90 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Net profit, 



1101 60 



$287 90 



EOOTS AND VEGETABLES. 



MIDDLESEX. 



From the Report of the Committee on Vegetables. 



The ground that actuated your committee in their awards 

 was this : asking ourselves what sized vegetables we should 

 select for our own consumption, all, with one accord, said, the 

 well-matured, medium-sized, — not too small, for there is too 

 much work in preparing them for the table, — not too large, for 

 they are coarse and woody, unfit for eating, and are not as 

 salable in any market for culinary uses. This opinion is fully 

 sustained by all market-men, and by the committee. 



Therefore the committee took into consideration this view of 

 the subject: Does the awarding of premiums for monstrosities 

 or freaks of nature tend in any way to promote agriculture ? 

 The answer was, no. The question then arises : How can the 

 desired end be promoted ? We answer in part by giving 

 written statements in full, — of which too many are so meagre 

 that they hardly come within the rules of the society, — of the 

 kinds of soil on which they were raised, the kind and quality of 

 manure as well as the quantity, and whether they are a fair 

 sample of the crops exhibited, or selected from a field or the 

 garden ; time of sowing, culture, distance between the plants, 

 and the different varieties of vegetables best adapted for differ- 

 ent soils. These questions, for questions they are in reality, if 



