1868. 



KEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



299 



soot added. Place five seeds in a hill, with a 

 spoonful of guano from the hen-house, cover them 

 •with half an inch of soil. Spread straw or brush 

 for tho vines to lie upon. If the seeds all start 

 well, take out two plants, three are enough for a 

 hill. Water them freely. If they show few fruit- 

 ful blossoms pinch off the ends of the shoots. 

 Cultivate cucumbers in the same way. Cucum- 

 bers need so much water that if their hills lie in a 

 hollow they do better. Arrange squashes as a 

 screen for the compost heap, by means of stakes or 

 brush for their support. All flat seeds, like those 

 of the squash, should be planted edge-wise. Place 

 seven seeds in a hill, cover them an inch deep, 

 lightly — if they all come up take out two — if the 

 insects do not destroy them, two more. To de- 

 stroj' the "bugs" sift wojd-ashes and soot over 

 the plants while the dew lies on them. Some per- 

 sons make screens of gauze, strainer cloth, or 

 paper for all these vegetables, to keep off insects. 



Rhubarb is generally raised from a division of 

 the root. Cover it with stable litter through the 

 winter. Stir the soil around it early in the spring. 

 Place a headless barrel over it to make the stalks 

 grow long and to lessen their acidity. Water it 

 freely till August — keep it dry after then. 



Sow cabbages in boxes, then transplant into 

 light soil mixed with wood-ashes. Make a hole 

 over an inch square, place the plant, fill in water, 

 then cover all but two leaves with soil. Set them 

 two feet apart. After they begin to grow stir the 

 ground around them very frequently. Sow tur- 

 nips after radishes and early peas and beans are 

 gone,— spading over the soil and adding ashes. 

 It is said that black pepper sifted over cabbages 

 and turnips will destroy insects. Parsnips, plant 

 early, in rich soil, in rows, half an inch deep. 

 Onions require a sandy soil mixed with ashes, — 

 and hen-guano is a good addition — sow as pars- 

 nips. Keep them clear of weeds. Start peppers 

 and tomatoes in the house, in boxes, early in Feb- 

 ruary ; — set in soil enriched as for onions, in May. 

 Give them plenty of water. Raise horseradish 

 from pieces of the root in rich, damp soil ; — in the 

 spring, after using the larger part, re-set the slim 

 end. Cover it with ashes through the winter. 



Don't attempt to raise com or potatoes unless 

 you have plenty of room and sunshme. Both need 

 light, sandy loam. Soak com (use only the 

 sweet) three or four days before planting, in cold 

 water ; put four kemels in a hill, cover with half 

 inch of soil. Potatoes do not depend so much on 

 sun but they want a sheltered spot. They need 

 hoeing two or three times, as also corn. This is 

 such hard work for women that the new method 

 of raising potatoes is best for them to try. For 

 this prepare a bed. Take out the soil to the depth 

 of six inches ; spade over the subsoil, spread 

 upon it two or three inches of hay or straw, cut 

 potatoes so that three eyes are in each piece, lay 

 these pieces on the straw, eight inches apart, cover 

 over with two inches of soil. Pull up what weeds 

 appear, water the bed occasionally, and loosen the 



soil with a rake. This is called the French method 

 — it has proved successful with many. Spinach, 

 for spring use, sow in rows, in the fall, where 

 potatoes have been ; and cover with straw through 

 the cold Aveather. Dandelions, transplant from 

 the meadows to rich soil in a sheltered place ; to 

 increase, sow the seed in the autiimn, or divide 

 the roots. 



[The next chapter, treating of Garden Flowers, etc., 

 ■will conclude the author's remarks upon this subject.] 



A HOUSEKEEPER'S STKICTUKES 



ON 



"DOMESTIC ECOIVOMY." 



Mr. Editor, or Miss Hale, the author of "Do- 

 mestic Economy" : — Do you mean all mothers, or 

 "women," to follow your advice given in your 

 articles ? Or do you mean such mothers as have 

 time to do it ? For although a "stitch in time 

 saves nine," it requires a goodly share of the time 

 allotted to woman's daily work, not mentioning 

 her time of sleep, which she ought to have and 

 certainly needs after her busy day's work. Few 

 mothers who do their own work, and have the 

 whole care of children, husband and hired man or 

 men, find many days but what are busy ones, and 

 need certainly from 11 o'clock until 5 in the mom 

 to sleep what they can. But, between caring for 

 baby, and keeping Charlie and Susie covered up, 

 &c., bedtime would find the mother up much later 

 than 11 o'clock, if she followed all the rules in 

 "Domestic Economy." 



Now, I don't mean to say that the rules are not 

 good ones, most of them at least, but I do think 

 some of them are more particular than wise. I, 

 for one, have tried the washing and turning of old 

 coats and pants which father has worn threadbare, 

 and have taken pains and care to cut over and fit 

 nicely, and have had hard work to get out the ar- 

 ticle required from anything which seemed fit to 

 use, with an inward feeling all the time that my 

 time, lining and thread were not being spent 

 profitably, and which proved to be the case when 

 Charley or Frank came to wear the garment, even 

 if he was no more than four or six years of age— 

 for such are by all means, or we want them to be, 

 busy bodies, for we none of us want "dead heads" 

 around us in the shape of children, — for after a 

 few days of rough and tumble, we find knees and 

 elbows out, readj' for patching, and many times 

 nothing left of the garment to patch with — which 

 will not pay for the work any more than the gar- 

 ment paid for making. I think such articles are 

 better in a carpet or given to the poor, and some 

 new material, even of a coarse and rather ugly 

 looking surface if need be, bought and made, and 

 when finished, and while being made, the mother 

 can breathe freer and feel when it is done, even if 

 she have to take time out of sleeping hours to 

 make it, that one more load is lilted from her 

 shoulders. One of the flock is rigged out for a 



