For the Southern States. 



19 



cause the weeds are then easily killed, 

 will make it retain moisture better than 



and hoeing the ground, 

 if it were left alone. 



wliiiiiipwi 



THE EOT BED. 



Owing to the open Winters in the South, hot beds are not so 

 much used as in the Nortli, except to raise such tender plants as 

 Egg-Plants, Tomatoes and Peppers. There is little forcing of 

 vegetables done here, except as regards Cucumbers and Lettuce j 

 and if we do not have any hard frosts the latter does better in the 

 open ground than under glass. To make a hot bed is a very sim- 

 ple thing. Any one who has the use of tools can make the wooden 

 frame J the sashes may be obtained at any sash factory. I con- 

 sider a wooden frame from five to six feet wide, and ten feet six 

 inches long, a very good size. It should be at least six inches 

 higher at the back than in the front, and covered by three sashes 

 3^x5 feet. The manure ought not to be over one month old 5 

 should be thrown together in a heap, and when commencing to 

 heat, be worked over with a fork, and all the long and short ma- 

 nure evenly mixed. In this State the ground is generally low, 

 and to retain the heat of the manure for a longer time it is best 

 to i)ut the manure on top of the ground — that is, make a bank 

 two feet longer and two wider than the frame. Keep the edges 

 straight and the corners firm when thrown up about eighteen 

 inches, trample ihe manure down to six or eight inches, then put 

 on another layer of eighteen inches and trample down again ; place 

 thereon the frame and sash and fill in six inches of good earth. 

 After about five days stir the ground to kill any weeds which may 

 i|have come up, then sow the seeds. In Lower Louisiana the 



