HORTICULTURE. length in this direction, than from North to South, three important advantages are secured, First, we get a long and warm border under the North fence, for the rearing of things early in the spring. Second, we get a long and cool border under the South fence, for shading during the great heats, things to which a burning sun is injurious. Third, by the shape of the area of the garden, a large portion of the whole is sheltered during winter and spring, from the bleak winds. Having such a spot before us, little difficulty can arise in laying it out. Indeed it is only necessary to state the dimensions. The several parts are distinguished by numbers. The long walk running from East to West, is six feet wide, as is also the cross walk, in the middle. All the paths are three feet wide. The borders, No. 2 and 3, are nine feet wide. The dimensions of the Plats, Nos. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, are each 70 feet from East to West, and 56 from North to South. Plat No. 6, is 56 feet by 50. Plat No. 4 is 50 by 36. The hot bed ground, No. 1, is 70 by 36. I leave trifling fractions unnoticed. It will be seen that about a third part of the ground is appropriated to fruit trees. The reason for this, and the uses of the other parts of the ground, will be fully stated under the head Cultivation. HOT BEDS. The materials of which the bed is to be composed, and the manner of preparing those materials, are first to be spoken of. Dung of horses, cattle, sheep, or pigs is used to make the bed. Either may be made to do, with a greater or less degree of care and trouble; but the best possible thing is dung from the stable, taken away before it has been rotted, short and long promiscuously, but rather long_than short. In making the bed, you will proceed as directed below, but I must first describe the frame and the lights. As there are few American farmers who are not able to make both with their own hands, it will be necessary for me merely to say, that the frame is of the best shape when it is eighteen inches deep at the back, and nine inches deep at the front. This will give slope enough. The frame is the wood work on which the lights of glass work are laid. And as it is useless to make a hot bed without a frame and lights ready, I shall suppose them prepared. I suppose a three light frame, four feet wide, and nine feet long, which will of course make every light three feet wide and four feet long, because the long way of the light fits the cross way of the frame. Of making the bed. The front of the bed is, of course, to be full south, so that the noon sun may come right upon the glass. The length and width of the bed must be those of the frame; therefore take the frame and place it upon the spot you mean the bed to stand on. Make a mark in the ground all round the outside of the frame. Then take some sharp pointed straight stakes and drive them into the ground at each corner of the marked out place for the bed, and one or two on the back and front side. Let these be about four feet high. Thus all being ready, begin taking the dung on the side of your heap nearest the spot where you are building the bed. Take long and short fairly, and mix them as you put them in. Shake the stuff in such a way as not to leave any lumps. Let the bed rise in all parts together, as nearly as possible. Beat the whole down with a fork as you proceed. When you have shaken on dung to the thickness of four or five inches, beat all over well again; and so on till the work be finished. But mind, you must be very careful to keep the edges of the bed well beaten, else they will sink HORTICULTURE. more than the rest, and thus the earth on the bed will crack in the mid- Of the act of sowing. The more handsomely this is done, the better it it is done. A handsome dress is better than an ugly one, not because it is warmer or cooler, but because, liking it better, we take more care of it. Those who have seen two or three women together, crossing dirty streets, or in danger from horses and carriages, cannot have failed to discover, that humanity, like smoke, is very apt to fly to the fairest. Seeds are great tell-tales; for, when they come up, we discover all the carelessness that may have prevailed at the sowing of them. Of the management of a hot bed. Observe that the main principle is, always to give the plants as much air as they will endure. I suppose the hot bed made as above, to be four feet high when just finished. It will sink as it heats, and will, at last, come to about one foot and a half. Its heat will gradually diminish; but it will give a great heat for about six weeks, and some heat for four months. It is this bottom heat that makes things grow. The sun is often hot in May; but it is not till the earth is warm, that vegetation advances with rapidity. Having secured the bottom heat, make free with the air. Even before the seeds begin to appear, give air to the bed every day, unless it be very cold weather. When the plants come up, they will soon tell you all about air; for if they have not enough, they will draw up long legged, and will have small seed leaves, and, indeed, if too much deprived of air, will droop and die. Take care in time to prevent this. Let them grow strong rather than tall. Short stems, broad seed leaves, very green, these are the signs of good plants and proper management. It will be necessary to water. Take off a light at a time, and water with a watering pot, that does not pour out heavily. Water just about sun set, and then shut down the light; and the heat will then rise, and make the plants grow rapidly. Of the management of the different sorts of plants in a hot bed, I shall speak under their respective names. ON PROPAGATION and CULTIVATION. In order to have good vegetables, herbs and fruits, we must be careful and diligent in the propagation and cultivation of the several plants; for, though nature does much, she does not do all. The propagation of plants is the bringing of them forth, HORTICULTURE. or the increasing or multiplying of them. This is effected in several different ways; by seeds, by suckers, by offsetts, by layers, by cuttings. Cultivation must of course differ in some respects, to suit itself to certain differences in the plants to be cultivated; but there are some principles and rules which apply to the cultivation of all plants; and it is of these only that I propose to speak. Sort of seed. We should make sure here; for, what a loss to have late cabbages instead of early ones. As to beans, peas, and many other things, there cannot easily be mistake or deception. But as to cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, radishes, lettuces, onions, leeks, and numerous others, the eye is no guide at all. If, therefore, you do not save your own seed, you ought to be very careful of whom you purchase. True seed. But besides the kind, there is the genuineness to be considered. For instance, you want sugar-loaf cabbage. The seed you sow may be cabbage; it may too, be sugar-loaf, or more that than any thing else, but, still, it may not be true to its kind. To insure truth in seed, if you purchase, take the precaution recommended above. But when you find that you have any true seed of any kind, get as much more of it as will last you for the number of years that such seed will keep; and to know how many years the seeds of vegetables and herbs will keep, see under the head of Saving and preserving Seed. Soundness of Seed. Seed may be of the right sort; it may be true to its sort; and, yet, if it be unsound, it will not grow. The way to try seed, is this. Put a small quantity of it into luke-warm water, and let the water be four or five inches deep. Some seeds, such as those of cabbage, radish, and turnip, will, if good, go to the bottom at once. Cucumber, melon, lettuce, and many others, require a few minutes. Parsnips, and carrots, and all the winged seeds, require to be worked by your finger in a little water, before you put them into the glass; and the carrot should be rubbed, so as to get off part of the hairs. Though there are other methods, I incline to the opinion that we should try seeds, as our ancestors tried witches, not by fire but by water. Saving and preserving Seed. This is the most important part of the gardener's business. There are rules applicable to particular plants; but it is my business here to speak of such as are applicable to all plants. The truest plants should be selected, that is, such as are of the most perfect shape and quality. In the cabbage, we seek small stem, well formed loaf, few spare or loose leaves; in the turnip, large bulb, small neck, slender stalk leaves, solid flesh, or pulp; in the radish, high color, if red or scarlet, small neck, few and short leaves, and long top. Of plants, the early coming of which is a circumstance of importance, the very earliest should be chosen for seed; for they will almost always be found to include the highest degree of perfection in other respects. They should be carefully cultivated, during the time they are carrying on their seed to perfection. But effectual care must be taken to prevent a mixing of the sorts. The plants should stand till perfectly ripe, if possible. They should be cut, or gathered, when it is dry; and they should, if possible, be as dry as dry can be, before they are threshed out. If, when threshed, any moisture remain about them, they should be placed in the sun; and when quite dry, should be put up into bags, and hung up against a very dry wall, where they will, by no HORTICULTURE. accident, get damp. Thus preserved, kept from the open air, and from damp, the seeds of vegetables will keep sound and good for sowing, for the number of years stated in the following list. Sowing. The first thing relating to sowing, is the preparation of the ground. It may be more or less fine, according to the sort of seed to be sown; but still the finer the better for every thing; for it is best if the seed be actually pressed by the earth in every part. Of course, the ground should be good, either in itself, or made good by manure of some sort. But in all cases, the ground should be fresh; that is, it should be dug just before the act of sowing, in order that the seeds may have the full benefit of the fermentation that takes place upon every moving of the earth. Never sow when the ground is wet. If you dig ground in wet weather, you make a sort of mortar of it; it binds when the sun or wind dries it. The fermentation does not take place. Sow, therefore, if possible, in dry weather, but in freshly moved ground. The season for sowing, will of course, find a place under the name of the respective plants. However, it is necessary to observe, that some, and even many things, which are usually sown in the spring, would be better sown in the fall. Parsnips, carrots, beets, onions, and many other things may be safely sown in the fall. The seed will not perish, if covered by the earth. But then, care must be taken to sow early enough in the fall for the plants to come up before the frost sets in.-Even early peas would be best sown in the fall, could you have an insurance against mice. Transplanting. The weather for transplanting, whether of table vegetables or of trees, is the same as that of sowing. If you do this work HORTICULTURE. in wet weather, or when the ground is wet, the work cannot be well done. It has been observed, as to seeds, that they like the earth to touch them in every part, and to lie close about them. It is the same with roots The earth should be as firm as possible, for if it be not, part of the roots will remain untouched by the earth. If ground be wet, it cannot be firm. And, if mixed wet, it will remain a sort of mortar, and will cling and bind together, and will leave more or less of cracks, when it comes to dry. If possible, therefore, transplant when the ground is not wet; but here, as in the case of sowing, let it be deeply moved and well broken, immediately before you transplant into it. CULTIVATION. Here, as under the foregoing head, I propose to speak only of what is of general application, in order to save the room that would be necessary to repeat instructions for cultivation under the names of several plants. The ground being good, and the sowing or planting having been properly performed, the next thing is the after management, which is usually called the cultivation. If the subjects be from seed, let them be thinned early, because, if left close, they cannot come to good. Carrots, parsnips, lettuces, every thing, ought to be thinned in the seed leaf. Hoe, or weed, immediately, and let me observe here, once for all, that weeds ought never to be suffered to get to any size, either in the field or garden. But, besides the act of killing weeds, cultivation means moving the earth between the plants while growing. This assists them in their growth; it feeds upon them; it raises food for their roots to live on. A mere flat hoeing does nothing but keep down the weeds. The hoeing when the plants become stout, should be deep; and in general with a hoe that has prongs, instead of a mere flat plate; deep hoeing is enough in some cases; in others, digging is necessary to produce a fine and full crop. If any body will have a piece of cabbages, and will dig between the rows of one half of them twice during the growth, and let the other have nothing but a flat hoeing, that person will find that the half which has been digged between, will, when the crop is ripe, weigh nearly, if not twice as much as the other half. It may appear that to dig thus amongst growing plants, is to cut off their roots, of which the ground is full. This is really the case, and this does great good; for the roots thus cut asunder, shoot again from the plant side, find new food, and send instantly, fresh vigor to the plant. The effect of this tillage is quite surprising. Having given some direction as to propagation and cultivation in general, I next proceed to give alphabetical lists of the several sorts of plants, and to speak of the proper treatment of each. ASPARAGUS. It is propagated from the seed. Gather the seed when it is dead ripe. Sow it thinly in drills, a foot asunder, and two inches deep, three weeks, or about, before the frost sets in. ́Dress the earth well down upon the seed, and as soon as the frost sets in, cover the ground with muck, or litter, a foot deep. As soon as the frost breaks up in the spring, take off the litter, and you will have the plants quickly up. When the plants are fairly up, thin them to four inches asunder. Keep them clean, and hoe deeply between them in summer; and when the haulm is yellow in the fall, cut them off near, or close to the ground, but let the haulm be quite dead first, yet do it not before the |