2 5 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



profitable business. But it is a business that calls for 

 the highest skill and closest attention. 



No garden, even for home use, is complete without 

 some glass sashes, and the garden will be all the more 



successful if there 

 is a small heated 

 greenhouse for 

 starting plants 

 that are after- 

 wards to be set in 

 the garden. 



Hotbeds. If 

 there is no green- 

 house, a hotbed is 

 an important help 

 in the garden. 

 The bed is made 

 by digging a pit 

 two feet deep, 

 seven feet wide, 

 and as long as 

 necessary. 



The material 

 for the hotbed is 

 fresh horse ma- 

 nure mixed with leaves. This is thrown into a heap to 

 heat. As soon as steam is seen coming from the heap, 

 the manure is turned over and piled again so that the 

 outer part is thrown inside. When the whole is uni- 

 formly heated and has been turned two or three times, it 

 is packed firmly into the pit already dug. . 



FIG. 219. THE GLADIOLUS 

 Copyright, 1904, Doubleday, Page & Co. 



