dates for sowing are about as follows in the vicinity of New York.
Allow about a week's difference for every hundred miles of
latitude--earlier in the south, later in the north.

February 1st--Cabbage, cauliflower.

February 15th--Cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, beets, lettuce,
onions for plants.

March 1st--Lettuce, celery (early), tomato (early), beets.

March 15th--Lettuce, tomato (main), egg-plant, pepper. For one's own use
or special orders, cucumbers, squash, lima beans, potatoes sprouted in
flats of sand, may also be started, but there is no market demand for
them.

April 1st--Celery (late), cauliflower; (in sods or paper pots),
muskmelon, watermelon, corn, for special use.

After being started and pricked off into flats, cabbage, cauliflower,
Brussels sprouts, beets, lettuce, and celery are kept inside just long
enough to get well established, and then put outside in a tight frame.
Harden off as well as possible before putting out, as a freeze the first
night might injure them. After that slight frost on the leaves will not
injure them, but if they freeze stiff, apply cold water in the
morning--ice-cold is just as good--and shade until they are thawed out.
If very cold it will be necessary to protect the frames with shutters.
Beets and lettuce will not stand quite so low a temperature as the
cabbage group. By the time the plants are pretty well grown,
cloth-covered frames may be substituted for the glass ones, and these
may be used elsewhere to cover the tenderer plants such as tomato and
egg-plant. After the first of April they will not need any protection.
Last spring I had several thousand cabbages covered twice with several
inches of snow, and hardly a one was lost.

Tomatoes, peppers and egg-plants require different treatment. They are
heat-loving plants, and not only succumb to even a slight freeze, but
will be so checked by a low temperature, even if not touched by frost,
that they will amount to little. They should be kept growing as rapidly
as possible. They will also require a _second_ transplanting. Those
wanted for the retail trade are put a dozen in a box, three or four
inches deep and 7 x 9 inches. Care must be taken not to let these plants
run up tall. Always give all the air possible while keeping up the
temperature, which should be from fifty to fifty-five at night. Get them
outdoors as soon as the weather becomes settled, where they could be
protected in case of a sudden late f