No. 133.1 43 



four hundred feet of glass; in these beds are placed at the bot- 

 tom, leaves gathered from the woods, about six inches in depth ; 

 upon which fresh horse manure is laid about nine inches deep, 

 ■with a layer above of fine rich loam. Three crops of lettuce are 

 usually sold from these hot-beds, before the outdoor lettuce 

 comes in competition with it. After the first crop of lettuce, 

 cucumbers are planted, so as to be ready to occupy the hot beds 

 as soon as the last crop of lettuce is turned out. A large yield 

 of early cucumbers then comes into market, by, the time or 

 before a cucumber seed would be planted in the open air. These 

 hot- beds are very profitable, and enable the farmer near the city 

 to keep his men employed during the winter, instead of discharg- 

 ing tbem to spend their summer earnings before the next spring. 

 January and February are spent chiefly in marketing and col- 

 lecting and forming the manure heaps. The 1st of March, or 

 the earliest period that the frost leaves the ground potatoes are 

 planted. 



Preparation for jilanting pofafocs. — I harrow the ground, then 

 plow, then harrow again, then form drills in these open drills. 

 I place the seed about 8 or 10 inches, apart, cover the seed with 

 manure from the compost heap, then cover the whole with the 

 plow by a furrow thrown on each side. This covers the seed 

 quite deep, so that it is uninjured by the spring fn sts ; when 

 past danger from the frost, the drills are harrowed down. I plant 

 Mercer potatoes principally; usually about 3 acres of white, 

 called here the English white, or Aulgee potato ; they are dug 

 and carried to market before they are fully grown, and are sold 

 at a very high price. 



Corn — I cultivate five varieties of Indian corn, viz : the Long 

 Island white flint, the Jersey white dent 12 rowed, the large eight 

 rowed yellow, the evergreen sweet.corn, the tAvelve rowed sweet 

 corn. I plant the white flint corn from the 1st to the 15th May, 

 sweet corn every two weeks until the 1st of July. I manure in 

 the drill with the compost, adding a little extra guano. I sow 

 all my root crops in drills after sub-soil plowing. I use the com- 

 posted manure above referred to, .well mixed with the soil in the 

 drill before sowing. 



