124 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



the lever a is ajjain pressed inward?, and the blades 

 opeu and are wiihdrnwri, leaving the plant and its 

 ball entire, to be filled around with earth, and the 

 operation is repeated on another subject. In this 

 way larire plantH can be transplanted with great ease, 

 OQd without retarding their growth. 



HORTICULTURAL OPERATIONS FOR APRIL. 



Attend to the hot b^ds. See that the heat is kept 

 np well, if it should decline too much, as it most 

 likely will, apply a good lining of hot manure as re 

 commended last month. A good way of doing this 

 is to prepiiie the manure na advised for the hot-bed, 

 and apjjly a lining at the back and one end of the 

 bed one week, and at the front and other end the 

 next week; l>y this means a regular warmth will be 

 kept up. As the cucumber vines advance in length, 

 all the strong and fruitful branches should be trained 

 out at distances of twelve or tifleen inches from each 

 other so as to cover all the space in the bed. To 

 keep them in their places they must be pegged down 

 with little hooked sticks. All the small and fruitless 

 branches must be cut away. As soon as the first 

 young fruit is set and beginning to swed, the end of 

 the vine should be pinched out two leaves above the 

 fruit By the time this first fruit is ready to cut the 

 vine wilt have pushed a second time and another 

 young fruit will be set, and wiil commence to grow 

 as the other is removed. If it be desired to have fine, 

 long and straight fruit, it will not be advisable to 

 leave morf) than one fruit upon a vine at the same 

 time and that should be laid into a small bo.x about 

 two inches v.ide and eighteen or twenty long, to keep 

 it straight. I have a variety that I have, by this 

 means, frequently grown two feet in length, and sweet, 

 tender and crisp to the very stalk. 



Towards the end of the month, the seeds sown in 

 boxes on the hot-bed, as tomatoes, purple egg-plant, 

 celer}', peppers, &c, will have grown large enough to 

 require pricking out, and where there are not proper 

 hot-bed frames and sashes, a substitute may be made 

 in this way: In some rather elevated ajid dry spot, 

 dig out a trench eighteen inches deep and five feet 

 wide and of sufficient length to take the required 

 number of plants, then drive down a post at each 

 corner and place some boards all around on the brow 

 of the pit and bank the earth up to the boards on 

 the outside. Now fill the pit full ot hot manure, as 

 high up as the bottom of the boards, well mixing it, 

 and beat it down firmly with the back of the fork. 

 Cover the manure with four or five inches of the best 

 garden soil that can be had; rake it soomth and press 

 it down gently with the back of the rake; cover it 

 over with some old boards or mats to keep cold wind 

 and wetoff, and in a few days it will be nicely warmed 

 through. The best way of transplanting or pricking 

 out, will be to take the plants separately between the 

 fore finger and thumb of the left hand, and with a 

 common dinner fork in the right hand gently lift the 



{jlaut up without breaking the roots, then, with the 

 ore finger (>f the right hand, or witli a dibble about 

 the same size, make a hole in the new bed and place 

 a plant in about up to its .seed-leaves without break- 

 ing it and press the earth gently down about its roots. 

 Plant the rest, or as many as are wanted of each kind, 

 in the same way about four inches apart; when done 

 give a gentle watering with water of the temperature 

 of about 60^. This planting should be done in mild, 



j dull weather, to avoid drying the roots. Shade a 

 little at first in sunny weather, and cover up in cold 

 or wet weather, and at night. 



Skkps of Hardy "V'EGETAm.Es in open Ground. — 

 If the weather be favorable in the first or second 

 week in the month, select a warm sheltered spot: 

 manure and dig it well, and if the soil be mellow rake 

 it finely. Lay it out in beds five feet wide with alleys 

 two feet wide between. One bed may be sown with 

 early cabbage lettuce, one with scarlet short-top rad- 

 ish, one .with early short-horn carrot, one with onions, 

 and a sinall patch of early June potatoes. It is a 

 little more trouble to sow these seeds in drills, bat 

 it is a great deal the best way. For lettuce, strike a 

 line the length of the bed and six inches from the 

 edge, then make a drill half an inch deep, with a stick; 

 make the.=e drills six inches apart; sow the seeds 

 thinly in (he drills, and just cover them by pulling the 

 earth from the edge of the drill over them with the 

 back ot the rake, and press it gently upon the seeds.' 

 When up, thin out to four inches apart; and as they 

 get fit for use pull every other one, leaving the main 

 crop eight iriches apart. The radish seed can be 

 sown in drills in the same way, but buried a little 

 depper, say half an inch; four inches apart for the 

 radish drills will be sufficient. When they have made 

 the two first rough leaves it will be seen \\hich will 

 bulb and which will not; pull out those that will not 

 bulb, leaving the others two inches apart; the thiiP 

 nings will make very nice salad. The onion seed may 

 be sown in the same manner as the radishes, and if 

 to be used small for salad, the drills may be made six 

 inches apart, but if any are to remain to come to ma- 

 turity, they mu.st be made twelve inches apart, and 

 the onions thinned to four inches apart in the rows. 

 Early short-horn carrot may be sown in drills twelve 

 inches apart, and to the same depth as the radish. If 

 the weather should be windy at time of fowing, it will 

 be well t^nb the seed with a little damp sand; this 

 will prevent it from being blown away and will facil- 

 itate the work a great deal. When the carrots are 

 two inches high thin out to two inches apart, and ast 

 they grow large enough for use, say half an inch in 

 diameter, at which time they will be sweele.'-t, pall 

 out the largest for use, and leave the small ones to 

 grow larger. Plant a few early June potatoes in 

 rows two feet apart, and one foot apart iu the rows; 

 plant with a large dibble so as to cover the sets four 

 inches deep. All these may be sown, if the weather 

 be favorable and the frost out of the ground, first week 

 in April; but there will be nothing gained by sowing 

 while the ground is wet and cold. A good place lor 

 the.se first seeds will be a rather elevated border, slop- 

 ing a little to the south, and on the south side of a . 

 board fence, or sheltered by some buildings. Pro- 

 tect them by covering the beds at night with a little 

 light litter, and pull it off during the day, until they 

 have got large enough to be in danger of being pulled 

 out by the litter. 



Some Karly York or Early Winningstadt cabbag* 

 may be sown on a gentle hot-bed, al.so Early Pari* 

 cauliflower. 



Choose the richest and best piece of rrount' you 

 have got for some early peas. I am aware that p any 

 writers recomtnend rather jioor ground for pea^, but 

 I have always used the richest and deepest tht t I 

 could command, and alwajswith the best result.*. On 

 poor ground they are apt to mildew when the crop 

 is about in its best condition, ii the weather should 



