hot-beds, if the heat is reduced in the body of the beds, holes may be carefully made to admit heat from the fresh linings, so as to enliven the heat of the bed.

A Fahrenheit thermometer should always be at hand at the time of forcing, to be used, when necessary, to regulate the heat in the beds; and the water that is used in cultivating plants in frames, should be warmed to the temperature of the air, or according to the heat required for the various kinds of plants, which will be shown in the annexed articles.

FORCING ASPARAGUS IN HOT-BEDS.

As Asparagus is apt to grow weak and slender by extreme bottom heat, it is forced with greater success, and with less trouble, in flued pits in a hot-house, than in dung hot-beds, because the heat from tan is more regular; but a very suitable bed may be formed in a deep hot-bed frame, made in the usual way. If dung alone, or a mixture of dung and leaves, be used, it should be in a state past heating violently before it is made into a bed; but if the gardener has no choice of materials, he may make his hot-bed in the usual way, and if the depth of heating materials be two feet, he may lay on a foot of old hot-bed dung, tan, or any light compost, that will admit of the heat passing through it.

It may be necessary to state farther, that though too much bottom heat should be avoided, heat is necessary to the production of the vegetable in a moderate time, which is generally effected in a month or six weeks after the commencement of the operations. For the purpose of keeping up a regular heat, a lining of hot dung should be applied around the frame, and changed as occasion requires.

Provide plants from two to four, or even six years old, trim their roots, and place them in rows on the beds; when one row is laid, strew a little mould among the roots, then proceed in the same way with one row after another, keep

ing them on a level, as the surface of the bed at first lay, till you have finished planting them; then lay among the buds and roots some fine vegetable or other rich mould, work it in among them with your fingers, and cover the beds over about an inch thick; and upon that, lay three inches in depth of vegetable mould not very rotten, old tan, or any other light compost that will admit the water to run quickly through.

If there be a strong heat in the bed, slide down the sashes till it begins to decline. The temperature at night should never be under 50°, and it may rise to 65° without injury; when the buds begin to appear, as much air must be daily admitted as the weather will permit. In two or three days after the beds are planted, the heat will begin to rise: the beds should then have a moderate supply of water, applied from a watering-pot with the rose attached; repeat such watering every three or four days.

When the buds are up three inches above the surface, they are fit to gather for use, as they will then be six or seven inches in length. In gathering them, draw aside a little of the mould, slip down the finger and thumb, and twist them off from the crown: this is a better method than to cut them; at least, it is less dangerous to the rising buds, which come up thick in succession.

An ordinary-sized frame calculated for three sashes will hold from three to five hundred plants, according to their age and size, and will, if properly managed, yield a dish every day for about three weeks. On the above estimate, if a constant succession of Asparagus be required, it will be necessary to plant a bed every eighteen or twenty days.

Rhubarb and Sea-Kale may be, and sometimes are, forced in the same manner as Asparagus; but the most general mode is to excite them where they stand in the open garden, by the application of warm dung.

FORWARDING BROAD BEANS, OR ENGLISH DWARFS.

IN the article Broad Beans, (Vicia faba,) I have already urged the necessity of early planting, in order that a full crop may be insured before the approach of warm weather; but as the ground is often frozen at the time they ought to be planted, some of the best kinds may be planted in boxes, and placed in a moderate hot-bed in February, or early in March. If the plants thus raised be not made too tender, they may be transplanted into the open ground the latter end of March; this will enable them to produce their fruit early in June.

Or if a heap of manure be spread thick on a piece of ground late in autumn, it will keep the earth from freezing; and if this manure be removed in February, and a frame placed over the spot and protected from extreme cold, the seedlings may be raised therein, and transplanted into the garden, as directed in article, page 39.

Those who have not the convenience of hot-beds or frames, may, in the month of February, plant some of the seed about two inches deep in boxes kept in the cellar, or in earth on the floor, which will produce plants fit to transplant in the open garden toward the latter end of March or early in April.

FORCING KIDNEY BEANS.

THE most dwarfish kinds of Kidney Beans may be raised in hot-beds; but they require a substantial heat to mature them. The temperature within the frames should be kept up to 60°, and may rise to 70° or 75°, provided the steam be let off. In order to insure sufficient heat to bring them into a bearing state, the plants may be first raised in small pots plunged into a hot-bed, or a small bed may be prepared,

earthed over with light rich compost, six inches deep, and the Beans planted therein, and covered one inch.

The second hot-bed should be earthed over to the depth of eight or nine inches, and the Beans transplanted as soon as they are two or three inches high, in cross rows twelve or fifteen inches apart, by three or four inches in the rows, or in clumps a foot apart. When the season is so far advanced that one bed, with the help of linings, will bring the plants well into fruit, the seed may be planted at once to remain for podding; or if the gardener should choose to mature his crop in the open ground, he may raise his plants in boxes or pots in the month of April, and plant them out in a warm border early in May.

Beans raised in hot-beds will require considerable attention. Cover the glasses every night with mats and boards; admit fresh air every mild day, give occasional gentle waterings, and earth them up carefully as they progress in growth, to strengthen them.

FORWARDING BROCCOLI AND CAULIFLOWER.

IN treating of the method of cultivating this family of plants, in the articles under each head, I recommended an artificial climate to be provided for them, so as to induce them to arrive at full perfection in the winter and early part of the spring. Gardeners who have provided frames for the purpose of making hot-beds, in the spring, may make use of them through the winter, in protecting Broccoli and Cauliflower; and as the frames will not be wanted until the severity of the winter is past, such plants as are left at that season may be protected by a covering of boards, straw, or litter, as occasion may require.

If Cauliflower be required early in the summer, the plants raised in the preceding autumu should be transplanted from the beds into the open ground, in the month of March, and

be protected by hand glasses. This would insure their heading before the approach of extreme warm weather, which is very injurious to Cauliflower.

FORCING CUCUMBERS.

To produce Cucumbers at an early season, should be an object of emulation with every gardener. The business of forcing them should commence about eight or ten weeks before the fruit is desired, and a succession of plants should be raised to provide for accidents. Some choose the Short Prickly, others the Long Green and White Spined; and seed two or three years old is generally preferred, as it is not so apt to run to vines.

The seed is generally sown in pots or boxes of light rich mould, and placed in a hot-bed; and some sow the seed in "the earth of a small bed prepared for the purpose.. In either case, as soon as the plants have fully expanded their two seed leaves, they may be transplanted into pots, putting three plants in each pot; when this is done, apply water warmed to the temperature of the bed, and shut down the glasses, keeping them a little shaded by throwing a mat over the glass, till the plants have taken root. When they are about a month old, they will be fit to transplant into the fruiting bed.

To prepare the dung properly, is of the greatest importance in forcing the Cucumber, and if not done before it is made into a bed, it cannot be done afterward, as it requires turning and managing to cause it to ferment freely and sweetly. Fresh dung from the stable should be laid in a heap, turned three times, and well mixed with a fork; if any appears dry, it should be made wet, always keeping it between the two extremes of wet and dry, that the whole may have a regular fermentation.

A dry situation should be chosen on which to form beds,