1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



231 



EAKLY GABDENIN&. 



MONG the necessi- 

 ties of every fam- 

 ily in the coun- 

 1 try, a good sup- 

 ply of early veg- 

 etables for the 

 table is very de- 

 sirable. These 

 are not only agreeable to 

 the palate, but contribute 

 to health and comfort. 

 Man) farmers seem to 

 thmk that any extra labor 

 expended on the garden 

 is so much labor lost. 

 But a good supply of early 

 vegetables cannot be ob- 

 tained in our climate with- 

 out some extra labor, 

 and some extra manure. 

 Many seem to believe that 

 there is some mystery about green houses and 

 hot beds, which is understood only by pro- 

 fessed gardeners, and that they are attended 

 with much expense, and so they neglect them 

 entirely. It is true that green houses and hot 

 beds under glass are somewhat expensive, and 

 that without constant care they will fail to pro- 

 duce the expected results. But a bed may be 

 prepared in which plants may be started to be 

 transplanted at very little expense. 



Select a warm spot, sheltered by a building 

 or a tight board fence ; throw ofif three or 

 four inches of the top soil from a space of ten 

 or twelve feet by five or six, and lay it by it- 

 self. Then take out the soil to the depth of 

 an additional foot and lay it in a separate heap. 

 Now fill up the hole to the depth of a foot 

 with horse manure, and tread it down well. 

 Then sprinkle over this the soil first thrown 

 out, about three inches deep. Now drive 

 down at each corner a joist. Let the two at 

 the back side stand out of the ground two and 

 a half feet, and the two at the front, one foot 

 or fifteen inches. Then nail on some boards 

 tightly, so that the enclosure on the back side 

 shall be two and a half feet high and twelve or 

 fifteen inches on the front. Prepare some 

 boards long enough to reach from back to 

 front, and extend over one inch at each end. 

 On the back ends which project over, nail on 

 some cleats which will prevent them from slid- 



ing down, and you have a cover which maybe 

 put on at night, or in stormy weather, and re- 

 moved in the day time, when the weather is 

 suitable. Bank up the outside with the sub- 

 soil thrown out and the work is done. Let it 

 remain a few days, until the manure begins to 

 grow warm ; then sow such seeds as you wish, 

 exposing the bed to the sun in pleasant weather, 

 and covering it at night, and you may have 

 lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, cabbages and to- 

 matoes ready to transplant as soon as they can 

 bear the open air. 



When they are transplanted, take pieces of 

 board, from nine to twelve inches wide and 

 sixteen inches long. Upon one end of these, 

 fasten with a single nail a piece of lathe ten or 

 twelve inches long. Then place a board on 

 the north side of the plant, inclining over it, 

 and resting upon the lath. These may be re- 

 moved in the day time in warm days. They 

 afford very good protection against the night 

 air and cold winds. Or frames may be made 

 of thin boards, twelve or fifteen inches square 

 and eight or ten deep, and one end covered 

 with gauze, tacked, on. 



Any handy boy can prepare all these plant 

 protectors, with a square, a saw, a hammer and 

 nails, in a few hours. The gauze frames may 

 be used later in the season, to cover squash 

 plants and protect them from the bugs. With 

 this simple and inexpensive apparatus, almost 

 any farmer may supply his table with delicious 

 vegetables some weeks ealier than by open 

 field culture. 



Early peas, planted in a warm soil, with a 

 good supply of compost containing hen ma- 

 nure, may be brought on to the table by the 

 20th of June. We have had them on the 

 1.5th. The Early York or the Oxheart cabbage 

 will, in this way, give well formed heads a. 

 month earlier than in field culture. 



Bury some early potatoes in a corner of the 

 hot bed, and when the sprouts are two or three 

 inches long plant them in hills, and you may^ 

 get good sized potatoes by the first of July. 



Now is the time to prepare your lumber, 

 and as soon as the frost is out, dig out the bed 

 and put in the manure. After the plants are re- 

 moved you may throw out the horse manure 

 and use it for other purposes. It has served 

 to give your plants bottom heat and will still 

 nourish your potatoes or corn. 



Early beets should be sowed in the first part- 



