1877.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



299 



:RUIT and vegetable ItARDENING. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Lettuces sown last month will now be large 

 enough to set out for permanent growth. A 

 common hot-bed frame, set on a bed of leaves or 

 spent stable manure, will enable one to enjoy 

 delicious salad all through the latter part of 

 Winter, where sufficient protection against se- 

 vere frosts can be secured. In this division of 

 our hints, it is more of an object to preserve 

 them through the Winter for the purpose of set- 

 ting out in the open air in Spring. In the States 

 this can be readily effected by their being set 

 out in the open ground in a sheltered place. Here 

 in Pennsylvania they often do very well by hav- 

 ing the ground thrown into ridges about six 

 inches deep, running east and west, and the 

 plants set out on the northern sides. They have 

 a little straw thrown over them in severe 

 weather, and get through the Winter admirably, 

 heading early in Spring. The Early York Calj- 

 bage is extensively grown the same way. Where 

 the climate is too severe to allow of this, they 

 must be put under cover of shutters, as before 

 described in our hints. 



Cabbages can be preserved in such a cellar, 

 though most prefer them in the open air. One 

 way is to pack them closely together with their 

 roots uppermost, and then cover them with soil, 

 on which straw or litter is thrown to keep them 

 from freezing. By being packed this way, the 

 water cannot get into the hearts, which is one of 

 the chief causes of their rotting. Where plenty 

 of boards can be had, they may be packed with 

 their heads uppermost, and the rain kept off by 

 the material. 



Brocoli and Endive may be taken up with 

 balls of earth, and set in cool cellars closely to- 

 gether, and they will grow sufficiently — the for- 

 mer to produce good head, and the latter to 

 blanch beautifully all through the Winter. 



Asparagus beds should be cleaned, by having 

 the old stems cut off and the soils from the alley- 

 ways dug out and thrown over beds. It keeps 

 the frost from the roots, and thus permits them 

 to grow and lay up matter all Winter for next 



Spring's growth. Very early in Spring the soil 

 should be raked back into the alleys, so as to leave 

 the roots but a few inches under the soil, as the 

 nearer they are then to the sun's rays the earlier 

 will the crop be. 



Celery must have continued attention to pre- 

 vent the soil from entering the heart. Where 

 very fine results are desired, the plants should 

 be protected from early severe frosts, so as to 

 enable the plants to grow without injury as long 

 as possible. 



Roots of most kinds, such as Carrots, Beets, 

 etc., shouli! be taken up before the frost is severe. 

 They all keep best packed in sand in the opjen 

 air, but it is too inconvenient to get at them in 

 Winter; hence cellars are employed to preserve 

 them in. Cellars for this purpose should be cool, 

 say with a temperature of about 45°, and not all 

 dry. It is not meant that it should be damp, 

 as the roots will become rotten, but it must be 

 moist enough to prevent shriveling. 



However, if any protection can be given so as 

 to enable one to get at the pit in frosty weather, 

 most things keep better so than in any other way. 

 Celery keeps very well packed in earth, so that 

 the frost does not get at it; but it must be laid 

 with the tops sloping, so that the water may be 

 kept out of the heart. 



Apples and Pears do well planted in Fall. In 

 our colder climates the stone fruits do best in 

 Sjjring ; but if the young twigs are cut back almost 

 anything may be set out now. In cutting back 

 shorten the weak shoots, not the strong ones. 

 Trees will do very well in any good garden or 

 field ground, without very expensive subsoiling 

 or great preparations, provided they are well sur- 

 face manured, and rank weeds are kept cut 

 down and not allowed to grow among or near 

 the trees. 



In gathering fruits they must of course not be 

 bruised, or they will rot ; and for the same rea- 

 son any worm-injured fruits should be separated 

 from the sound ones. 



In keeping fruit one must be governed by his 

 conveniences as to how best to do. He has only 

 to remember that if the place where they are 



