FARM HOMES, Itf-DOORS AND OUT-DOORS. 



for three or four days. As they grow top-heavy, make 

 supports for them. Clip the ends a little when the fruit 

 begins to appear, and early and magnificent tomatoes 

 will be the result. 



HEKBS. 



Anise, Balm, Horehound, Hyssop, Mint, Saffron, 

 Sage, and Summer Savory, together with Dill and Cara- 

 way should all be represented in the kitchen garden, and 

 given good soil and care. They are all easily grown from 

 seed, but in the North it is safest and surest to start them 

 in a hot-bed or in window-boxes. If to be sown in the 

 open ground, do not put them in until the middle of 

 May. Be sure to have the soil pulverized and cover but 

 slightly when the seeds are very small. All herbs should 

 be gathered when in flower, and when dried put into 

 paper bags and labelled. Sage, Savory, Mint, and Thyme 

 are especially useful in the kitchen, while Horehound, 

 Hyssop, and Anise are harmless and oftentimes effectual 

 medicines for mild ailments. 



HOW TO MAKE A HOT-BED. 



If it can be so arranged it should be built against a 

 shed or a board fence, with its face to the southeast or to 

 the south. Horse-manure is the best to use for this pur- 

 pose. Make a frame of boards or plank as large as de- 

 sired, and a foot and a half higher at the back than in 

 front, so as to furnish a slanting support for the glass to 

 rest upon. It should be two feet high in front. Place 

 the manure in the bottom to the depth of a foot and a 

 half. It should be well fermented and warm. Over it 

 spread a few inches of good garden-soil, in which is a fair 

 mixture of sand. Cover the bed with the window-sash 

 and let the sun blaze in upon it tli rough two or three 

 bright days, having taken the precaution to bank the bed 



