HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 349 



to announce in the same breath that "Cold" is Queen! Hence I 

 prefer to let the whole matter drop right here ! Hark ! methinks 

 I hear a sighclone! approaching from the direction of Steele Co. ! 

 Aye ! and a lectrified Dartt from the funnel, and all Steele clad at 

 that ! has just pierced the biggest Native Crab Tree in Olmsted 

 county ! My kind friends, please excuse precipitation! while I 

 "Steal awhile away." 



GEOWING VEGETABLES. 



By Joshua Allyn, of Red Wing. 



A ten minute report is requested of me on the subject of grow- 

 ing vegetables for profit. 1 am glad it is not on selling them for 

 profit, for there is just where the joke comes in, for most of us. 



At no season of the year are the hours so precious and profitable 

 for the gardener as in winter. Look up all you can find in books 

 and papers; you will be surprised to see how much you will find of 

 nonsense that is annually written, and yet, on the other hand, you 

 will find hints and methods which your experience tells you are 

 good, true, and what you want. In fact, any article, although you 

 may have read it before, will now in the light of another year's 

 experience give you ideas you did not find there before. When 

 good authorities disagree your own good sense will tell you just 

 what is best for you. In every neighborhood there is one man 

 who beats all others in some particular thing. Naturally self- 

 conceit leads every one to think, " Now, my way is just as good as 

 that of any one else. The trouble must be a defect in my soil or 

 something of the kind." But it is for you the part of wisdom to 

 learn from each his secrets and practice accordingly. Often a 

 neighbor has some short cut in harvesting a crop, or some special 

 use of a common tool, or some home-made attachment to it, which 

 may prove worth many dollars to you. 



One of the best early vegetables for profit is the onion, taking 

 one year with another. Early radish, if extra care and a warm 

 location is giveD, makes one of the best crops. The earliest peas 

 must be added also, while the first cabbage always brings a good 

 round price and quick sale, but will not grow without good ground 

 and the best of care. Early beets are one of my best crops, and, I 

 think, for the time and trouble expended on them, pay well for 

 bunching. They are always in good demand. Potatoes in every 

 market are sure of ready gale, and if early enough, are one of the 

 best paying crops. Sweet corn can be hurried to meet the first 

 demand, and when thia crop is sold clean, it is profitable. Melons 

 if planted in sandy soil, sloping to the south, in good heat, and if 

 protected from their many pests, cannot help rewarding one's 

 labor. Winter squash, especially the Hubbard, has become such 

 a staple article that it cannot fail to pay well. Tomatoes, if once 



