SECRETARY'S REPORT. 283 



young farmers do not know what seed to call for when purchas- 

 ing in Boston. A remarkable* instance of the disuse into which 

 turnips have fallen as an edible, until, perhaps, within two or 

 three years, is furnished by the fact that the most celebrated 

 caterer in Boston uses the round turnip only, and the " French " 

 or " Hanover " turnip, until within a few years considered the 

 sweetest and best winter turnip in the Old Colony, was hardly 

 known or recognized in the Boston market. It is now surpassed, 

 perhaps, for culinary purposes, by the " Sweet German " only. 

 The " Yellow Swede " is more prolific and more sure, and 

 brings as high a price among the foreign population of Boston. 

 For feeding to cattle, we recommend it to mix with dry hay, in 

 spring and mid-winter, to keep them in good condition, and give 

 them appetite for poorer fodder ; but, as a general feed, or fed 

 in large quantities for the purpose of fattening, they are not 

 economical. Mr. Webster used to remark, that turnips, by 

 themselves, were said to be good for nothing ; and salt hay, and 

 even black grass, by themselves, were said to be good for 

 nothing ; but, at all events, he succeeded in fattening as readily 

 with salt hay and turnips together as with anything he fed to 

 his anima^g. 



In Kingston, Mr. Caleb Bates continues to raise his crop of 

 sweet potatoes, three hundred to five hundred bushels per year, 

 from slips started in hot-beds, besides furnishing slips to others, 

 sufficient, perhaps, to produce, in the aggregate, two or three 

 hundred bushels more. His method of cultivation is to manure 

 heavily on warm, sandy land, and then turn the land into ridges 

 with the plough, setting the slips upon the top of the ridges. 



In some towns, owing to the increase of manufacturing indus- 

 try, the status of farm husbandry is somewhat revolutionary. 

 The former practice of bestowing the most attention upon grow- 

 ing hay for the market has impoverished the farms, prevented 

 improvement of farm stock, and discouraged the farmer. But 

 while many farms are becoming almost a wilderness, and others 

 are becoming divided and sub-divided amongst the foreign 

 element of our population, (who cultivate their little plats more 

 frugally and assiduously, and more productively,) there are 

 those who are trying to resuscitate the farmer's vocation, by 

 adapting their practice to the requirements of our manufacturing 

 villages, which furnish a ready market for all kinds of vegetables. 



