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HORTICULTURAL.
KITCIIVN GARDEN.
All work directed for March should now be completed.
If the is weedy, it may receive a dressing
of brine or salt. Severe frosts will probably be soon over
if not already past, so put in fearlessly the seed o l ' more
tender plants, and succession ciops of the hardier ones.
Plant Snap and Pole Beans—the Limas, both large and
small, should be planted with the eye downwards, and
slightly covered, as if planted with the broad side up
wards, if there should form a slight crust at the surface
of the hill, it often perishes, because unable to force its
way through. Beets, Cabbages, Carrots, Cucumbers,
Corn, Celery, Egg-Plant, Lettuce, Melons, Marjoram, Nas.
turtium, Okra, Irish Potatoes , Parsnips, Peppers, Peas,
Parsnips, Summer Savory, Sweet Basil, Sage, Salsify, To
matoes and Thyme, may all be planted. For those in
italics, it is already too late to look for usual crops.
Pinch off the seed buds that show themselves on Onion
tops from black seed sets. Os button onions, let them re
main, for the buttons are desirable for sets.
The offshoots of the Artichoke remove, reserving the
best for planting. Dress the old stools with manure.
Transplant Early Cabbage, Seakale, Celery and Lettuce
and later, when danger of frost has ceased, Tomatoes,
Peppers, Egg-Plants, Sweet Potato slips; also the Melons,
&c., raised in pots and baskets. Water when needed, and
protect for a day or two from the full sun.
All the seed beds planted last month must be watched,
the weeds removed, and when the young seedlings are
well up, loosen the soil about them with a narrow hoe.
If the ground is dry, do this at night, and water the plants
immediately after. Do not cultivate, or water tender
plants when there is danger of frost, as the danger is in
creased thereby. Thin out carefully, the young plants of
Turnips, Onions, Spinach, Beets, &c., as soon as you can
distinguish them, or the crop w ill be greatly injured.
Do not dig deeply among the rows of onions, &c. All
that is wanted, is to keep the soil light and clean, just at
the surface. Cover your beds of Irish potatoes with straw
or leaves, as soon as the danger of frost is over.
In planting Melons, Cucumbers, Squashes, &c., plant the
varieties of each species remote from each other, as they
will intermix if too near each other, and deteriorate. It
is, at this time, not'thought probable that the species of
these plants are very liable to hybridization, but each fam
ily among themselves, are peculiarly subject to intermix
ture. Thus Squashes and Pumpkins among themselves,
make all sorts of alliances, and possibly may be affected
by the vicinity of the musk-melon. Therefore, endeavor
to keep the seed pare, by planting the sorts apart.
SOUTII EH X CULT! VATOR.
Liquid manures may now be applied to Cabbages, and
the ground worked over as soon as they are dry enough.
If peas are not allowed to ripen seed, they will continue
much longer in bearing. This rule applies to all plants of
which the fruit is used in its green state.
For the Southern Cultivator.
TIIE CULTURE OU VEGETABLES.
BY CHARLES A. PEABODY.
Onions. —Onions were originally found in Egypt, and
so highly were they esteemed in ancient times, that the
chosen people ot God, when on their way to the promised
land, murmured at God’s providence, and sighed for the
Leeks and Onions of Egypt again. Therejare three varieties
of Onions cultivated, the Red, White, and Yellow. The
White is the mildest, but is not as easily kept through
the season as the other two, being more inclined to rqjt.
These are all made from seed. They may be planted in
the Fall, or in January, February, or March. 1 prefer
February to any other month to put the seed in, but I
have made fine bulbs by planting the seed as late as April.
There is no garden seed planted, that is more sure of
coining to perfection in this climate, than the Onion, if
properly planted. The soil must be highly enriched,
with well decomposed manure. It is well to soak tho
seed twenty four hours before planting. Plant in drills,
fourteen inches apart, in the drill. Cover the seed about
half an inch, and press the earth solid on them. If tho
seed come up well, thin out every other one.—The Onion
Bed must be kept free from grass and weeds, and frequent
ly stirred with the hoe. A top dressing of ashes will be high. a
ly beneficial in the earlier stages of their growth. Salt is
also an excellent manure for Onions. The bulbs will bo
lit for the Table in July and August, and from their late
maturity, can be kept through the winter. For an early
crop of Onions, plant the Set or Button. These may bo
put in the ground any time from October to March.—
Plant them in drills, like the seed, but put them two inches
farther apart in the drill. Onion Sets planted in January
or February, will make fine bulbs for the Table in May
and June. The button will make a greater quantity of
bulbs, but they are not as delicate or as solid as the seed
or set. Buttons planted in the Fall, in good ground, will
make the butttons again. In planting the small onion,
set or button, do not cover them deep. Just cover tho
bulb: the finest bulbs are made above the ground.
Okra. —Okra belongs to the family of the cotton plant,
and like cotton, it is extremely tender, consequently will
not bear planting before the last of March or the first of
April- It may be planted in drills three feet apart, and
as it increases in size, thin out to three feet In the drills.
To have early “ Gombo Soup” the earliest pods should bo
saved for seed, but those stalks from which pods for eat
ing are gathered, should not be allowed to mature seed.—
As fast as the pods become hard and unfit for the table,
cut them off. They will if left on the stalk destroy the
productiveness of the stalk. By keeping them free from
ripening seed pods, they will yield until Frost. Okra, in
good soil, will make almost a tree, but it is no advantage to
have such monstrous stalks, as it is difficult to gather tho __
pods, and the roots take upas much nourishment as a
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