270 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



GARDEN HINTS. 

 G. W. Hood. 



Such crops as peppers and tomatoes should be started at once. 

 These plants require some little time to grow and the seeds should be 

 planted in hot beds, and the plants transplanted again as soon as the 

 second leaves begin to appear. This is usually about two or three weeks 

 after the seeds are planted. A convenient distance is one ond one-half 

 to two inches apart between the rows. This "produces stalky, healthy 

 plants which will produce good crops. 



All plants grown in hot beds should be "hardened off" before they 

 go into the field. This is done by removing the sash in the mornings 

 and exposing the plants to the air and sunshine during the day. This 

 causes the plant tissue to harden and when the plants are trans- 

 planted to the open they will withstand the outside conditions. 



Every farmer should construct hot beds for the production of 

 early vegetable plants. Hot beds are easily made by digging a hole in 

 the ground eighteen to twenty-four inches in depth and lining it with 

 boards and giving the glass a slant of about six inches. The con- 

 venient size is about six feet wide and nine to twelve feet in length. 

 The frame can easily be made of two twelve inch boards and one six 

 inch board. The six inch board should be placed to the rear or north 

 side, thus giving the proper angle. All hot beds should face the 

 south and be protected by some wind break. Only fresh horse manure 

 should be used in making. The compost should be collected and 

 piled in some protected place, after which it should be turned two 

 or three times after fermentation begins. In filling the hot bed the 

 compost should be thoroughly and corners. 



Early cabbage plants should now be placed in cold frames to get 

 well hardened off. In ordinary years the cabbage plants can be 

 placed in the field around the 15th to the 20th of March. The cab- 

 bage is quite hardy and will withstand considerable amount of cold, 

 and even quite severe frosts. The Early Jersey Wakefield and 

 Charleston Jersey Wakefield are probably the best early sorts to grow. 

 The latter variety is a few days later but the heads are somewhat 

 larger. Midseason cabbage plants can be started now, and the Early 

 Summer or Succession Varieties are recommended. 



The onion, one of our n\ost important crops, ranks third place 

 in production in the United States, and should receive more atten- 

 tion. Onions do best on a sandy loam or muck soil, although if 

 heavier soils are properly handled and have a considerable amount 

 of organic matter they can be grown fairly well. If your soil is 

 suited to onions it is quite a valuable crop to grow. 



