Report of the Assistant Horticulturist.* 
The amount of regular routine work rendered necessary 
in taking the notes of the horticultural work the past sea- 
son prohibited my carrying on special investigations. The 
data given in the various tabular work required the closest 
scrutiny of the various plants from the time of the first 
germination until they reached their full maturity, this of 
itself necessitated daily inspection of the entire fruit and 
vegetable garden. 
The season has been very favorable to the development 
of the garden crops; especially the egg-plant, pepper, melon 
and cucurbits generally. 
The data noted in this report are of the same character 
as those recorded in the report of last year. 
For convenience of reference, the explanation of the ab- 
breviations used by Mr. Goff and myself, is placed at the 
end of the report of the horticulturist. 
BEET. 
In testing the varieties of beets and mangels, seed from 
21 differently named packages of beet and 7 of mangel were 
planted Apr. 17, in rows twelve feet long and twenty-one 
inches apart, one row of each name. A liberal dressing of 
well rotted stable manure was spread upon the land in the 
fall of 1885, and plowed under as soon as applied. Before 
planting in the spring, the soil was thoroughly cultivated, 
but not plowed. The ground was kept free from weeds 
and the plants were thinned to six inches apart. 
The date when the roots of each row were of edible size, 
and the number and average weight of the roots harvested 
were as follows : 

*M. H. Beckwith. 
