Hotbed Construction and Management 



1619 



and where the bed is to be used for any length of time, this depth will 

 be found very satisfactory. Nevertheless, the depth of bed is but a 

 slight factor in hotbed construction and may be changed at will by the 

 operator, who can either make the pit shallower or fill with other material 

 than manure on the lower level (page 1626). The depth of the pit will be 

 regulated by local conditions. 



New stakes are driven 6 inches south of the first stakes placed on the 

 east and west ends, and these should be set far enough from the edge of 

 the excavation to be firm. These stakes are connected by a line, drawn 

 tight. This line then represents, in the case of an all- wood pit, the front 



Fig. 12. — Cross-section of hotbed 



or south side of a row of posts or 2X4-inch scantlings that are to serve 

 as the support of the back boarding. These posts or scantlings should 

 be sunk in the soil at least 1 foot, and preferably 18 inches, below the 

 bottom of the bed. They should extend 42 inches above the bottom of 

 the bed, each one being set plumb with the line. The distance from the 

 middle of one post to that of the next is 4 feet except in case only one or 

 two beds are installed, when a distance of 3 feet is better. When all 

 the posts are set, 2x6-inch planking is nailed with twenty-penny nails 

 along their tops, 42 inches being provided for from the bottom of the pit 

 to the top of the planking. By the use of a carpenter's level the top 

 of the planking can be made in one plane, or level. The planking can 



