THE HOTBED AND COLD-FRAME 



A HOTBED is a most desirable acquisition to the 

 garden in any locality. In a warm climate it 

 enables the gardener to start his young plants 

 during the winter months, and thus gives him a 

 very long gardening season, while in a section of 

 the country where the summers are short, it is a 

 necessity if one would make it worth while having 

 a garden at all. When it is desired to keep the 

 plants from fall until spring, it can be best done 

 in a greenhouse, but failing to have a greenhouse, 

 a hotbed will do very well. By the use of a hotbed, 

 plants can be hardened gradually to stand cooler 

 weather and thus be saved from the blight of a 

 sudden and severe frost. It is not unusual for the 

 gardener who sows in the open ground to lose his 

 entire first crop of seedlings. 



In transplanting from the hotbed, only a certain 

 number of the plants should be set out at one time, 

 and these should be watched and tended to make 

 sure they are not going to be killed by cold before 



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