A great deal of trenching and subsoiling can be 

 done through the winter if manure be thrown over 

 the surface before it is frozen too deep ; a little 

 snow even, dug in, will not injure the operation, as 

 we find in our own experience. 



VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



Towards the latter end of the month, in the 

 Southern States, there will be little time for study ; 

 spring will be opening, and hard work will be the 

 order of the day. Peas and Potatoes must be 

 planted as early as the season will admit. Even 

 here in Pennsylvania we have planted Peas to ad- 

 vantage during a favorable " spell " in the first week 

 in February. In sowing Peas, a common error is 

 to sow them too thick : each Pea should be nearly 

 two inches apart if the soil is rich, in order to have 

 a very satisfactory crop of large pods. We hate to 

 see the best half of mankind, namely, womankind, 

 imposed upon by those gardeners who grow plenty 

 of pods with no Peas in them for the dear crea- 

 tures to " shell." 



Asparagus beds may have the soil raked off them 

 a little, if it was thrown up from the alley-way in 

 the fall. It allows the sun to get to the roots ear- 

 lier, and the crop is forwarded thereby. If the 

 beds are poor, they may have a dressing of guano, 

 or superphosphate, which has been found very 

 beneficial to this crop. It has become almost a 

 stereotyped recommendation to have "salt applied," 

 but there is a good deal of the humbug about it. 

 In dry, sandy soils it does a little good, and a little 

 in whatever manure is applied is acceptable to 

 them, but more has been made of the salt theory 

 with Asparagus than it deserves. Asparagus beds 

 may be got ready as soon as the ground is suffi- 

 ciently dry to admit of working. A deep soil is 

 all-important ; two feet, at least, and a situation 

 should be chosen that is warm, and yet not too dry. 

 The roots should be set about four inches under 

 the surface, twenty inches or two feet from each 

 other, and the rows eighteen or twenty inches apart. 

 Large, fine Asparagus cannot be obtained by crowd- 

 ing the plants ; strong two and three year old 

 plants are the best; although in good, rich soil, 

 one year old plants will often bear a good crop the 

 year after planting. The length of time Asparagus 

 requires to come into bearing depends much on the 

 soil. It is useless to attempt raising it in poor 

 ground. 



Rhubarb also is one o the roots requiring earV 

 attention, and requires a very rich and deep soil, of 

 a clayey nature, to bring it to perfection. They 

 need be set but a few inches under the surface, and 



should have a clear space of about two feet each 

 way to develop themselves properly. There have 

 been so many improvements made in the varieties 

 of Rhubarb now, that there can be a good selec- 

 tion of kinds for different circumstances ; but we 

 have not found a very great deal of difference be- 

 tween some kinds. Linnaeus, Prince Albert and 

 Magnum Bonum, for instance, when grown side by 

 side, or cooked, exhibit little difference worth ap- 

 preciating,— although those who peddle old Rhu- 

 barb plants, under the new name of "Wine Plants," 

 assure us we must have the " true Linnaeus," to be 

 successful. 



WINDOW PLANTS. 



These suffer much at this season from the high 

 and dry temperatures at which it is necessary for 

 human comfort to keep our dwellings. Air can 

 seldom be admitted from the lowness of the exter- 

 nal temperature. Saucers of water under the 

 plants do much to remedy the drying from which 

 room plants suffer. In such cases, however, so 

 much water must not be given to the plants as to 

 those without saucers. The water is drawn up into 

 the soil by attraction, and though the surface will 

 appear dry, they will be wet enough just beneath. 

 The more freely a plant is growing, the more water 

 will it require ; and the more it grows, the more 

 sun and light will it need. In all cases, those 

 which seem to grow the fastest should be placed 

 nearest the light. The best aspect for room plants 

 is the south-east. They seem like animals, in their 

 affection for the morning sun. The first morning 

 ray is worth a dozen in the evening. Should any 

 of our fair readers find her plants, by some unlucky 

 miscalculation, frozen in the morning, do not re- 

 move them at once to a warm place, but dip them 

 in cold water, and set them in a dark spot, where 

 they will barely escape freezing ; sun-light will only 

 help the frost's destructive powers. 



But, besides the aridity of the atmosphere, a 

 more dangerous enemy to room plants is the fumes 

 of burning gas. Many a lady, who grew plants 

 well while the family was poor, and they lived in 

 cosy rooms by old wood-stoves, wonders why, when 

 rich enough to " get the gas introduced," they have 

 no more "luck "with plants. Where plants are 

 grown in gas lighted rooms, especial cabinets must be 

 provided to enclose them from the space in which 

 the gas-burners operate. 



GREENHOUSES. 



We note, with much interest, the increase of 

 these grateful winter pleasures ; but they are not 



