110 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Morse has a second crop ready to cut. I have never seen 

 any lettuce grown in a house that was as handsome as some 

 that I have seen grown in a hot-bed ; but still, I have no doubt 

 it could be grown equally handsome in a house. The reason 

 that it has not been is, that having plenty of heat, the growers 

 have forced the plants along so fast that they did not form 

 the large, dark-green heads that they do when grown more 

 slowly. 



Mr. Smith. Is there any publication which gives the best 

 method for the construction of glass houses ? Is there any- 

 thing better than Henderson's? 



Mr. Strong. For certain forms Mr. Henderson's book is 

 admirable. It is confined mainly, as I recollect it, to the 

 " ridge-and-furrow " form, which is very good for many pur- 

 poses. 



Mr. Shepard. Where can we find your method ? 



Mr. Strong. You can find a portion of it in the August 

 number of the " Gardener's Monthly " for the current year. 



The Chairman. The chair Avould inform the audience that 

 it will be found more fully in the next report of the Secretary 

 of the Board of Agriculture of the State of Massachusetts, 

 Charles L. Flint. 



ROOT CROPS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 



BY O. B. HADWKN. 



A thorough knowledge of the kinds and growth of crops is 

 essential to the farmer's success as a means of supplying, not 

 only his own wants, but the best food for the stock kept upon 

 the farm, and the best method of cultivation. 



The soil and climate of our State are found congenial to 

 the growth and development of crops usually termed 



ROOT-CROPS. 



Those of our farmers who have learned to grow them with 

 the greatest economy of land, labor and success, have long 

 since abandoned all doubts with regard to their profit, and 

 fully appreciate the benefit which they confer on the animals 

 that consume them. During the last thirty years they have 

 been very generally grown in some parts cf the State, not 



