HOTBEDS AND COLD FRAMES, 243 



HOTBEDS AND COLD FRAMES. 



C. G. MARSHALL. 



Hotbeds are devices supplied with bottom heat from fermenting 

 manure or other source for the purpose of growing plants out of season 

 or for forcing them into a quick growth. More farmers, fruit growers, 

 and others growing garden vegetables for the home should make use 

 of the hotbed. It enables the gardener to start cabbage, tomatoes, sweet 

 potatoes and other plants into growth early in the spring, even when 

 the ground is yet frozen solid, so that when the danger of frosts out-of 

 doors is past the plants may be transplanted in the garden and with the 

 start that they already have they come on early and supply the homo 

 with vegetables much earlier in the season. 



Such plants as tomatoes are started in hotbeds by market gardeners 

 very early, and then transplanted in coldframes, which are of similar 

 construction but without artifical heat. The plants require a gradual 

 iirocess of hardening off before being transplanted to the garden and this 

 is done in coldframes, while the weather is yet too cold for outdoor 

 planting. By the time the weather is suitable for garden planting many 

 plants have attained considerable size and have begun to bloom. This 

 system enables the grower to place his product on the market very early 

 in the season which assures him good returns. 



To construct a hotbed the soil should be excavated about two and 

 one-half feet deep, six feet wide north and south and long enough to 

 accommodate the number of sash to be used. The most common size of 

 hotbed sash is three feet by six feet. The excavation, preferably, should 

 be made on the south side of some building or other protection where 

 the sun's rays are not obstructed. A frame should be built, using strong 

 boards set on edge extending from slightly below the surface of the 

 ground to about six inches above the ground on the south side and 

 twelve inches on the north side. The end board should be cut slanting to 

 fit. Strong stakes, extending to the bottom of the pit, should be placed 

 in the corners of the frame and at intervals of about three feet on the 

 sides and ends and securely nailed to the frame of boards. Light cross 

 bars may be placed across at proper intervals to keep the frame from 

 spreading or being pressed inward. Sash may be made to order or se- 

 cured from seedsmen and dealers in garden supplies. 



The pit should be filled with fresh manure containing much straw 

 from the horse barn. It should be spread evenly and firmed down well, 

 and extending to within six inches of the level of the ground. Rich 

 garden loam should then be placed over the manure to a depth of six 

 inches, and a liberal amount of water supplied so the manure is thor- 

 oughly wet to the bottom. In four or five days the manure should 

 begin to ferment and give off heat. The hotbed will require regular 

 watering every day or two, depending on the weaiher. On warm, sunny 

 days the sash may be raised to let in fresh air to prevent over-heating. 

 If severely cold weather is expected at any time the outside of the 

 frame should be covered with straw or old carpets. 



