HOTBEDS AND COLD FRAMES NINE MONTHS IN THE YEAR. 163 



over, filling within ten or twelve inches of the top, then adding 

 four to six inches of dirt. What we' don't need for plants we sow 

 to radishes at the start, and these radishes will be out of the way 

 at the time our lettuce plants are ready for transplanting. There 

 is more money in growing lettuce than radishes, but we can get 

 a crop of radishes off with no extra expense other than the seed. 



We follow the lettuce with tomato plants, and practically all 

 our muskmelons and cucumbers are started in the cold frames or 

 hotbeds. We call them cold frames after we have taken out a 

 crop of radishes and lettuce. They are all hotbeds to begin with. 

 We take out the cucumbers and melons about the last days of May 

 or the first of June — it may be about the 4th or 5th of June if 

 the weather isn't favorable for planting before that time. 



We then start with celery. All our celery plants are grown 

 in the south part of the bed. We sow a row crosswise along the 

 south side because we get a better stand of celery. At the time 

 our cucumbers and melons are out our celery plants are ready to 

 transplant. We put them about six to eight inches apart in the 

 cold frames. We reserve one or two beds for head lettuce, as our 

 trade demands some of this the entire summer. All we need to 

 do with this celery after it is planted is to cultivate once or twice 

 and water very frequently. We use a hoe with an extra long 

 handle so we can stand up straight and not have to bend over. 

 We cultivate it once or twice. All we need then is to water it. 

 It takes a large amount of water but not as much as though it 

 were out in the field. 



A Member : How do you prevent rust ? 



Mr. Rasmussen: We haven't had as much rust in the 

 frames as out in the fields — or blight either. We take this pre- 

 caution, we spray. We spray practically everything we grow, 

 and every time we use bordeaux mixture for anything else we 

 soak the celery, give it a good spraying, making the spray a little 

 bit strong with blue vitriol. 



A Member: How many dozen of celery plants do you put 

 in a sash? 



Mr. Rasmussen : Seven rows, four by nine, I think is what 

 we get in a three by six sash. It depends somewhat on circum- 

 stances. The earlier ones we plant a little closer. We put an 

 extra row in this season. There isn't much competition, and the 

 trade will stand for that size of stock. A little later when celery 

 is more plentiful we start out with one plant less, and we start 

 with six rows. You have got to regulate that entirely by what 

 your trade wants. 



A Member: That will be six rows and six inches apart in 

 each row? 



