THE ANNUAL MEETING. 121 



to manage. (Mr. Gibson here described the simplest form of hot-bed either 

 made below the level of the ground or upon the surface.) Vegetables are 

 improving in variety every year, but it is not difficult to keep up with the times 

 if one takes an agricultural paper. A single example of rapid improvement I 

 might cite in celery. Just compare the long, coarse stalks of the larger sorts 

 with the crisp, delicate stems of the Boston market variety and their delicious, 

 nutty flavor. Usually it costs little or no more exertion to grow the finer sorts, 

 and as a matter of satisfaction it pays to keep up with the times in the seeds 

 we sow. 



Mr. Glidden : I can give my experience from a farmer's standpoint. I am 

 one of those fellows that are liable to neglect the garden. In truth I felt 

 myself hit several times in the remarks already made. When the spring is 

 late and farm work so behind that every muscle must be exerted to " keep 

 even," a farmer does not feel much like setting down and planning a vegeta- 

 ble garden, or if already planned dislikes very much to break away and sow 

 20 kinds of seed in a garden patch. Still I appreciate thoroughly the value 

 of vegetables in tlie family. I would make tliree points in arranging the 

 garden. 1, have it near the house ; 2, keep it upon the same ground year after 

 year; 3, put a high picket fence around it. 



N. H. Bitely, Lawton : Is the picket fence to prevent any of the vegeta- 

 bles from getting aAvay? 



Mr. Glidden : Every farmer should have fowls, and the garden is no place 

 for them. The lion and the lamb may lie down together, but the lamb will 

 usually be inside the lion. You see the application to fowls and the garden. 

 A good wife is important in connection with the farm garden, — one that is full 

 of suggestions. She will hold a man to this branch of business and lend him 

 valuable aid. I like long rows. This plan is a step in progress. My mother 

 clings to the plan of narrow beds with rows sowed alongside of a board that is 

 about the length of a hoe. I can see she is behind the times. Farmers are 

 very queer about vegetables. Tomatoes will be raised one year, and the farmer 

 will see how easily it is done, and the next season he is all tomatoes and will 

 have enough for his family, the neighbors, the chickens, and bushels will rot 

 on the ground. Again it will be all onions, or all parsnips. You are right, 

 gentlemen, farmers should put more thought into the garden, and I am one of 

 'em. 



J. N. Stearns, Kalamazoo: I wish to call up the matter of preserving vege- 

 tables for winter and spring use. I have tried a good many plans and think I 

 have hit the very best one, in the use of common sphagnum (moss) as a pack- 

 ing material. Vegetables may be packed in boxes or barrels, using the sphag- 

 num at top and bottom, and will retain their original freshness. In packing 

 celery I use ordinary shoe boxes ; a box is placed on its side and a layer of moss 

 alternates with a layer of celery, and when full the box is set up so the stems 

 will stand as they grew. In this way the plants may be placed in the cellar 

 when only partially bleached, and they will come out as white and delicious as 

 desired. 



Prof. Beal : I can add a bit of testimony to that of Mr. Stearns. Sixteen 

 years ago, while at Union Springs, New York, John J. Thomas told me he had 

 packed beets in sphagnum the fall before, and when putting in his next crop, 

 there being some of the old roots left over, he could not tell the difference, the 

 latter had been preserved so perfectly. I have since tried the plan myself and 

 am satisfied that Mr. Stearns has not spoken too highly of it. 



E. H. Scott, Ann Arbor: The market gardeners in our vicinity keep celery 



