100 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON VEGETABLES. 



For the Year 1859. 



BY DANIEL T, CUKTIS, CHAIRMAN. 



The Committee on Vegetables offer the following Report of the doings 

 in this useful department during the past year. 



The weekly exhibitions of vegetables have not been quite as satisfactory 

 as usual ; and many of the premiums in the Society's list were not awarded. 

 This was not owing to any lack of skill or loss of interest in the contribu- 

 tors to this department, but was the unavoidable result of the cold and wet 

 of the first part of the season, which delayed many of the early varieties a 

 week or ten days beyond the time allowed for competitors. The Commit- 

 tee have, therefore, awarded, to the best of their ability, gratuities in money 

 and publications to the amount placed at their disposal. 



In regard to new varieties presented as worthy of cultivation, may be 

 mentioned tlie " Couve Tronchouda," from J. Breck & Son, — a Chinese 

 plant similar in character to Pack-choi and Pe-tsai, resembling a cabbage in 

 growth and flavor, but not yet sufficiently tested to enable your Committee 

 to pronounce upon its relative value, except for its property of early ma- 

 turity. 



The Early Round Summer Parsnip, similar in form to the Turnip Beet, 

 has lately been introduced from Paris, and promises to add another valuable 

 member to the list of approved early vegetables. 



The cultivation of squashes of some variety enters largely into the agri- 

 culture of all civilized countries; the golden representatives of some mem- 

 bers of this extensive family are seen in autumn in almost every field, over 

 the door, woodshed, or fence, or wherever its climbing tendrils have a 

 chance to extend. Our exhibitions bear testimony to the extent of the cul- 

 ture of this favorite vegetable. 



The Hubbard Squash, with its unattractive exterior, but with its orange- 

 colored, dry, sweet, and chestnut-flavored flesh, still retains its supremacy 

 in the family as the best of the Winter Squashes ; in our markets it now 

 bears the same relation to other varieties, as the Bartlett pear does to the 

 Summer pear. Whatever may have been its origin, its introduction and ex- 

 tended cultivation are unquestionably due to the perseverance of Jas. J. H. 

 Gregory, Esq., of Marblehead ; he brought it to the notice of the Society 

 and the country at large, and if future experience should confirm the pres- 

 ent high opinion in regard to it, your Committee recommend that a special 

 award be given to Mr. Gregory for the introduction of this valuable addi- 

 tion to our native vegetables. 



The excellence and abundance of the varieties presented for premiums 



