356 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



vegetables, roots as well as grains. Let me, then, particularize a little, and first, 

 as to 



WHAT SOIL IS BEST FOR THE PRODUCTION OF GOOD SEED. 



A very I'icli soil in most cases develops foliage rather than seed. My ex- 

 perience has been that the hat seed, and often the greatest quantity, is obtained 

 from a soil naturally good, but not excessively enriched. Seed-plants should 

 have more space than is generally allowed, abundance of light and air, and 

 particularly of nourishment at the time of ripening, being essential to develop- 

 ment and full perfection. When seeds are extensively grown for the market — 

 for instance, the beet, carrot, par.mip, cabbage, &c. — they are generally grown 

 much too densely, the object of the cultivator being to secure the greatest 

 quantity from a given space of gi-ound. If dry' weather occur at the time of 

 ripeniug — seeds so raised have little else than the form : they lack fulness, are 

 deficient in weight, and a large per cent, will prove abortive. 



WHAT TIME TO SET SEED-PLANTS OR SOW SEEDS. 



Biennials, particularly cruciferous plants, cabbages, turnips, radishes, &c., 

 should be set early, as soon as the frost is well out of the ground. The cab- 

 bage and the turnip, when set for seeding, suffer from the heat and dryness of 

 the summer; but they are generally injured far more by the vermin and mildew 

 to which they are peculiarly liable later in the season. The earlier such seeds 

 can be ripened, I think, the better. As respects the onion, carrot, beet, and 

 most esculent-rooted biennials, the practice should be the same. With me 

 crops of these seeds have been uniformly greater and of better quality when the 

 roots or bulbs have been set early, than when the transplanting has been delayed 

 till the season has somewhat advanced. 



It should, however, be remarked, that my soil is loamy, light, and warm, 

 resting on a gravel. On a heavier, that is a more moist, soil, it would probably 

 become necessary to set the plants a little latei-. 



No general rule can be given which will be applicable to all soils. 



The cultivator must exercise a sound judgment in the matter. 



Annuals vary so much in character that no general directions can be given 

 for the time of sowing. Many of the hardier kinds succeed best if sown in 

 autumn just before the closing up of the ground. Some of the earliest and 

 finest of table beets are raised from autumnal sowings, (classing the beet as it 

 is usually cultivated as an annual,) and the parsnip, onion, and cari-ot, sown at 

 the same season, are often successfully sown. Tomato plants and many other 

 garden vegetables that spring up self-sown are generally much superior in 

 strength and vigor, in early maturity and productiveness, to plants raised from 

 seed sown in spring in the open ground. The cucurbitaceous plants of the 

 garden — cucumbers, melons, squashes, &c. — are decidedly tropical, and must be 

 classed as tender annuals. They vegetate best where the soil is warm and 

 comparatively dry at the time of planting ; but however early planted, or Avell 

 they vegetate, they rarely make much progress till the occurrence of settled 

 summer weather ; and these remarks apply also to the common garden beans, 

 particularly to the running varieties, the latter as a class, being less hardy than 

 the dwarfs. 



WHAT PLANTS ARE INJURED BY INTERMIXTURE. 



It is to be regretted that a subject so important should be generally so little 

 understood. Take, for instance, the squash and pumpkin. IIow few there are 

 who either grow the plants properly, or save seed judiciously; and how few 

 have the knowledge and skill to long cultivate and retain a variety of the musk 

 or water melon in its purity ! The numeroue varieties of squashes and pump- 

 kins cultivated in this country may be divided into three classes, viz : 



