THE HOTBED AND ITS USES. I43 



parts by bolts or tenons, so that they may be taken apart and stored 

 for the next year's work. The depth of the frame must be gov- 

 erned largely by the plants which it is desired to grow, and by the 

 length of time they are to remain in the bed. Have your plants just 

 as near the glass as possible and yet give them room in which to 

 grow. When beds are started in the beginning of March the frames 

 ought to be dee]) enough to hold about sixteen to eighteen inches 

 of packed manure and six inches of dirt, and leave about six inches 

 for the plants to grow in. 



It is a common practice to dig a pit under the frames, about 

 twelve to fourteen inches deep, and it should be just as wide as the 

 frames. Have the north side of the frame about four to six inches 

 higher than the south side, to allow water that drops on the glass 

 to run off. Before putting the manure in the frames scatter several 

 inches of dry straw or leaves on the bottom of the pit and then 

 put the hot manure in it, being careful to spread it evenly all over 

 the bed. Fill your frames within several inches of the glass, tramp 

 it some near the frame but press it only slightly with the fork in the 

 center. Then put on your sash, and at night cover the sash with 

 boards or mats. In about three or four days, when well started 

 again, take off the sash and tramp well all over the bed. Care 

 should be taken to have the corners and the center well filled, that 

 an even settling may lie secured. The center especially wants to be 

 well filled and packed down. Fill in enough manure so that when 

 the dirt is put in it will be within an inch or so of the glass, for 

 bv the time your plants are larger the manure will have settled 

 enough to leave six or seven inches between the dirt and the glass. 



When the manure is well packed put on the dirt to the depth 

 of about five or six inches. This should lie quite rich and contain 

 a large amount of sand and humus, a compost of decomposed 

 pasture sod with one-third their bulk of well rotted manure being- 

 excellent for the purpose. This dirt should be collected and mixed 

 the fall previous, hauled into a heap near the beds and covered 

 with straw and manure to keep it from freezing so hard. After 

 your dirt is put in the beds leave them for several days to start all 

 weed seeds; then pulverize the surface with a rake and make it even, 

 and your beds are ready to receive the seeds or plants. 



For a market gardener it would be cheaper to build a small- 

 sized greenhouse, heated with hot smoke, to raise seedlings in and 

 transplant from there to the hotbeds. Ordinarily the manure will 

 heat very vigorously for a few days after the dirt is put on, and 

 great care should be taken not to get the plants in too soon. A 



