OKRA—TOMATO. 227 
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, slightly hilled by drawing some earth around them. 
The plants of the white variety are generally transplanted 
into pots. 
Oxra (Hibiscus Esculéntis)—This West India plant 
is much cultivated in the Southern and some of the Mid- 
dle 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 first of May. 
The plants are to be thinned out so as to be about three 
inches apart, and hoed frequently, a little earth being oc- 
casionally drawn to the stems. On dry, warm, and good 
soil the plants will attain the height of four or five feet. 
The pods are only used when in a green state and filled 
with mucilage. A new variety, called Dwarf Okra, is con- 
sidered an acquisition. 
Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum).—The tomato, or love- 
apple, has become an article of immense consumption in 
the Southern and Middle States, and in the neighborhood 
of Philadelphia is an object of extensive field culture. 
Two species are in common cultivation, the Red-fruited 
and the YVellow-fruited. Tach of these kinds is divided 
into several varieties. The reds, which are regarded as the 
