the amateur’s kitchen garden. 
159 
preferable to that commonly in nse, because it insures a 
plentiful supply of early sticks that can be easily drawn, 
whereas stable manure put on after the turn of the year will 
prevent many of the sticks rising, and really should be used 
only for the assistance of the more robust and later varieties. 
Very well, remembering that complete success depends oft- 
times on the observance of trifles, the next business is to find 
•a lot of old boxes, or any kind of cover that can be put over 
them to keep in the warmth and exclude the cold. 
At the risk of appearing prolix, we shall invite attention to 
a few facts of a representative kind. On the 11th of Januaiy, 
1861, the temperature of the earth at a depth of two feet at 
Chiswick was 36-| 0 , and the minimum temperature of the air 
the same day was 19°. On the 11th of January, 1862, the 
temperature of the earth at a depth of two feet was 43°, and 
the minimum temperature of the air on the same day was 30°. 
On the 11th of January, 1863, the temperature of the earth 
at a depth of two feet was 43^°, and the minimum tempera- 
ture of the air on the same clay was 28°. On the 11th of 
January, 1864, the temperature of the earth at a depth of two 
feet was 40 and the minimum temperature of the air on the 
same day was 29°. On the 11th of January, 1865, the tem- 
perature of the earth at a depth of two feet was 44°, and the 
minimum temperature of the air on the same day was 40°. 
On the 11th of January, 1866, the temperature of the earth 
at a depth of two feet was 43°, and the minimum temperature 
of the air on the same day was 17°. On the 11th of January, 
1867, the temperature of the earth at a depth of two feet was 
42°, and the minimum temperature of the air on the same day 
was 16°. On the 11th of January, 1868, the temperature of 
the earth at a depth of two feet was 39°, and the minimum 
temperature of the air on the same day was 29°. If we go on 
for ever the same kind of story will be told, and the facts 
cited will suffice to indicate that when early growth of out- 
door plants is desired, we must shut them up from the 
variable atmosphere, and conserve for their use as much as 
possible the natural heat of the earth. In the course of the 
•eight years to which the foregoing particulars refer, the mean 
difference between the temperature of the earth at two feet 
depth and the minimum of the air above the same spot on 
the 11th of January was 16°, the mean of the ground heat 
being 41^°, and the mean of minimum of air heat 25^°. The 
