ey Be, a eae ce Siete 5 . 
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__New York AcricutturaL ExPERIMENT STATION. 329 © 
oH: is much blistered. These in turn are subdivided according to the. 
: shape of the head. Each of these is further divided according to 
color of foliage. 
_ The next year there is a continuation of this work. The vegetables 
_ covered with more or less thoroughness were beets, carrots, radishes, 
turnips, onions, celeriac, celery, spinach, cucumbers, squashes, pump- 
kins, egg-plant and tomatoes. The notes on the different vegetables 
varied from a very few brief remarks in regard to a very few varie- 
ties to a test sufficiently complete to justify calling its discussion a 
monograph upon the vegetable. In view of the great patience and 
labor that such investigations require, it is to be regretted that their 
value is so transient. ; 
In many cases the study of Professor Goff along this line included 
not only the test in the field but also an investigation of the literature 
of the subject tracing the history of the plant from the earliest 
time. In this volume he gives for-the tomato a mass of botanical 
references running as far back as the sixteenth century. It seems 
probable that for this phase of the work he availed himself of 
Doctor Sturtevant’s library, one of the best, if not the best, libra- 
ries of that kind in this country. If any criticism could be made 
of this work, either of its conception or the manner in which it 
was carried out, it would be that neither the head of the depart- 
ment nor his subordinates apparently had any idea of the amount 
of labor required to complete any contemplated line of investigation. 
Statements were made of intended investigations which would have 
taken all the time of a much larger force than was then available to 
the department. 
From this time on the vegetable work was continued in a some- 
what different manner. While many varieties were tested each season, 
no effort was made to concentrate the attention of the department 
on any one vegetable. Various methods of culture were tried and 
compared with each other and an effort was made to secure the 
newer varieties offered by seedsmen and compare them with the 
older standard sorts. Some general experiments were carried out 
in the early nineties to demonstrate the feasibility of forcing vege- 
tables for the local market. It was found that, under the condi- 
tions existing in Geneva, there was a ready sale for such produce 
at prices that would apparently pay good profit above the cost of 
production. 
