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The Cornell Reading-Courses 



planted to this bed can be first raised in a small flat, * either earlier in this 

 bed, in another bed, or in the house at a sunny window or behind the 

 stove. Other plants, such as radishes, beets, and carrots, are sown for 

 maturing in this bed. For the best results they will require thinning, the 

 beet thinnings being used as greens. The seed of celery and of onions 

 is sown and the seedlings are transplanted later. 



After the lettuce plants have been disposed of, one row of cucumber 

 seeds may be planted, the plants being thinned later to 6 inches apart. 

 Cucumbers may be planted also after the pots at the back of the bed are 

 removed. The cucumber plants are then allowed to spread at will and 



Fig. 24. — Commercial hotbed yard. Notice the high board fence at the north of the yard 



to mature a crop of cucumbers for slicing or for other uses as required. 

 For commercial purposes, only one kind of plants is grown throughout 

 the bed or several beds, and transplanting is on a large scale. 



After one crop is taken out another can follow, the soil in the bed being 

 forked over and raked level between crops, and after the manure is spent 

 the bed can be used for the development of vegetables throughout the 

 summer. In the fall the soil and the spent manure is taken out of the 

 hotbed pits, the sash is stored away, and the board covering is replaced 

 for winter protection. Fresh manure is used every spring, also fresh soil, 

 the process of making and managing the hotbed changing only as the 

 operator becomes more experienced in successful hotbed work. 



* A fiat is a wooden box 12 inches wide, 18 inches long outside, and 2 J inches deep inside, filled with 

 dirt. 



