VEGETABLES. 137 



HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN, AND HAMPDEN. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



Vegetables. — The methods and practices of our New 

 England farming, for the last ten years, have developed many 

 radical changes, which, in our view, must result most disas- 

 trously to the farming interest, unless some radical cure 

 springs up to offset it. It is patent to all, that we grow less 

 beef, less mutton, and less pork, every year. Why? The 

 farmers say they cannot afford it. Can they afford to put all 

 their earnings into the butcher's cart, to send West every 

 year, and let their pastures lie idle ? Is it better economy, in 

 the long run, to get nothing for the use of their scant pastures, 

 than to take three per cent, where they were used to gaining 

 six or more per cent. ? Is it better to buy Western corn at 

 seventy cents, and earn the money to pay for it in some other 

 direction or pursuit, letting their lands lie idle, than to raise 

 it at seventy-five or -eighty cents even? These are only small 

 items compared with the whole. Step into one of our grocery 

 stores, and look over the shelves, and what do you find? 

 Canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned fish, canned meats ; 

 in fact, almost all varieties of food canned for the table. 

 Look farther, and you will find most of them are canned 

 West or South. Temptingly put up, with handsome labels 

 outside, toothsome food inside. The farmers buy because it 

 is cheaper than to raise. The word "cheap" has a more 

 potent effect on the times than any Presidential election. 

 What is the remedy ? If we cannot grow the meat, we must 

 have more and better vegetables. In our exhibition, there 

 was a noticeable absence of two very important vegetables, the 

 pea and the tomato. In years past, some English and Scotch 

 gardeners have been experimenting in the growth of the pea, 

 with marvellous success. Varieties have been produced that 

 should never be absent from the daily board of the farmer's 

 meals. The tomato is equally as good, in its way. It won't 

 stick to one's ribs (as the Irish say of the parsnip and the 

 cabbage). For all that, it, like the pickle or preserve, is a 

 toothsome condiment. The onion, also, in many farmers' 

 families, is considered more a luxury than a useful vegetable. 



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