e ee em. 36), 
2 OTS YEARS. 
ABLISHED_» D5 Yb 
SQUASH. 
German, Kurbiss.—French, Courge.—Spanish, Calabasa Tomtanera. 
ol oz. for 50 hills; 3 to 4 lbs. in hills for an acre. 
It is useless to sow until the weather has become settled and warm. Light, 
rich soils are best suited to their growth, andit is most economical of manure 
to prepare hills for the seeds in the ordinary manner by incorporating two or 
three shovelsful of well-rotted manure with the soil for each hill, as is done for 
Melons. For bush varieties, from three to four feet each way, and for the run- 
ning sorts, from eight to tenfeet. Eight or ten seeds should be sown in each hill, 
thinning out after they have attained their third and fourth leaves, leaving 
three or four of the strongest plants. 
For EXuiBition.—Follow the instructions given for Pumpkin. 
TOMATO. 
German, Liebesapfel—French, Tomate.—Spanish, Tomate. 
1 oz. for 1,500 plants; 1% lb. to transplant for an acre, 
The seed should be sown early in March in a hot-bed, greenhouse, or inside 
the window or sitting-room, where a night temperature of not less than sixty 
degrees is kept, in drills five inches apart and half an inch deep. When the plants 
are about two inches high they should be set out three inches apart in boxes 
three inches deep, or potted into three-inch pots, allowing a single plant to a 
pot. They are sometimes shifted a second time into larger pots, by which 
process the plants are rendered more sturdy and branching. About the middle 
of May, in this latitude, the plants may be set in the open ground. They are 
planted for early crops on light, sandy soil, at a distance of three feet apart, in 
hills in which a good shoveliul of rotted manure has been mixed. On heavy 
*CULTUR 
E OF GARDEN VEGETABLES - ie 
soils which are not suited for an early crop, they should be planted four feet 
apart. Water freely at the time of transplanting, and shelter from the sun a few 
days until the plants are established. Tomatoes will always produce greater 
crops and be of better flavor when staked up, or when trained against walls or 
fences. 
For Exursition.—Henderson’s Ponderosa has eclipsed every other variety, 
and since its introduction has taken more prizes than all others combined. The 
plants should be well pruned of all superfluous growth and only two or three 
fruits allowed, to set on a vine. The vines should always be trained to a stake 
and the plants set sufficiently far apart to allow abundance of light. 
TURNIP. 
German, Steekrube.—French, Navet.—Spanish, Nabo Coman. 
1 oz. to 150 feet of drill; 1 to 2 lbs, per acre in drills. 
Turnips do best in highly enriched, light, sandy or gravelly soil; commence 
sowing the earliest varieties in April in drills, from twelve to fifteen 
apart, and thin out early to six or nine inches in the rows. For a succession, Sow 
atintervals of a fortnight until the last week in May for early crop, and from 
August to September for late. August sowings may be made for the fall and 
main crops. Turnips may be preserved until spring by cutting off the tops 
about one inch from the bulb and storing in a cellar or cool shed during winter, 
covering the roots with dry sand; they should be harvested before severe frosts 
set in, for, though comparatively hardy, few of the varieties will survive the 
winters of the Northern States in the open ground. 
For ExuiBiTion.—The ground should be specially prepared and made fine by 
careful sifting, and should be made very firm by tramping. Plenty 
should be allowed between the plauts. 
inches 
of room 
GOLD_FRAMES and HOT-BEDS, ™" 
COLD FRAMES are almost indispensable in every well-ordered garden, 
especially in Northern latitudes. Cabbage, Cauliflower and Lettuce are usually 
the vegetables wintered over in cold frames, and among flowers, Pansies, Forget- 
me-nots, Bellis or Daisies, Cowslips, Auriculas, Hollyhocks and many other 
semihardy and hardy plants. Plants wintered over in cold frames become so 
hardy and sturdy that they can be safely transplanted in the open ground in the 
spring weeks before it would be safe to put out thesofter plants from spring-sown 
seed, thereby ensuring extra early vegetables and flowers. 
Cold frames are made on the surface of the ground, no excavation being 
required. Select a sunny situation, sheltered, if possible, from the wintry winds 
from the North and West. Stakes about 3 feet long and 2x3 inches thick, pointed 
at the bottom end, are driven in the soil at the end and middle of each board, 
the boards being nailed to the inside of the stakes so as toforma frame—close to 
the ground—that will be about 18 inches high at the back and 12 inches high in 
front. This gives the proper slope to the sash to catch the sun. 
The distance between the parallel front and back boards should be 3 inches 
Jess than the length of the sash to allow for the slope, and also to permit the 
sash to hang over the frame slightly, so they can be easily lifted for airing. The 
Jength of the frame will depend on how many plants are to be wintered over and 
whether you intend to reserve space for sowing seed in early spring. Cabbage, 
Cauliflower and Lettuce plants are set two inches apart across the frame, in rows 
three inches apart. A 3x6 foot sash would, therefore, cover about 400 plants ; 
this will enable you to form an idea of the length of frame you will require, 
though, of course, the distance between plants must be gauged by their size when 
set out, bearing in mind that they grow scarcely any, if at all, after winter sets 
in, the object being to keep them dormant and hardy forearly spring setting out. 
The seed for plants to be wintered over in cold frames should be sown during 
the summer or autumn, early enough to permit the seedlings to attain a good 
size before they are transplanted into the cold frames. Cabbage, Cauliflower 
and Lettuce, however, must be sown in the latitude of New York between the 
10th and 20th of September; if sown earlier they might go to seed. 
Make the soil in the frame as rich and mellow as a well-prepared garden bed, 
and set the plants in the latter part of October or early in November, but do not 
put the sashes on until there is danger of freezing, and then only keep them on 
during the night. The sash should be taken oif during the day, when the weather 
is above the freezing point of 32 degrees, and even with several degrees of frost, 
particularly if the sun is shining; the sash must be raised two or three inches at 
one end for air during the day, otherwise the temperature will become too high 
in the frame, causing the plants to become tender. ; 
When the weather is extremely cold—10 degrees above zero or colder—the 
sashes must be covered at night with straw mats, blankets or board shutters. 
These extra coverings should be taken off during the day, unless the ground in 
the frame was frozen before they were put on; in the latter case, if they remain 
on for two or three days during severe cold spells, no harm will be done. Snow 
should be removed also, unless the ground in the frames was frozen.before it fell. 
Cold. frames are not only.usefulfor wintering over such plants as are described 
above) but they are of value in raising early Radishes, Parsley, Carrots, Beets 
and other hardier vegetables and flowers for setting out in the open ground in 
April or May, the seed of which may be sown incold frames in the latitude of 
Construction 
and Management. 
New York about the 1st of March, thinning the seedlings out so the remaining 
plants can fully develop, which they will do weeks before they can be obtained 
from open ground sowings. 
HOT-BEDS.—F or those who have no greenhouse there is no better artificial 
heat for the starting of seed and the growing of tender plants early in the spring 
than that obtained from the hot-bed. The difference between a hot-bed and 
cold frame is that the cold frame is set on the surface of the ground and has 
no artificial heat, while for hot-beds an excavation, the width of the frame to be 
used and two feet deep, is necessary. 
In this excavation the manure for heating—prepared as below—is to be 
packed to a depth of from eighteen to twenty-four inches, bearing in mind that 
the greater depth of manure gives the greater and more lasting heat. For 
general purposes, a hot-bed made in the vicinity of New York, at the begin- 
ning of March, manure eighteen inches deep will be sufficient, in a colder section, 
or earlier in the winter, or for the production of tender plants, such as Peppers 
and Egg Plants, twenty-four and thirty inches of manure may be required; 
in the latter case, the excavation above mentioned must be made correspond- 
ingly deeper. 
The Preparation of the Manure.—Procure a. sufficient quantity of fresh 
horse manure, and, if possible, add an equal bulk of leaves from the woods, or 
even tanbark or refuse hops. Mix them thoroughly and tramp them down in 
successivelayers into acompact conical pile, and leave it there untilfermentation 
has started, which should be in two or three days’ time, but will be indicated by 
the escaping steam. Then turn again so the rank steam may escape, forming a 
similar pile, and let it remain until the second fermentation begins, which should 
begin in two or three days more. In very cold weather it may be necessary to 
cover the pile with a few inches of straw or hay, to prevent chilling before fermen- 
tation sets in, or, better yet, place the manure in a shed. As soon as the manure 
is ready, place it in the pit and tramp it down in layers to the required depth, 
then put on the sashes and leave it until the heat generates, which will usually 
take twenty-four hours; then plunge a thermometer in the manure, and if it is 
all right it will indicate 100 degrees or more. This is still too hot, but in two 
or three days more it will subside. As soon as the plunged thermometer indi- 
cates ninety degrees or less, then put on about six inches of soil, which should be 
rich, light and mellow. The beds should now be left with the sashes on for a few 
days, until the soil has become warmed through and the weed seeds have ger- 
minated; then remove the sashes, rake to kill the weeds and level the surface, 
and all is ready for the sowing of your seeds. After this, unceasing attention 
several times daily must be given. On mild days air must be given by raising 
the sashes slightly, especially if the sun is shining, otherwise your plants may be 
burned up. Towards sunset the sashes must be closed down before cold air 
begins to chill the tender plants. As a general rule,it will be safe on all pleasant 
days in March and April to have the sashes, or at least every other one, raised 
from one to three inches at the top end from 9 A. M. to 4 P.M. During cold 
nights the sashes must be covered with mats, shutters or blankets, which must 
be removed the following morning. 
Careful attention must be given to watering, which should be increased as 
the season advances—always use tepid water, put on gently with a fine rose 
watering pot. Itis neyer safe to let the soil get dry. 
