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provides ample room for walking around and working in the hotbed. A 

 stake is placed, at the required distance from the windbreak, at the east 

 end of where the pit is to be and another stake at the west end, allowing 

 an extra foot for space in which to work while the woodwork is under 

 construction. The distance between the east stake and the west stake 

 will be in accordance with the number of beds that are to be made, plus 

 i foot. If but one bed is made, 3 feet will be allowed for the bed and 1 

 foot for working space; if a frame of four beds is to be made, then, con- 

 sidering the width of each bed to be 3 feet, the distance between stakes 



Fig. 11. — A practicable hotbed, constructed as described in text 



will be 13 feet; and so on, according to the number of beds to be made in 

 one range. 



Stakes are now placed 7 feet south of the east and the west stake. The 

 distance east and west between the last stakes placed should be the same 

 as that between the first two. A line is stretched around these four stakes 

 and the work of digging out the soil is begun. If the land is level the hole, 

 or pit, should be 30 inches deep, and the dirt should be thrown out on 

 all sides so that it can be used later for filling in and grading. Although 

 a depth of 30 inches may seem rather great for hotbeds farther south, 

 yet for average conditions in New York and in the northern United States, 



