FOR THE SOUTHERN STATES. 
the top bud, this will makethem stocky. 
In four weeks after sowing the seeds, the 
plants should be fit to set out in the cold 
frames. The ground in the frames 
should be made rich and light, loose 
and well dug over with the spade. Itis 
important to prepare the soilin the cold 
frames well, or a poor crop will be the 
result. 
The transplanting from the hot-bed to 
the cold frame should be done ona warm 
calm'day; knock the plants out of the 
pots carefully to avoid breaking the ball. 
Plant two hills under each sash, at about 
two feet apart, close up the sash as fast 
as planted, and do not water until next 
day; do not give any air till the plants 
recover the transplanting. As you will 
now have to depend on the heat of the 
sun to keep your plants growing, do not 
open your sashes too wide, open them 
only on fine days, and then open them 
late in the morning, and close them 
early in the evening. Two or three 
weeks of this treatment will bring the 
plants well forward, and as the weather 
gets warmer, give more air, stir the 
ground with a hoe to keep it loose, water 
plentifully when needed. By the first 
of March they should be setting fruit 
freely. From this time on, the sash can 
be pulled off entirely during the day, 
and put onagain at night ; as the weather 
gets warmer give plenty of water, in fact 
keep the ground almost wet. Cut offall 
cucumbers as fast as they get large 
enough for the market; do not leave 
- any on the vines to get old, as it will 
have the effect of retarding the growth 
of the young fruit; thus making the 
vines less productive. 
For the field crop, we plant the seed 
in strawberry boxes; in cold frames, the 
boxes are four inches each way, width, 
length and depth. This is the best 
size ; they are without bottoms; they are 
packed in the frame close together, filled 
with a good soil and 5 or 6 seed planted 
in each box; water, shut the sash and 
keepitshut until the seed begins to come 
-up.. Then from this on give plenty of 
' air in good weather, water freely when 
dry, and thin out to three in a box; in 
47 
about four weeks they will be fit to plant 
outin the field. Have the ground where 
they are to be planted, well plowed, 
fine and in good order; open the rows 
eight feet apart with a plow. To take 
the plants out of the frames, run a sharp 
spade just under the bottom of the boxes 
to cut them loose from the bed, lift them 
on the spade and place them close to- 
gether in a cart; pack them tight in the 
bottom of the cart to prevent jolting 
about in hauling tothe field. Drive the 
cart on the ground to be planted, take 
the boxes one by one carefully out of 
the cart, and place them in the furrow 
already opened, about two feet apart; 
have a hand follow with a sharp knife, 
and cut down one corner of the box, and 
remove it in one piece, without breaking 
the ball of earth about the roots of 
the piants. Much depends upon this 
being carefully done; let hands enough 
follow with hoes to fill up the furrow 
with soil, drawing plenty of fine dirt to 
the roots of the plants. They must be 
watered if necessary. The after-treat- 
ment will be to keep the ground about 
the plants and between the rows loose 
and fine with the cultivator and hoe. 
Just before the vines begin to run, say 
in ten days after planting, bar off close 
to the plants with the plow, and in the 
furrow on both sides of the plants scat- 
ter a small handful of cotton seed meal 
or other good fertilizer; cover this with 
the plow, and plow out the middles; 
keep the ground loose around the plants, 
being careful not to disturb the vines at 
any timme, and when the vines cover the 
ground no further cultivation is neces- 
sary. By this method we generally get 
fruit three weeks earlier than from seed 
planted in the tield. I need not tell you 
that earliness in truck-farming is almost 
everything. The time for planting the 
seed in the boxes for the crop will de- 
pend on the season, locality, etc. This 
much is certain, you can keep the plants 
in the boxes for only four, or at the 
most five weeks after planting the seed. 
After that time they get too large to 
transplant safely. The only guide is to 
use our own judgment and plant the 
