GLASS STRUCTURES 97 



evenly packed throughout. Now put on the sash and cover 

 until the bed heats well all through. If it does not start to 

 heating quickly enough, a few buckets of hot water should 

 be added. When well warmed through, level off the top of 

 the manure and cover with soil six inches deep. This soil 

 should have been prepared in the autumn and protected 

 from frost by mulching or by putting it under the leaves in 

 the bed ; but if this provision has not been made the soil may 

 be searched for in cellars, under strawstacks, in the woods 

 under leaves, or elsewhere, or the soil may be thawed out 

 by the use of sash and manure. As this latter process is 

 tedious, all experienced growers prepare their soil in the 

 autumn. 



After the soil is put on it should be left until it is 

 warmed through and the weed seeds near the surface have 

 germinated. Then remove the sashes and make the sur- 

 face fine with a rake, and the bed is ready to receive the 

 seed. A hotbed made up in this way in March will continue 

 to give out heat for five or six weeks, after which it will be 

 practically a cold frame; but since after the middle of April 

 the sun is pretty high and the bed well warmed, the plants 

 will continue to flourish. 



Hotbeds require more water than cold frames and more 

 care in the matter of ventilation. They should not be 

 started until a short time before one is ready to use them. 

 If seedlings are to be raised in them to be later on trans- 

 planted, start only enough sashes to grow the seedlings and 

 do not start other hotbeds until the seedlings are big enough 

 to be removed into them. 



For the ordinary farm garden four or five hotbed sashes 

 are a great plenty, and no more should be started than can 

 be properly attended to. These should be started about 

 the first of March. This number will be found sufficient 



