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HOW TO MAKE A HOTBED. 

 A Hotbed. 



T is a box or frame without bottom or top, made for one, 

 two or four sash, as in the illustration. It may be made 

 permanent of brick or stone, or temporary of plank or 

 one inch common boards, the back board about twenty 

 inches high, one-half greater elevation than the front, 

 which should be twelve to fourteen inches — the whole 

 made to support a sash or several of any dimensions, the best of about three by 

 seven feet. The back being higher than the front gives a declivity to the sash, 

 thus casting off the rain, which it would not do if flat. The box at proper season 

 is placed upon a bed of fermenting material, which, making a gentle and con- 

 tinuous heat, warms up a layer of soil resting upon it, and thus germinates seed 

 and forces plants into rapid growth. 



Manure. — The value of the bed depends principally upon the character of 

 the fermenting material. This should be rich stable manure (no cow dung) 

 forked over two or three times at intervals of a week and kept in a deep and 

 compact pile till it begins to smoke or steam, indicating that the process of fer- 

 mentation has set in. If the dung be very rich in grain an addition of forest 

 leaves is desirable, as they serve to prolong the period of fermentation, which 

 otherwise might be too rapid. 



Fio. 434.— HoTiiKD. 

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