The Watermelon is one of the most popular relishes of the American people used freely by all classes. The supply is most abundant in all cities of the country, thanks to the immense shipping trade in that product. It is grown extensively along the Atlantic coast, principally south of New York, the crop requiring a large fleet of coasting vessels of all sizes, which lend a peculiar air of animation to the leading ports. In the interior the product is transported by rail and is a leading article in the fruit traffic in its season. North of the Ohio River it is raised in many favorable localities, mostly in rich, alluvial, and sandy soils. Farther north crop is more uncertain and ceases to be made a commercial venture. Muskmelons and Cantaloupes are raised to less extent than the watermelon, but are highly valued by many as a luxury, being therefore abundant in the markets. They can be successfully raised in a more northern degree of latitude than the watermelon. The cantaloupe is largely grown in the Middle States, and is shipped packed in crates or well ventilated barrels to the markets. They are, withal, a favorite crop with a majority of the market gardeners of the leading cities, as the fresh, normally ripened, home-grown product is much preferred to fruit necessarily picked before maturity.

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The Cucumber succeeds well in all parts of the United States, and is extensively grown as a commercial article for the early and later markets of the season. The earliest supply is obtained both by hotbed and out-of-door culture outside the supply received from the southern fields. The later crop is valuable for pickling purposes and for the supply of this extensive industry a corresponding acreage is annually planted in sections near the leading establishments devoted to this branch of trade. Rich soil and a sunny exposure are necessary for the earliest crop; the later crop can be raised on any good, tillable land. It is planted in midsummer generally as a succession to other crops. The improved "White Spine" is the most popular variety with gardeners.

The Squash.-The great variety of kinds differing in form, color, and the texture of the edible tissue may be classed as squashes for winter and for summer use, and as kinds grown principally for variety or curiosity sake. The "White Bush squash," with scalloped margin is the kind principally raised for early summer use. Varieties named Hubbard," "Essex Hybrid," "Marblehead," etc., are of larger size than the foregoing, and are used in winter. All other odd-shaped kinds, as Crook-necks," "Turban-shaped," and of other forms are edible likewise, but more ornamental than useful.

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Peas.-The pea crop of early spring and summer represents a large commercial value and is a large product of the garden. It is extensively grown everywhere, and, being a leading article in the canning industry, production runs into immense figures as to number of bushels raised annually. The plant is very hardy, and in consequence its seeds are among the first sown with the coming of spring. It is cultivated generally in double rows, one foot apart, in which space the brush for upholding the vines is stuck, a space of three feet being left alternately for cultivation and picking. The dwarf varieties can be grown in any way convenient for the picking of the pods; good culture advances growth and earliness of the product. The plant is planted in different successions a fortnight apart. The earliest varieties in general reputation is "Cleveland's Alaska," "Philadelphia Extra Early," "Improved Tom Thumb," and many other good varieties offered in the seed trade are grown for the earliest crop. A later crop is made up of the Marrow Fats, Blue Imperial, and other varieties. The pea bears shipping to a distant market, provided heating and bleaching of the pods can be prevented. It cannot be shipped in large bulk, and suitable packages must be well ventilated.

Beans. Few culinary vegetables yield an equally large supply of solid food as that derived from this family. Outside of its use as a grain it is widely used in the daily menu of the summer season, lasting until the plant is nipped off by frost. A

majority of kinds are used as tender pods; of others the tender seed grains, partially matured, are used. The pods of some varieties are green, those of others waxy yellow. By this distinction the kinds are known as string beans and wax beans. Varieties are distinct likewise as to the manner of growth; some grow bushy and low, others are climbers, requiring a support; they are classed as bush and pole beans. The "Improved Red Valentine" and " Best-of-All" deserve special notice among the many kinds of green-podded bush beans. The French Flageolet family embraces various kinds of the best sorts of the dwarf wax bean, and is preferred to the oldest kinds. Among pole beans the "Dutch Case Knife" stands first for green pods. Several varieties of running wax beans are extensively cultivated and of considerable value. Horticultural Cranberry Bean is an old reliable runner and highly prized. The Lima beans are, however, the most widely cultivated. A bush Lima bean has lately been introduced by Peter Henderson, of New York, which gives promise to be of more than ordinary value. The culture of the bean is generally understood. A warm, rich soil is needed for the earliest kinds; the pole beans may be raised in ordinary garden or field soil. They are largely planted among the corn, which serves the purpose of support or poles. The Limas are generally planted in rich and deep soil, and bear abundant crops until cut off by frost. The shelled beans when dried in their tender state make a palatable substitute for the green in winter.

Okra Gumbo is raised to some extent in all market gardens. The green pods contain a large percentage of mucilage, and are used for seasoning and enriching soups. It demands a high temperature to insure full development. It is raised in the Southern and Middle States as readily as corn, but requires more care at the North, where it is often started in the hotbed and transplanted to a warm and sheltered position. The green pods are largely dried for winter use.

Pepper. This fruit is mostly grown for pickling and seasoning purposes. The large Bullnose pepper is the most noted variety for pickling. The Cayenne varieties bear a profusion of long and showy bright-colored seed pods, much esteemed for sharpness of their peppery contents, known as Cayenne pepper. The plants are started in the hotbed and transplanted outdoors. Further south the seed can be sown in the open ground.

ROOTS.

The Beet.—The early turnip beets grown by market gardeners are a leading spring crop and highly esteemed in the daily markets. They are sown in warm and sheltered positions or transplanted from the frames in which they are largely grown for the planting out in the open ground. The richer the soil the more rapid is their growth. They are planted in rows sufficiently far apart to admit of good culture. Egyptian turnip and Early Blood turnip beets are the most noted kinds grown by the trade. For fall and winter use the Long Blood beet is the standard.

Carrots are classed according to their shape as turnip-shaped, half-long, and long. The small "turnip-shaped" is grown mostly in the forcing beds. The "half-long" kinds are the leading summer varieties. The "long" rooted kind is mostly grown for winter. Rich soil, early sowing, and good culture is again the rule for the best success. Demand is more limited than for the early beets; they are grown, therefore, to a limited extent.

Radishes.-A limited variety is grown by the professional gardener acquainted with the value of the best in the market. Scarlet Turnip and Long Scarlet are the earliest, grown under glass or in the open ground. They are followed by turnipshaped and half-long white or yellow sorts, which yield the greater part of the early supply. Late winter kinds of different varieties are grown to some extent, of which the Chinese Rose is the strongest if not the tenderest also. They are mostly sown broadcast at different intervals during the season. In abundance of manure lies the main secret of greatest success.

Turnips are raised to some extent for an early spring supply, demand for which is, however, light at the time when all summer vegetables most abound. The later crop generally raised in the field culture has been alluded to in the foregoing,

The Parsnip is a nutritious root of peculiar flavor, largely raised for winter use; it is perfectly hardy in the coldest winter, but is dug in the fall for a supply while the ground is frozen. The spring supply is taken from the ground as demanded. There is but one variety, but much defective seed, producing irregular shaped and forked roots.

Salsify, or Vegetable Oyster, is a root extensively raised for winter use. It is sown in spring, in well-manured ground. Requires good culture and genuine seed, not always easily obtained.

LEAF VEGETABLES.

The Cabbage.-The universal use made of the leaves, folded tightly into a solid mass which we call a head, an article of daily food, makes this family one of the most important among culinary vegetables; production is, in consequence, greater than in any species outside the potato. The family is a staple product of the commercial garden, and a large area of the most fertile land found in the country is devoted annually to its culture. The quantity of tender vegetable tissue necessary to the formation of the head requires a corresponding abundance of plant food in the soil, which can only be secured by liberal application of manure.

The plants for the early crops are raised in the hotbed and in cold frames, and set out early in spring as soon as the frost of winter has spent its force. The plants, if properly raised and hardened before transplanting, are not sensitive to light frost. Constant culture of the growing crop is indispensable to a paying yield. The great variety of kinds is classed as to earliness or fitness for the later supply of fall or winter. The early kinds are cone-shaped in form, as the York, Winnigstadt, Ox-heart, and Jersey Wakefield. The later sorts form large round heads, and are known as Drumhead, Flat Dutch, Brunswick, etc. A valuable intermediate variety between the early and the late kinds is Henderson's Early Summer, related in form and habit to the Flat Dutch varieties. The curled varieties, possessing a peculiar flavor, are known as Savoy cabbage. There are several varieties of red-leaved cabbage, used principally for salad and pickling. The markets are supplied first by the early southern and later on by the local crop, generally equal to all home demands.

Immense crops are raised in many localities along the Atlantic coast, from whence the crop can be shipped in vessels to the seaport cities. Districts in which cabbage culture is a specialty are so numerous throughout the Middle and Northern States that names can not here be specially mentioned. The vicinity of the great Northwestern metropolis, Chicago, is worthy of special notice in this connection. Besides the advantage of a lake shore climate and a soil of great productiveness, this region is within easy reach of the greatest supply of manure found anywhere on the continent, owing to the fact that Chicago is the commercial centre of livestock trade of the Northwest, provided with the greatest stockyard accommodations, and is at the same time the centre of the slaughtering and packing industry of America. The daily output of manure is so enormous that it must be removed on railway cars, on which it is run out in the vicinity, sometimes to great distances, and sold cheaply to agriculturists and gardeners. The cabbage production of this section has thus become a leading agricultural feature, and is the basis of a large shipping trade to points south of Lake Michigan.

Cauliflower.-The culture of this vegetable is not of such wide extent as that of the cabbage, and is confined mostly to the leading market gardens. Some districts in close vicinity to the seashore and the lakes have proven specially suited to this culture, and make it a highly remunerative specialty. The New York market is

in this wise supplied principally by the cauliflower fields of the eastern shores of Long Island, and a large percentage of the Western demand is supplied from the lake shores of the north. In the gardens of the Middle States the early spring crop only can be depended upon with reasonable certainty amidst the varying chances of the seasons. Late crops are seldom planted. The plants are raised under glass and the earliest crop is produced in frames. The seed is imported from France and Germany.

Kohl Rabi, or turnip-rooted cabbage, is a cabbage producing an over-ground turnip. It is raised to a limited extent in many market gardens especially for early spring supply, as the tissue is most palatable in its tenderest state. When full grown it is astringent, but valuable food for stock.

Brussels Sprouts is a tall-growing cabbage stalk, the stem of which produces a profusion of small miniature heads of cabbage of high flavor. The plant is little grown, being subject in many seasons to the attacks of the cabbage vermin.

Kale, Borecole, Greens, a species of the cabbage family, grown extensively for greens. The dwarf varieties are sown broadcast in the fall; being extremely hardy, they can be used during the winter and early spring. A spring crop, sown likewise for early summer use, is known as cabbage greens. The tall variety is planted out in rows and is hardy during winter.

Collard, a rampant-growing, large-leaved cabbage, species nearly related to the kales; is grown extensively in the Southern States, mostly for stock,

Spinach is widely planted for greens for fall and early spring. It is a very popular article in the daily markets. The Bloomsdale or Savoy leaved is the most valuable variety.

Celery, one of the most popular table luxuries, requiring a cool atmosphere and a damp, rich soil. Its extensive culture during summer is, therefore, necessarily confined to northern sections and to a peculiarly suited spongy soil. It is grown, however, extensively throughout the Middle States in the latter part of the season, and yields paying crops if irrigated in time of drought. The vicinity of the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, situated midway on the peninsula between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, has attained great notoriety for the extent of celery culture. A dismal swamp, formerly unfit for any agricultural purpose and shunned even by the birds of the air, has proved, after being drained, to be the most suitable land of the entire country for the production of this crop. An area of 1,500 acres is now one continuous celery field, owned and operated by perhaps one hundred different growers, employing fully 1,800 laborers. This industry has increased within the last eight years with wonderful rapidity, finding a ready sale for the product in every city of the country, and for six months of the year, July to January, it fairly crowds the markets. The whole area averages two crops, the first coming in July and August and successive ones coming from September to December. In the best localities three crops can be raised in one season, so rich and appropriate is the land for the purpose. The annual output of this section is estimated by the express companies handling the greater part of its transportation at 7,200 tons, equal to 720 carloads at 20,000 pounds to each. Seventy-five per cent of the crop is shipped by express, the balance in bulk by refrigerator cars. Prior to the inception of this immense trade of the above town the vicinity Chicago had the lead in the celery trade and is still largely engaged in the business. In other sections of the Northwest the industry is fast taking a foothold, and competition will be sharp in the near future. The varieties " White Plume" and "Golden Heart" are the most generally cultivated about Kalamazoo, being easiest grown and requiring the least labor in bleaching. The culture of turnip-rooted celery (Celeriac) is quite extensive in some of the Eastern States and the lake regions, and commands paying prices. Plate XXXII and XXXIII will give an idea of the nature and extent of the celery farms of Michigan,