255 GARDENING OVER A WINTER FIRE. 



with leaves. Early cabbage, cauliflower, and 

 lettuce should be sown first. The seed of pan- 

 sies, petunias, phlox, asters, ten weeks' stock, 

 and all the Dianthus tribe can be sown also. 

 I do not think it well, usually, to plant toma- 

 toes, pepper, and egg-plant seed before the 

 2Oth of March, as they are so impatient of cold. 

 And these last should be planted in one end of 

 the hot-bed by themselves, as they need less 

 airing, and more covering than their hardier 

 neighbors. Great care must be exercised in 

 preventing the plants from becoming chilled 

 cold nights and wintry days, and even more 

 vigilance is required in seeing that they are 

 properly aired and hardened in their growth. 

 By leaving the iash closed with a hot morning 

 sun shining on them, I have seen an entire bed 

 ruined in an hour. And from want of proper 

 airing and hardening, the plants in very m.my 

 hot-beds are so tende and spindling as to be 



