1 Dec., 1897.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 429 
Farm. Where there is a soil with a declivity of at least 2 feet in 50, it 
it suffices to dig in it two parallel flues, 2 feet apart, about 18 inches square at 
the bottom end, and say 8 inches square at the top end. Build at the bottom 
end a furnace 4 or 5 feet long with fire-bricks (it will take from 300 to 850 
bricks). Then continue the flues either with curved tiles or even stone 
flags; then build round them a frame 40 or 50 feet long by 5 or 6 feet 
wide, for which purpose you can use either ordinary bricks or boards. Take 
care that the slanting part faces the midday sun. Then fill with light loam 
until the soil is nearly level with the front side of the frame. Where the 
ground is flat it becomes necessary, of course, to dig in it a ditch 5 x 50 feet, 
3 feet deep at the furnace end, and 1 foot deep at the other. Bricks or boards 
can be used to make the chimneys, which should be 8 x 8 inches, and at least 
8 or 10 feet high to ensure a good draught. As glass is rather expensive, a 
simple canvas is sufficient to cover the bed during the nights and cold days, and 
it can be rolled up during the warm hours of the day. 
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°” Secondly, the tomato is rather difficult to transplant successfully, unless a 
good lump ot earth can be retained around the roots. To secure this end, the 
writer has used for years past a very simple device, which makes transplanting 
a pleasure and enables him to guarantee 100 per cent. of strikes. Get your 
tinsmith to cut for you pieces of strong galvanised iron 10 inches x 3, and to 
bend them cylinder-hke on his machine; but without soldering them. If he 
is reasonable, he will let you have them for 5s. or 6s. per gross. A still simpler 
way is to take old jam or swiss-milk tins, and to throw them into the fire to melt 
the soldering, after which they are ready for use. Now put those unsoldered 
cylinders into your hot-bed (Hig. 1); shake on them through a sieve some rich 
light loam mixed with well-rotted manure or vegetable mould. When they 
are filled within half an inch of the top, drop in the middle of each’ tin one 
tomato seed ; then fill up, as explained above, until the soil is nearly level with 
the tops of the tins, and give a moderate sprinkling with lukewarm water. If 
you now make, during the days only, a moderate fire in your furnaces, the 
temperature in your hot-bed will vary between 50 degrees towards the morning 
up to about 80 degrees in the middle of the day, and the plants will shoot up 
in from three to five days. Husband well the moisture in the soil, but water 
very sparingly. ‘Too much water makes the plants lanky and weak. In from 
four to six weeks they will be ready for transplanting. 
A perfect tomato soil should be a deeply ploughed and subsoiled sandy 
loam, well pulverised, and naturally or artificially well drained. The tomato 
being a gross feeder, the soil in which to grow it can hardly be too rich, 
