40 



Mr. Beall. — I want to ask the President whetlier he Sowed the seed in the ground 

 where the melons grew, or put it in hot-beds 1 



Mr. Dempsey. — Invariably sowed it in the ground where they grew. Usually we 

 begin to pick our melons about September, and no matter how early the season is, we 

 never think of planting the seed until along in June. They begin to vine in about six 

 weeks, and by forcing them on they grow very fast. 



It being now six o'clock, the convention adjourned till half-past seven. 



CORN FOR TABLE USE. 



In speaking to the question, as to what are the best varieties of corn for table use, 



Mr. Beadle said : I think the sweet corn is the best for table use. Then the 

 question is, which sweet corn 1 I know that our yellow corn is a very good variety of 

 corn. It continues a short season, and makes very fine, sweet meal ; and it is passable 

 eating when green. But our renowned sweet corn is altogether preferable. I find the 

 variety known as the Minnesota sweet corn the earliest. I have tried a sweet corn 

 raised in Vermont, which I find about as early. It is sometimes grown in the eastern 

 counties of Quebec. It ripens about the same time as the Minnesota, and I cannot see 

 any material difference between the two varieties in quality. Then we have Crosby's 

 early sweet corn, which we like very well. I think it a little richer, a little sweeter than 

 the Minnesota. Then there was an Egyptian sweet corn. I have grown that ; but I do 

 not like it. It is not sweet enough to suit me. It gets in late, which is perhaps an 

 advantage. And yet, to me, that is no advantage; I can keep the other coni just as 

 late, by planting it a little later. Then we had Stowell's Evergreen. It does not get 

 hard, and it is, in that sense, an evergreen corn that remains fit for table use a consider- 

 able time. But I do not consider that of the highest quality. I can just as well have 

 one of these other varieties of sweet corn that is richer by planting it later. I do not 

 see anything gained by multiplicity of kinds. I believe, however, that for canning pur- 

 poses, for winter use, these later varieties are preferable. Perhaps one reason is, that the 

 ears are larger ; you get more corn on the cob, and probably can do the work more 

 rapidly. Stowell's Evergreen is so called, because it is in use for a long time ; in fact, 

 stays green until the frost appears. 



Mr. BuCKE. — A very large cob? 



Mr. Beadle. — Yes. There is not much diffei'ence, to my taste, between that and 

 the Egyptian. 



Mr. Beall.— We grow corn. I was trying very hard, just now, to think of the 

 kinds we grow ; but there is one kind I cannot think of the name of. It has a long, 

 yellow ear. However, we grow the early Minnesota and the Stowell's Evergreen ; and 

 this other one comes in between the two. We generally grow four kinds in the year. 

 We generally take one other new kind ; but we invariably come back to the three old 

 ones, and the new one we generally pass aside. This year I had a couple of ears of 

 Chief Johnson's corn, and I must say that, when it was exactly in the right season, it 

 was exceedingly good. We liked it as well as any corn we ever had. But a great draw- 

 back to it was this, that after three or four days — perhaps not longer than a week — we 

 had not any of it to eat ; it was too dry. Another objection to it was, that it was cer- 

 tainly the most rampageous corn I ever saw — most immoral corn ; for it impregnated 

 almost every other corn I had. It discoloured their seeds. 



Mr. Woodward. — We grow Minnesota for early. Although it is not very sweet, it 

 is about the earliest I think we have. Then we grow Stowell's Evergreen ; and then we 

 have a corn that we call California Sweet Corn. It is much larger than the Stowell, and 

 more prolific. It does not grow quite as early. I think the finest corn I have ever 

 eaten, I ate last summer in New Jersey. It was a black sugar corn ; I forget the name 

 of it — rather darker than Chief Johnston's corn ; it was quite black before it was cooked. 

 When it was cooked it paled out a little. It is not as early as the Minnesota, but about 

 next to it. E. Williams, Moimt Clair, is the gentleman at whose place I ate it. 



