AMERICAN AGiUC IJLTUR1ST. 
63 
Hot beds require attention during the first 
of this month. They are sometimes made 
by excavating the earth for the heating ma¬ 
terials, though these are more frequently 
placed upon the surface. If stable manure 
alone is used, it is better to remove but little 
earth, but if leaves and tan are employed, 
and the ground selected for the bed is suffi¬ 
ciently dry, we prefer digging a pit two feet 
deep, and of any desired size, say twelve 
feet long and five feet wide, to be covered 
by four sashes, each three by five feet. If 
the ground holds water, a drain should be 
made from the pit, and stones, rails, or bones 
placed at the bottom. It is of the first im¬ 
portance that the heat-generating materials 
be kept dry after making the bed, else fail¬ 
ures will be the result. 
Pits are usually dug in the Fall, because 
the frost is seldom out of the ground suffi¬ 
ciently early in the Spring. The sides are 
sometimes built of brick, and kept for the 
purpose of forcing, year after year. 
Having chosen a locality in a situation 
sheltered from cold north winds by buildings 
or evergreens, or by a board fence, with a 
free opening to the South, prepare the pit 
as above, and if leaves were collected for 
the purpose last Fall, put in a layer, say 
four feet in thickness, and cover with six 
inches of spent tan bark. Spread over the 
whole three inches of dry earth or mold, 
prepared as below, and a gentle, uniform 
temperature will be maintained for several 
successive months. 
The more common method, however, is to 
place, either within a pit or upon the level 
ground, about three feet of stable litter vvhieh 
has been shaken out and kept under cover 
for ten or fifteen days. Square this up one 
foot larger each way than the size of the 
frame to be used, and having beaten down 
and leveled it off, cover with six inches of 
prepared earth. This covering should be 
prepared in the Fall, by mixing well-rotted 
turf with one-third decomposed stable ma¬ 
nure. Garden soil, well manured, will an¬ 
swer this purpose if the prepared earth can 
not be had. The bed should not be planted 
as soon as made, but covered with the frame 
and sash, and left for a few days. Examine 
often, and if the heat appears too great, 
admit air by the sashes. 
FRAME AND SASH. 
The frame to be set over the compost may 
be made of one-and-a-half or two-inch pine 
plank, nailed to four upright posts, or, what 
is better, nail the side pieces only to the 
posts, and fasten on the end pieces tempo¬ 
rarily with screws, or hooks and staples. 
This will allow of their bejng taken apart 
and packed away when not in use. Groove 
the sides and ends together when two planks 
in hight are used, and let the frame be fifteen 
inches deep upon the front or south side, and 
two feet upon the back, beveling the whole 
so that the sash will fit closely. If the 
frame be five by twelve feet, insert three 
cross pieces on the upper side, three feet 
apart, for the sashes to slide upon, and nail 
narrow strips, say one inch square by five 
feet long, on the center of these cross pieces, 
and also upon the outer edge of each end of 
the frame itself, to keep each sash in its 
place, and make close joints. The sashes 
are usually made by sash-makers, with a 
strong outer frame, and middle rails run¬ 
ning lengthwise only, that the water may 
run off freely. Every thing being complete, 
and the beds having stood for a few days 
until the rank hot steam has passed away, 
the ground may be used in the following 
manner, or in any other way desired : Di¬ 
vide the bed under each of the four sashes, 
which will give eight spaces. In these may 
be planted cabbages, tomatoes, egg-plants, 
celery, cauliflower, cucumbers, spinach and 
lettuce, scattering a little radish seed over 
the whole. The radishes will be large 
enough to pull out before interfering with 
the other plants. 
Examine the bed daily, and if the heat ap¬ 
pears too great, admit air by raising the 
sashes a little upon the back side. Water 
moderately, if too dry, and if at any time 
the heat appears to decline, bank up about 
the bed with stable manure, which may be 
renewed as necessary. If severe weather 
should occur, the whole may be covered 
with mats or straw for better protection. 
After the plants have put out their third 
leaf, the sashes should be raised a few inches 
every mild day to air them. This is espe¬ 
cially important towards the latter part of 
their growth in the bed, as the heat and 
steam would soon scald or burn them up. 
The plants thus started are of course to be 
transplanted to the open ground as soon as 
the season will admit. With a single frame, 
and a very little expense and trouble, a large 
number of plants may be started so early as 
to gain three to five weeks over the usual 
garden growth. 
PRESERVING FRUITS, &c. 
We are now daily enjoying nice tomatoes, 
peaches, cherries, raspberries, &c., which 
taste just as fresh as when they were picked 
last Summer and Autumn. These we have 
kept in the “ self-sealing tin cans,” part of 
which were purchased from Messrs Wells 
& Provost, and part from Messrs. Taylor & 
Hodgett. The fruits were put up accord¬ 
ing to the directions we gave last year, 
which will be repeated at the proper season. 
Very little sugar was used, and but little 
cooking. From a second year’s experience, 
we are satisfied that this mode of keeping 
fruits that are not too sour (acid,) is the 
cheapest, most healthful, in short the best 
we know of. We hope the manufacturers 
of the cans will make their arrangements to 
sell them at the lowest possible price, (the 
cost was rather too great for extensive use 
last year,) and then prepare to supply “ the 
million.” This notice is unasked, and 
wholly gratuitous. We merely speak for 
the benefit of our readers. 
WHEN AND HOW TO PRUNE. 
In our last number we presented some 
general considerations on the importance of 
pruning trees : we now proceed to answer 
the inquiries, When and how to prune them 1 
Our remarks at this time will have special 
reference to the apple and pear. 
There is learned “ authority” for pruning 
at every season of the year. Loudon says, 
“ the period immediately before, or commen¬ 
surate with, the rising of the sap, is the 
best.” Forsyth recommends “April or 
May.” Kenrick, “ that interval between the 
time when the frost is out of the ground in 
Spring, and the opening of the leaf.” Cole 
says, “ the Spring is the worst season,” the 
Fall is the best, and moderate pruning may 
be performed from June to December. 
Downing recommends “ a fortnight before 
mid-Summer as the best season on the 
whole, in the Northern and Middle States.” 
Barry says that, with some exceptions, 
pruning should be done “ as soon as the se¬ 
vere frosts are over—say the latter end of 
February and beginning of March.” A witty 
clerical horticulturist is said to have given 
his advice to prune “when your tools are 
sharp" ! 
So far as practice goes, the argument is 
certainly in favor of Spring pruning, full 
three-fourths of all this work being done at 
that season. This is a time of comparative 
leisure for the farmer and gardener. The 
bark of trees is then less likely to start 
under the orchardist’s boot, and less likely 
to peel off where a limb is removed. We do 
not admit the argument of some writers, 
that as the sap in early Spring has the 
strongest ascending impulse, and is designed 
to promote growth of wood, wounds made 
at this season will soonest be healed. For 
this sap is not in a condition to heal wounds 
until it has been elaborated by the leaves of 
Summer. When large limbs must be taken 
off, Summer is, on the whole, the best sea¬ 
son, provided the work is done carefully, 
and the wound covered with grafting wax or 
shellac dissolved in alcohol. If small trees 
are pruned late in the Fall, or in mid-Win¬ 
ter, (at the North,) the ends of the shoots 
shrivel and die, and the terminal bud is in ¬ 
jured, if not killed. If large trees are pruned 
then, the stumps often decay, unless cov¬ 
ered, and rarely heal over for many years. 
If pruning is done in mid-Summer, upon 
healthy trees, the wound heals rapidly, be¬ 
cause the descending sap is then in a fine 
condition for depositing woody fibre. Light 
pruning may be safely recommended for 
this season. Well would it be if trees were 
so managed when young as not to require 
the amputation of large limbs at any subse¬ 
quent period; for certainly it is a great 
waste of time and of the tree’s forces, to 
grow a crop of limbs only to hew them off 
again. 
The young apple tree and standard pear 
need little pruning except to remove strag¬ 
gling and cross branches ; and even this can 
