196 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 



[MARCH 



tops, which will cause their fruit to set and ripen sooner than'if left 

 to take their natural course. 



Or you may, about the beginning of the month, plant a quantity 

 of them close together in a hot-bed, to be defended with a frame and 

 glasses, or with mats, &c., and when thus forwarded for two or three 

 weeks, plant them into the open ground ; observing to give them 

 plenty of air whilst in the hot-bed, and when they have one or two 

 inches growth therein, to plant them into some warm border, in rows 

 two feet and a half or a yard asunder. 



For further particulars, and the method of planting all the kinds, 

 see February. 



Fig. 20. 



COVERING HALF-HARDY PLANTS. 



For covering half-hardy plants, or screening from dry winds, various 

 means are employed. In France a basket is constructed, of two 

 semi-cylinders, constructed in the mode of straw 

 hives. To these are fixed solid feet of wood to drive 

 into the ground. If it is necessary to shelter one 

 plant from east or northeast winds, one cylinder is 

 sufficient ; but if it is a plant which you are forced 

 to protect, is delicate,* and requires a more complete 

 protection, you inclose it between the two semi-cylin- 

 ders, fixed one to the other by means of hooks re- 

 presented in the drawing. A lid of the same con- 

 struction, furnished at its edge with a circle of wood- 

 work, is fitted, when necessary, on the cylinder, and 

 thus, perhaps, offers a more effectual shelter against 

 the severity of cold winds and excessive heat than 

 any other. These sorts of shades are light to move, 

 very solid, and very warm ; for, letting but little of 

 the exterior air penetrate, they preserve at night the 

 heat which accumulates in the interior. They would 

 also guard plants well from the sun, and thus offer a 

 means of checking the natural perspiration of green 

 parts. Probably nothing could be invented more 

 suitable for the protection of young plants, like the magnolia grandi- 

 flora, in this latitude, where the frozen sap is attacked by the sun, 

 and the leaves in young specimens annually killed. For protecting 

 the stems of grafted roses from the summer sun, they might be made 

 of basket willows. 



SOWING AND TRANSPLANTING LETTUCES. 



As early in this month as possible, prepare a warm south border, 

 and sow thereon, very thick, some of the early Silesia and white 

 Dutch lettuces ; in order to have it fit for cutting, with other small 

 salading, at an early period, and to succeed such as you have forward- 

 ed in frames ; let the ground be dry and light, and the seed either 

 raked in or covered very slightly. 



Towards the middle of the month, if the weather be mild and set- 



