20th January, A. D. 1898. 



ESSAY 



BY 



Prof. L. F. KINNEY, 

 Of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station. 



Theme: — Rural Economy. 



Science consists largely in the collection and classification of 

 facts. Viewed in this light it cannot be said that we have as 

 yet a science of horticulture, although about fifty men in our 

 country are studying the subject scientifically. We have pro- 

 ceeded in this study far enough, however, to be privileged to 

 say something about rural economy. Civilization is the off- 

 spring of economy, and economy consists in the judicious 

 expenditure of labor and capital. Consequently, real economy 

 demands that the production of the necessaries of life shall 

 be accomplished by the shortest and quickest methods. As an 

 example, take the crop of winter lettuce, which is grown by a 

 limited number of men, but it has reached a development in 

 this country higher than anywhere else in the world. Lettuce 

 o-rown in the field all winter is not much better than cab])age. 

 Lettuce was grown that way probably by the early Romans. 

 But there was no progress in lettuce raising until about the 

 middle of this century. The plants simply lived in dormant 

 condition in the earliest hothouses. 



Cold frame lettuce was raised in the decade from 1850 to 

 1860, and by that time the market was well supplied and the 

 improvements came to a standstill. Next the farmers put the 

 lettuce into the hot frames in September, and got three crops 



