now, I know that as large potatoes as I ever saw grown have 

 been grown by myself, three or four years in succession, in just 

 that way, whereas, in some other ways, perhaps I should not 

 have got so large a crop. Of course, I am not prepared to tell 

 you how many bushels I raised to the acre, but as many as has 

 been mentioned here to-day, to say the least. 



The only other matter of which I shall speak, for I do not 

 want to take up too much of your time, is the necessity of fight- 

 ing insects at once. In market gardening, you must not give 

 them any chance. If any insects appear, you must contrive 

 some way to fight them. The insect that perhaps annoys me 

 more than any other in the growing of cabbage is a little 

 maggot that works under ground. Perhaps you will find 

 twenty or thirty on the stem of a cabbage. That insect troubles 

 the Arlington gardeners a great deal, but they protect them- 

 selves in some measure by high manuring. One of my friends 

 said, " If the maggots don't eat up my cabbages in two days, I 

 will drive them up so big that they can't hurt them." That is 

 the whole secret of this matter, if there is any secret about it. 



Mr. Ward. Do you find any objectionable quality in potatoes 

 raised in the manner you have suggested ? 



Mr. Moore. No, sir. I don't believe in a good deal of the 

 talk that we hear about tasting the manure in all the stuff that 

 is grown. If that was true, you would have a pretty strong 

 taste of manure in the vegetables grown around Boston. 



Question. How deep do you put your seed ? 



Mr. Moore. I cover them sufficiently to have them germi- 

 nate — two or three' inches. 



Mr. Johnson. As no one else seems to be inclined to say a 

 word, and as I belong to that good old county that Dr. Durfee 

 has spoken about to-day, and always feel proud to claim that as 

 my birthplace, — more so, I have no doubt, than the county feels 

 to claim me, — I will say, that we claim to stand at the head of 

 all the other counties of the State in regard to vegetable garden- 

 ing, and almost all other products. We have heard from Capt. 

 Moore, who has the science of growing vegetables of all kinds, 

 as well as fruits, that the secret of growing them successfully is 



