OKRA. 235 



for ornament. In the Middle and Northern States, the 

 seeds of this plant are sown about the first of March in 

 hotbeds, the sashes of which should be kept down close 

 until the plants come up, when they may be slightly 

 raised, so as to admit a little air, in the middle of the 

 day. The seeds require considerable warmth to make 

 them vegetate, which warmth must be kept up to bring 

 the plants forward. They will not bear the least cold when 

 very young, and ought, therefore, to have a division to 

 themselves, free from association with cabbage-plants 

 and other vegetables which are generally benefited by 

 more or less exposure to the atmosphere during a por- 

 tion of the day. 



The young plants may be taken from their beds about 

 the middle of May, if the weather be warm and settled, 

 and set out in hills from two feet to two and a half feet 

 apart, in a rich, warm soil, kept clean, and when about 

 a foot high, sKghtly hilled by drawing some earth around 

 them. The plants of the white variety are generally 

 transplanted into pots. 



Okra {Hibiscus Esculentis). — This West India plant 

 is much cultivated in the Southern and some of the 

 Middle States, chiefly as an addition to soup. Its long 

 and green pods, full of seed and abounding in mucus, 

 form the chief ingredient in the famous gumbo-soup of 

 the South, and hence the plant is often called Gumbo. 

 The beauty of its flowers, which much resemble those of 

 the cotton-plant, to which family it belongs, makes it 

 an ornament to the parterre. 



The seed may be sown in drills about two feet apart, 

 and lightly covered, as soon as there is no danger from 

 spring frosts ; namely, in: the Middle States, about the 



