£18 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. ■ [Jan., 



raises the most wonderful amount of pumpkins of any farmer 

 that I ever saw. It is a perfect sight to go into his corn fields 

 and see tlie pumpkins, and if I am not mistaken, he has some 

 different seed from what most of us possess. 



Mr. Gold. I obtained my seed of Mr. Robert Little. Mr. 

 Sedgwick is one of our best farmers, and I have no doubt he 

 has been as successful in raising pumpkins as myself. I be- 

 lieve in the pumpkin as one of the natural crops of Connecti- 

 cut, and we should continue to cultivate and encourage it here 

 and not lay it aside. I give it a fair chance, that is all. 



Question. Why will not cabbage do well on the same 

 ground two years in succession ? 



Mr. Halsted. A possible reason may be stated something 

 like this : That the cabbage plant is troubled very frequently 

 by a fungus called the cabbage fungus, or the club-foot fungus. 

 We must bear in mind that it is a disease that attacks the 

 root of the plant, and if the cabbage is infested with this dis- 

 ease, it is intimately associated with the soil in which that 

 crop grows. Let us suppose that the first year there is a cer- 

 tain amount of this disease ; spores are formed in large quan- 

 tities by this club-foot fungus, and they are thrown off and in- 

 corporated with the soil. Plant the soil again with cabbage 

 the next year, and there you have the spores ready for quick 

 and thorough work upon the coming crop. They take right 

 hold and go to work, and usually the result is you have a poor 

 crop of cabbage, if you have any at all worth harvesting, the 

 second year ; that is my explanation. 



Mr. Wakeman. I think we can raise cabbage a second 

 year and a third year on the same ground by putting on plenty 

 of manure. The cabbage is a gross feeder, requires a great 

 deal of manure, and takes a great deal of strength from the 

 ground the first season. I have heard of parties raising cab- 

 bage six, seven, and eight years in succession by giving them 

 , high cultivation. 



Question. Is steamed food of any benefit ? 



Mr. Webb. I know how it is myself, and I have known a 

 good many others who have found out how it was themselves. 



