I the hot-bed possessed. It is in any event best to 

 put up the beds in the warmest and most sheltered 

 spots we can find, and to keep cold winds from the 

 manure, by covering it with branches of trees or 

 mats ; and the glass should always be covered with 

 mats at night. Tomatoes, Egg-plants, Peppers and 

 Cucumbers, are the first seeds to be sown this way. 

 Cooler frames can be got ready for Cauliflower, Let- 

 tuce, Beets, Celery and Early York Cabbage, a little 

 of which may be sown about the end of the month 

 for the earliest crop. The Cauliflower is a particu- 

 larly valued vegetable, and no expense spared to get 

 them in perfection will be regretted when one's ef- 

 forts are successful. 



In the open air, should the weather prove favor- 

 able, as it often is about the end of the month. Peas 

 and Potatoes may be planted. Frost seldom gets 

 deep enough in new dug ground to injure them 

 after this date. ^ 

 In the more southern States the gardener will lose 

 i no time in getting in his Potatoes, Beets, Carrots, 

 Parsnips, Peas, Spinach, Radishes, Lettuce, Onions, 

 ! and Salsafy. These should be the first crops put in 

 i after the season breaks up for good. The earlier 

 I they are in the better. Asparagus, Bhubarb and 

 j Horse Badish beds may now be made. Asparagus 

 I ! roots are generally planted too thickly to produce 

 ! j tine shoots, — they starve one another. A bed five 

 i ' feet wide should have three rows, and the plants set 

 I ! about eighteen inches apart. A deep soil is very 

 I I important, as the succulent stems require every 

 I chance they can get for obtaining moist .ire. About 

 j four inches beneath the soil is sufficient to plant 

 I them. Bhubarb also requires a deep, rich and 

 j moist soil. Horse-radish beds are best made by 

 1 taking pieces of strong roots, about one inch long, 

 ! and making a hole about a foot or fifteen inches deep, 

 ' \ with a dibble, and dropping the piece to the bottom 

 ; of the hole ; a clean, straight root will then rise 

 I up through the soil. Crowns or eyes are better 

 I than pieces of roots, — where they can be had, — 

 and a rich, clayey soil better than a light, sandy 

 one. 



About the middle or end of the month, or still later 

 in the North,— say the middle of March,— Celery 

 and late Cabbage may be sown. Here, we usually 

 sow the second week in March. 



In the Northern States, Broccoli and Cauliflower 

 when sown in March as recommended, do not head 

 early enough in Fall. It should be sown about the 

 time of Early York Cabbage, in the hot-bed, during 

 this month. 



35 



GREENHOUSES. 



This is the season when many things will require 

 re-potting. Many have a set time and season to do 

 this ; but some things require re-potting at various 

 seasons. The best time is just before they are about 

 to make a new growth. Camellias, Azaleas, and 

 many plants, for instance, start at this season. It 

 is not necessary to re-pot so often as some think, 

 especially if bloom, and not very large specimens, is 

 chiefly wanted. If the pot is very full of roots, and 

 the plant growing weak, it may need re-potting. 



In potting, see that some provision is made for 

 alloAing the water readily to escape, by putting 

 broken crocks over the hole. Use soil rather dry, 

 and ram it firmly about the old ball. Prefer pots 

 only a little larger, to very large shifts, as less liable 

 to accidents. Trim the plants in a little, if unshapely, 

 to encourage the new growth where wanted. 



Many who have but small houses and wish to have 

 a variety, are troubled with valued plants becoming 

 too large. To keep them low, as soon as the plant 

 has matured its growth, cut it d wn as low as may 

 be desired. As soon as it shows signs of breaking 

 forth into a new growth^ turn it out of the pot ; 

 shake or tear away the old ball of roots and put it 

 into as small a pot as it can be got into ; and when 

 it grows again, and fills the pot with roots, re-pot 

 again as before. 



Sometimes the plants get "sick," which is known 

 by unhealthy, yellow leaves. This is usually by over- 

 watering, generating a gas, or, as gardeners term it, 

 a ''sourness," destructive to the roots. The reme- 

 dy is to cut the plant back a little, shake out the 

 soil, and put the plant in a small pot with new soil, 

 and place the plant in a house only moderately 

 warm, and which is naturally moist, — so that the 

 plant can live for a while without requiring much 

 water. It will generally recover. 



Every one interested in plant growing must be 

 continually on the watch for small insects, which de- 

 stroy more plants than many are aware of The lit- 

 tle Black Thrip is very troublesome to Azaleas ; the 

 green fly to all soft-wooded plants ; the scale to Ca- 

 mellias, Oleanders, Cactuses, and the mealy bug to 

 almost all hot-house plants. Continual syringings 

 with warm, greasy water, in which sulphur has been 

 mixed, is the best remedy. Tobacco smoke is still 

 the most approved mode of destroying green fly 

 and thrip. 



