50 FAMILY RECEIPTS. 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 



Preparing the soil and trenching it to a proper depth, 

 is not always sufficiently attended to in gardening. — 

 The soil ought to be from one foot and a half to two 

 feet and a half deep, particularly where tap-rooted vege- 

 tables arc cultivated. The roots can thus with greater 

 facility extend their fibres in all directions, in search of 

 vegetable nourishment, and a reservoir is provided for 

 any superabundant moisture which may be occasioned 

 by heavy rains, where it is retained till it is wanted. — 

 Where the ground is wet, draining is indispensable. 



Soils may be rendered more fit for answering the 

 purposes of vegetation (especially in gardening) by 

 pulverization; by consolidation; by exposure to the 

 atmosphere; by alteration of their constituent parts: 

 by changing their condition in respect to water; and by 

 a change in the kinds of plants cultivated. All these 

 improvements are independent of the application of 

 manure. 



TO PREPARE HOT BEDS. 



H6t beds are things not merely of luxury, but of real 

 utility, especially to farmers and gardeners who send 

 their productions to market. Plants which are brought 

 to maturity in the open air, may often be rendered fit 

 for the table a month earlier in consequence of being 

 sown and forwarded during the earlier stages of their 

 existence in hot beds. The following is given in the 

 New-England Farmer, as a good method of preparing 

 hot beds. 



In the month of March, mark out your bed to the 

 size of the frame you design to cover it, which is gen- 

 erally six feet in length and three in breadth, covered 

 with glass, set in sashes of twelve panes each, say of 7 

 l)y 9 glass. The sashes should be hung with hinges 

 upon the back side, to admit their being raised up or 

 let down in front at pleasure. The front side of the 

 Fashes to incline downwards from the back side, about 

 ^ix inches. The frame, or box, is tight upon ail four of 



