148 [ ASSEMBLY 
The Sweet William and Picotee Pinks are perennials and do not 
bloom the first season. Those noted as having been “ transplanted ” 
were started in the hot-bed. 
All the annuals, with the exception of the Aster, Sunflower and 
Gladiolus, continued in flower until October 10, when the Balsams, 
Coxcombs, Mirabilis, Portulaccas and Nasturtiums were destroyed by 
frost. ‘The others continued their brilliancy a week longer, when they 
were removed for the purpose of forking over the beds. ‘The soil of 
the flower garden had previously been devoted to nursery purposes and 
was not in good condition for flowers. ‘The freshness and persistency 
of the bloom were, however, a matter of frequent remark, and were 
undoubtedly due to a liberal application of fertilizer to the soil, show- 
ing that flowers appreciate fertility as well as farm crops. 
A few roots of the Water Lily (Nymphea odorata) were procured 
from a pond March 28, the roots were planted in a tub containing a 
few inches of rich soil and the tub set in the ground its full depth and 
kept filled with water, July 18 two flower buds appeared which opened 
a week later in all their beauty and fragrance, and were followed in 
a few days by two others. Late in autumn the tub was taken up and 
removed to the cellar, 
The earliest flower of spring was the beautiful and fragrant sweet 
Violet ( Viola odorata), which bloomed on the lawn April 3, continuing 
in blossom several weeks. The dwarf garden Iris (J7ris pumila), also 
bloomed on the lawn April 29. 
TOBACCO, 
In two sections of our State tobacco is a leading farm crop. The 
one lies chiefly within the valley of the Oswego river, embracing 
northern Onondaga, southern Oswego and Cayuga counties ; the other 
is mostly in the valley of the Chemung river, and includes portions of 
Chemung, Steuben and Tioga counties. 
The importance this crop ‘has assumed in these sections is, perhaps, 
scarcely appreciated in parts of the State where tobacco, as a farm 
product, is unknown. Districts may be found, lying within the bound- 
aries named, in which the income from the tobacco crop during the 
last two decades far exceeds that from all other farm products 
combined. 
Tobacco was cultivated in New York as early as 1646, and may have 
been grown in small quantities in some parts of the State ever since 
that time. ‘The pioneers of the Chemung valley grew tobacco for their 
own consumption, and we find in a pamphlet descriptive of ‘‘' The 
Genesee Country,” published in 1804, by Robert Munro: ‘‘'Tobacco is 
raised of a good quality, but as yet not in large quantities.” It was 
not until almost two centuries after the settlements in New York that 
the tobacco product seems to have assumed any commercial importance. 
We learn from a report of the Department of Agriculture that 744 
pounds were produced in our State in 1840. ‘The first field crop of 
which we find record was grown by Mr. Chester Moses, in Marcellus 
township, Onondaga county, in 1845. Six years later, in 1851, Mr. 
Sanford Elmer grew a field of six acres in the town of Big Flats, 
Chemung county, supposed to have been the first field crop grown in 
southern New York. From these small beginnings the production 
