OKRA TOMATO. 227 



and set out in hills from two feet to two and a half feet 

 apart, in a rich, warm soil, kept clean, and when about a 

 foot high, slightly hilled by drawing some earth around them. 

 The plants of the white variety are generally transplanted 

 into pots. 



Okra (Hibiscus Esculentis). — This West India plant 

 is much cultivated in the Southern and some of the Mid- 

 dle States, chiefly as an addition to soup. Its long and 

 green pods, full of seed and abounding in mucus, form the 

 chief ingredient in the famous gumbo-soup of the South, 

 and hence the plant is often called Gumbo. The beauty of 

 its flowers, which much resemble those of the cotton-plant, 

 to which family it belongs, makes it an ornament to the 

 parterre. 



The seed may be sown in drills about two feet apart, and 

 lightly covered, as soon as there is no danger from spring 

 frosts ; namely, in the Middle States, about the first of May. 

 The plants are to be thinned out so as to be about three 

 inches apart, and hoed frequently, a little earth being oc- 

 casionally drawn to the stems. On dry, warm, and good 

 soil the plants will attain the height of four or five feet. 

 The pods are only used when in a green state and filled 

 with mucilage. A new variety, called Dwarf Okra, is con- 

 sidered an acquisition. 



Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum). — The tomato, or love- 

 apple, has become an article of immense consumption in 

 the Southern and Middle States, and in the neighborhood 

 of Philadelphia is an object of extensive field culture. 

 Two species are in common cultivation, the Red-fruited 

 and the Yellow-fruited. Each of these kinds is divided 

 into several varieties. The reds, which are regarded as the 



