JiAJSIAG AND CUL TIVA TION OF ANNUAL FLO WE RING PLANTS. 



turnings this will be reduced to about 

 one common cart load by the time it is 

 required for the bed. It might be as 

 well to mention here that in turning 

 over the material it may be necessary to 

 add water to make it heat properly. 

 There should never be any dry patches 

 (fire-fang) allowed in hotbed material, or 

 in fact in any material required to be 

 used as manure, it is useless afterwards. 

 The material to form the hotbed 

 being now, say about the middle of 

 April, in first-class condition, turn the 

 whole over on to the place, making it 

 one foot larger each way than the box 

 to be placed on it, shaking and mixing 

 the whole as it is put on. Make it firm 

 with repeated taps with the back of the 

 fork; when finished, the manure should 

 be firm enough to carry a man without 

 his foot sinking more than about three 

 in:hes into it. This sort of a bed will 

 not blaze up and burn everything that 

 will be sown in it ; then ultimately you 

 might trace the cause of all the dis- 

 appointments of your seedsman, who, 

 honest man, does not know, and should 

 not be blamed when perfectly innocent, 

 for the disappointments sure to follow- 

 in trying to grow seeds in a place, nine 

 times out of ten, constructed on im- 

 proved principles to kill everything of 

 vegetable nature. Very few seeds will 

 stand more than 90° ; and almost all 

 annuals will succeed much better if 

 never subjected to a higher bottom heat 

 than 75°. The soil^is another considera 

 tion of some importance; not that it 

 requires to be extra good, but light and 

 friable being more suitable. In fact, 

 any good garden soil will answer very 

 well with the addition of sand if of a 



stiff nature to make it free and open. 

 The quantity has more to do with suc- 

 cess than quality, and in no case should 

 less than four inches to six inches be 

 used. The sorts of annuals requiring 

 the greatest heat might be sown on the 

 part where the four inches is used, and 

 plants of a hardier nature, such as 

 stocks, asters, etc , sown on the thicker 

 part of the bed. Shading, airing, and 

 watering being about all that is required 

 after sowing until some of the small 

 seedlin£;s may require to have a first 

 transplanting. Many plants are im- 

 proved by this transplanting, giving them 

 not only more root, but more head 

 space. In fact, it is about impossible 

 to produce good healthy plants of many 

 of the different sorts of both flowers and 

 vegetables without transplanting them. 

 Shading the hotbed before the seedlings 

 appear above the soil is good practice, 

 inasmuch as plants do not require light 

 to germinate, and it also has the further 

 advantage of retaining the moisture, or 

 at least not allowing the soil to become 

 parched by the sun. Watering should 

 be done only when necessary, and this 

 done efficiently through a fine rosed 

 watering pot, as many of the small seed 

 or plants would be washed out if done 

 too roughly. Ventilation is also one of 

 the imperative attentions demanded to 

 secure success in the hotbed. It is 

 better to err on the safe side here ; as to 

 neglect giving air for a couple of hours 

 on a sunny forenoon would most likely 

 finish everything The giving of air less 

 or more, according to the state of the 

 weather must by no means be neglected. 

 — Report Montreal Hort. Soc. 



153 



