124 Editors' Letter- Box. 



W. K. T., Jerusalem, 0. — The construction of a cold pit for wintering piants 

 is a very simple matter. The first point, and a very important one, is to choose 

 a spot either naturally dry, or else vtrell drained. Then excavate about three 

 feet and a half in depth, and the width of a hot-bed, so as to use common hot- 

 bed sashes. The length may be whatever is needed to accommodate the plants 

 to be wintered. If the soil is coherent, it will answer without any lining; but 

 it would be much better to line with boards, tarred or burnettized to preserve 

 them, or with brick or stone laid in mortar, if you do not mind expense. The 

 frame above ground should be plank, seven inches high in front, and fifteen on 

 the back, and banked up with earth ; or, if the ground slopes, it will save the 

 trouble of banking. If the pit is of brick or stone, the walls may be brought to 

 the proper height, and the sash-frames fitted directly to them. Cover in winter 

 with mats and boards, so as to exclude frost, and give air whenever the weather 

 is mild enough, especially if you have soft, succulent plants in your pit : for 

 hard-wooded plants, it is not so important. It is better to plunge the pots in 

 tan or sawdust than merely to set them on the bottom of the pit. 



Management of Early Potatoes. — A correspondent wishes information 

 as to the management of his crop of Early Rose and Early Goodrich Potatoes. 

 He says he raises nothing for market, and his horticultural ambition is satisfied 

 when his success meets the wants of his family table ; but he is in doubt 

 as to the proper course to be followed in harvesting. Should the tubers 

 be taken from the ground immediately on the decay of the plants 1 or will the 

 quality be better retained by allowing them to remain, drawing a few daily, or 

 from time to time, as they may be needed, till cold weather ? A word of advice 

 would not only oblige him, but, he thinks, would be acceptable to many of our 

 readers. 



Our impression is decidedly in favor of harvesting early potatoes as soon as 

 the tops decay. It is much less trouble than to dig a few at a time, and the 

 ground can be used for other purposes ; and if they keep no better, we think 

 they will certainly keep quite as well. We do not recollect that the question 

 has been raised before, and would like to hear the opinion of cultivators in re- 

 gard to it, as it is of much interest, now that so many persons are raising early 

 potatoes in their gardens. 



P., Boston. — Carnations are layered when in bloom. Lay around the plant 

 two inches of rich compost, stirring sli^fhtly so as to mix with the soil beneath. 

 Remove the lower leaves of the shoot selected, and about half an inch of the 

 extremities of the upper ones. With a sharp knife cut about half through the 

 shoot from the underside, and up a short distance, in order to facilitate the emis- 

 sion of roots. Fasten the cut part of the shoot about two inches under the sur- 

 face with a small hooked pin, bending carefully so as not to break it, and with 

 the extremity above ground. Press the earth firmly around with the fingers. 

 Keep the soil moderately moist, and in from a month to six weeks the layers 

 may be separated and transplanted, or allowed to remain where they are, after 

 being carefully cut from the parent plant. 



