II.) THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 43 



the earth well with your hands ; for, hands are the 

 only tools used in a hot-bed. When you have 

 stirred the earth well, and made it level and smooth, 

 you may sow your seed, if you do not find the earth 

 too hot. But, observe, the earth is to be level, and 

 not sloping like the glass. The glass is sloping to 

 meet the sun, and to turn off the wet ; but, the earth 

 must lie perfectly level ; and this, you will observe, 

 is a very great point. 



77. Next comes the act of sowing, The more 

 handsomely this is done, the better it is done. A 

 handsome dress is better than an ugly one, not be- 

 cause it is warmer, or cooler, but because, liking it 

 better, being more pleased with it, we take more 

 care of it. Those who have seen two or three wo- 

 men together, crossing dirty streets, or in danger 

 from horses or carriages, where the volunteer as- 

 sistance of men became useful ; those philosophers, 

 who have been spectators of scenes like this, cannot 

 have failed to discover, that humanity, like smote, 

 is very apt to fly to the fairest ; and I much ques- 

 tion whether Nicodernus Broadbrim himself, if he 

 saw a pretty girl and an ugly one stuck in the mud, 

 would not give his hand to the former. He would 

 hand them both out to a certainty ; but, he would 

 extricate the pretty one first. There is a great 

 deal in the look of our gardens and fields ; and, 

 surely, in so diminutive a concern as a hot-bed, all 

 ought to be neat and regular. Seeds are great tell- 

 tales ; for, when they come up, we discover all the 

 carelessness that may have prevailed at the sowing 

 of them. 



78. When you have taken off all the lights, make 

 little drills with your finger, from the back of the 

 bed to the front, half an inch deep and about an 

 in< k apart. Make them equi-distant, parallel, and 



