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368 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
REPORT ON VEGETABLES. 
J. R. CUMMINS, WASHBURN. 
In the way of profitable cultivation of vegetables for 1894, there 
will be little to report; owing to the dry weather from May 26 to Sep- 
tember, along with the great heat, at times from 90 to 100°, vegeta- 
bles were generally an almost entire failure. Early cabbages from 
seed sown in hotbed in April, made small heads in October. Peas 
sown very early made some crop; sown later, were badly damaged 
by the drought and hot weather. The pea bug or weavil is not often 
found in the seed in this state. The bug can be destroyed by leav- 
ing the peas infected ina building where zero weather can reach 
them. Onions from sets did fairly well; but from seed the growth 
was small. In dry seasons it is more profitable to grow the onion 
from sets. 
Asparagus, for a time in May, made a heavy growth. So much 
was in the market at times, that when sold it was at a price the low- 
est ever known. In growing asparagus, straw should be spread 
over the bed and burned in the spring or fall. There is no vegeta- 
ble grown at less expense than the asparagus; a bed once planted, 
with cultivation, will practically last for years. I have under culti- 
vation asparagus from seed sown in 1857, thirty-seven years ago; 
which yielded as well as beds planted fifteen or twenty years ago. 
Potatoes were very early where they were not injured by the frost 
of May 19th. Vaughan’s Early blossomed June 2d. Among early 
varieties Gregory’s Six Weeks was the largest; the Ohio yielded the 
least, was later and more injured by the scab than other early varie- 
ties. Carrots were fair in certain locations, being better on higher 
ground than on lower. The Guerende, or Ox Horn,and the Danvers 
are probably the best varieties. In the cellar, in winter, the carrot 
very often is infected with a rot; the only remedy that I know of is 
to handle over the roots, and sort out all rotten or partly so. The 
Edwards’ beet is one of the best varieties for table use. 
How far it may be profitable to secure our garden seeds from other 
states is a question that only a fair trial can settle. The state exper- 
iment farm might do something to decide this. There is not much 
doubt, however, that the law of improvement of plants and fruits is 
that varieties are often made better by cross-fertilization and also 
by change of seed. 
While the other beans made a very light crop, the lima yielded 
well, when not growing among trees. In growing the lima bean, 
the rows must be four feet apart, and the hills three or three and 
one-half feet apart. The bean must be planted with the eye down, 
and the upper part of the bean but little below the surface; four 
beans to the hill. Planted in this way the seed, when good, will al- 
ways grow; planted as other beans, ten to twenty-five per cent might 
grow. The seed grown here, I find, will nearly always grow, while 
that from the East will often fail. While the lima must have good 
cultivation and soil, great care must be taken in the use of manure, 
on account of the vine being very susceptible to the rust. If the 
weather in June is wet and cold with sudden changes, the rust may 
appear, but with warm weather it disappears. Old, well decayed 
