34 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



garden. Upon the convenient arrangement of this depart- 

 ment much of the economy of the labor of preparing the 

 crop depends. 



There are some problems connected with the management 

 of the market-garden which need investigation by scientific 

 as well as practical men. One of these is the nature of the 

 disease in the cabbage family known as "club-root:" its 

 appearance is too well known to need description, but its 

 nature is little understood. It is the practice of gardeners 

 to plant the cabbage only one year in three or four upon the 

 same land in order to avoid this disease ; but in the year when 

 the land is cabbaged it is often made to carry a good crop of 

 late cauliflowers after the cabbages, which could not be done 

 the year following. 



Another question which is little understood by the gar- 

 deners is how to prevent mildew in the lettuce-beds : we are 

 :altogether in the dark in regard to its nature and the causes 

 that produce it, and are very much at its mercy in raising 

 lettuce. 



The use of artificial fertilizers also needs to be more 

 fully tested: it seems highly probable that the root-crops 

 could be grown with greater profit by using a moderate 

 dressing of manure combined with a potassic fertilizer, than 

 'by using the usual heavy dressing of manure alone. 



The practice of irrigation, too, needs to be more generally 

 tried. Those farmers who have used water most, are confident 

 that it is profitable to continue its use upon field-crops, even 

 where its application involves considerable expense. 



The question is often asked, " Is not market-gardening a 

 very profitable business?" There is no doubt that many 

 skilful men have found it so; and it is equally true that 

 many not so skilful have had to toil very hard at it for a 

 living, and that others have lost money and grown poor in 

 attempting it without proper preparation. The labor and 

 care required for success in gardening are more incessant 

 than in other kinds of farming: the gardener gets little 

 respite from his cares, .either in winter or on Sunday. And 

 if he sometimes makes money faster than his brother-farmers 

 who depend on their cattle, he does it at the sacrifice of a 

 good deal of comfort .and .by dint of much care and hard 

 work. • . 



