184 THE FORCING GARDEN. 



soil a foot deep and five feet wide, and of any desired 

 length. Turn the soil out on one side, if good ; and 

 then, having a sufficient quantity of well-fermented 

 manure ready, commence to make the bed. But before 

 that is done fill up the space which has been dug out 

 with some brushwood or faggots not, however, quite 

 to the outside, but from the back to within a foot of 

 the front edge. On this brushwood or faggots place the 

 dung stable dung it should be tread, and beat it 

 firm as you proceed, so as to ensure a solid bed of fully 

 two feet in depth, and then rake the surface over, and 

 beat it with the back of the spade as a finish. 



The bed, if against a wall, should be at a moderately 

 sharp lean-to pitch (see fig. 34) ; but if on an open spot 

 it may be made a sharp span-roof. The manure or dung 

 must not be over-fermented, i.e. not exhausted in its 

 fermenting power, but half done. When the bed is 

 made, break up the soil turned out of the trench below 

 and make it as fine as you can with the spade. It 

 should be of a somewhat adhesive nature, but not cold 

 or poor clay, nor of a dry dusty kind ; good by nature 

 and made good by manure for other crops that have 

 been in the ground ; it should also not be too wet. 

 If dust-dry, water it before putting it on the bed ; it 

 should properly be half dry, so that it will adhere to- 

 gether when beaten, which it should be finally, so as 

 to form a tolerably smooth surface. 



A few sticks as large as the finger should be plunged 

 into the bed a foot deep, to ascertain the heat of it by 

 pulling them out once within twelve hours, and taking 

 hold of the warm end ; if the heat is up, and they are 

 as warm as milk just from the cow, immediately put in 

 the spawn ; this is best done by the thick end of a hand 



