144 GARDEN AND FARM TOPICS. 



about March ist, placing about 600 or 700 in a 3x6 

 feet sash. The hot-beds must, of course, be carefully 

 protected by straw mats from frost, and with the proper 

 attention to ventilation and watering, fine plants can be 

 obtained by April ist. We ourselves have grown nearly 

 a quarter of a million plants each spring in this manner 

 for years with most satisfactory results. 



COLD FRAMES. 



Another plan is to sow the Cabbage seed in cold frames 

 from the i5th of February to March ist, or even later for 

 second early. By this method one ounce of seed is 

 enough for five or six sashes, and it had better be sown 

 in rows at six inches apart, as thus sown the air gets 

 better around the plants, making them stronger. When 

 the seed is sown in the cold frames in this way, it is 

 absolutely necessary that the frost should be excluded by 

 covering the glass with straw mats and shutters; for, of 

 course, unless kept above the point of freezing, the 

 plants cannot grow. The cold frames to be used for 

 this purpose should be placed in the warmest and most 

 sheltered place possible; the soil should be light and 

 well enriched with short manure, nicely dug, and leveled 

 and raked for the reception of the seed. If sown in 

 drills, they should be about two inches deep; if sown 

 broadcast, it is best to "chip" the ground all over with 

 a steel rake so as to sink the seed to the depth of an inch 

 or so; but in both* cases do not omit to firm the soil by 

 patting the surface over with the back of the spade. 



All these directions for spring-sown plants are given for 

 the latitude of New York, where the operations of plant- 

 ing Cabbage plants in the open ground are usually begun 

 about the 25th of March and finished by the middle of 



