88 buist's family kitchen gardener. 



season — soap-suds, any time in the Fall or Winter, in like 

 manner. These are not mere theoretic ideas ; they are practi- 

 cal facts, which can be illustrated by any person who has the 

 materials at command. I have seen Gruano used to this crop, 

 both with bad and beneficial results. At the rate of four hundred 

 pounds to the acre, the Onions were greatly improved in size, 

 though not in their keeping qualities. Applied at the rate of 

 eight hundred pounds to the acre, the roots of the crop suffered, 

 the plants got yellow, and did not fully recover their appearance. 

 This manure should always be used in a liquid state, and 

 about the strength of twenty-five pounds to a hogshead of wa- 

 ter, to be applied after having stood twenty-four to forty-eight 

 hours — urine can be used in the same manner, after being re- 

 duced with six parts of water. Every good householder who 

 cultivates a garden, should have a large cask, in some retired 

 corner, to form a deposit for the refuse of the wash-house, 

 which can be reduced with a part of water, and applied to all 

 vegetable crops in time of need ; or where the soil is not rich 

 enough, the plants can be fully watered with it, in the evening, 

 once a week while they are in a growing state. 



OKRA, OR OCHRO. 



Hibiscus esculentus. — Go?nbo, Fr. 



This plant has been introduced to our notice and table from 

 the West Indies, where it is cultivated to some extent as a 

 vegetable. The green seed pods are put into soups, or stewed 

 and served up with butter. It is becoming very popular with 

 us, and grown to a great extent by some gardeners for sup- 

 plying the market. 



Culture. — The seeds are sown thinly, on dry, warm soil, in 

 shallow drills two feet apart, about the same time as the Lima 

 Bean. Cover the seeds lightly. Sometimes they come up 



