Soil Culture: Containing a Comprehensive View of Agriculture, Horticulture, Pomology, Domestic Animals, Rural Economy, and Agricultural LiteratureWalden, J. H.
Science
Soil Culture: Containing a Comprehensive View of Agriculture, Horticulture, Pomology, Domestic Animals, Rural Economy, and Agricultural Literature
Walden, J. H.
Agriculture -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
HORSERADISH.
This is regarded a healthy condiment, especially in the spring of the
year. Grated, with a little vinegar, it may be eaten with any food you
choose. Small shavings of the root are esteemed in mangoes. When steeped
in vinegar for two weeks, it is said effectually to remove freckles from
the face. Any pieces of the roots will grow in any good garden-soil.
Larger and better roots may be produced, by trenching the bed two feet
deep, and putting in the bottom, ten inches of good manure, and planting
selected roots, about six inches deep.
HOTBEDS.
These are designed to force an early growth of plants. It is done by the
use of solar heat, and that arising from fermenting manures, combined.
The following directions for constructing and managing hotbeds will
enable every one to be successful. Nail boards on pieces of scantling
placed in the inside corners, in the form of a box, sixteen feet long
and six feet wide; make it three and a half feet high on the back-side,
and two feet high in front, facing the sun; nail a piece of board across
the middle, let in at the top, to prevent the box from spreading when
filled. Fill that with good, fresh horse-manure, with but little straw;
tread it down firmly. Put over the whole, sashes made with cross-pieces
but one way, and filled with glass, lapped half an inch, like shingles
on a roof, to carry off the rain; putty in the glass lightly, or it may
adhere to fresh-painted frames; let the frames be halved on their edges,
so as to lap and be tight; put these over the filled hotbed, perfectly
fitted all around, and enough of them to cover the whole bed; in two or
three days the manure will become pretty warm, when it should be
covered, four inches deep, with rich mould, sheltered for the purpose
the previous fall, and the seeds planted. When the plants come up, see
that they are kept sufficiently moist, and not have the hot sun pour
upon them intensely, and they will grow rapidly; when too warm, they
should be partly covered with mats, and the frames raised to let in air.
Put small wedges between the sash and the boards, which will let in
sufficient air. Keep it closed when the air is cold, and covered with
mats when the sun is too hot. Plants are often destroyed by
over-heating. When in danger of freezing, cover closely with mats or
straw, or both. We have had plants growing in such a bed when the
thermometer stood eight degrees below zero. If the heat of the manure
subsides too early, pack fresh horse-manure all around the outside of
the box, and as it heats it will communicate warmth to the inside of the
bed. As plants grow up, transplant a part to a fresh bed, so as to give
all a chance to grow stocky and strong. Almost everything that grows in
the garden may be forwarded greatly in the hotbed. Vines, beets,
tomatoes, cabbages, peppers, egg-plants, celery, beans, corn, and
potatoes, may be obtained much earlier by this means. Those that are
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