66 



onion is the earliest of all varieties, and when used as early, i& 

 the sweetest and tenderest of all onions, but after summer has 

 past it soon becomes tough and unsuitable for the table. I 

 would advise all farmers to plant a quart or so of the potato 

 onion setts to be used in the family before those raised from 

 seed get sizable. 



The largest cabbage of its kind is usually the best, and 

 among our greatest cabbage-eating class the largest cabbage of 

 the largest kinds always find a ready market. For these rea- 

 sons it is desirable that we should encourage at our exhibitions 

 the largest specimens of all varieties where such specimens 

 have hard and handsome heads. The largest cabbage of its 

 kind, other things equal, is the best, because to attain this 

 extra size it must have grown faster than its fellows, and hav- 

 ing grown faster it is therefore more tender, and being more 

 tender under these circumstances it is also the sweetest. The 

 Marblehead Mammoth is our standard large cabbage in Essex 

 County, and when the market is within a few miles it is a cap- 

 ital sort to raise for our Irish and German brethren ; but where 

 the market is more distant, or there is mostly a different class 

 of customers, then the Stone-Mason and Fottler become stand- 

 ard sorts. For family use the Savoy family are decidedly the 

 best, having that rich, marrow-like taste that belongs to no 

 other class of cabbages. The early Ulm Savoy is as early or 

 earlier than Early York, and with the Improved American 

 Savoy is as reliable for heading as any cabbage grown. I have 

 been experimenting with over sixty foreign and native varie- 

 ties this season, of which I may have more to say at some oth- 

 er time. 



When the Autumnal Marrow, or Boston Marrow Squash, 

 as it is usually called, was first introduced, it was of small 

 size, weighing about five or six pounds; it cooked very dry, 

 was fine grained and of excellent quality. At the present 

 time it is usually watery, often coarse grained and poor in 

 quality; we have utterly lost its fine qualities for the table. 

 Within a few years the American Turban as a fall squash, and 



