172 AGRICULTURE 



long. The manure must be fresh and contain a good 

 amount of straw. Pack the bed well by thoroughly 

 tramping. 



Place on top of the bed a board frame six feet wide, 

 twelve inches high at the north edge and six inches at the 

 south. The frame may be as long as required. After 

 placing the frame in position, put in it a rich garden loam 

 to the depth of three to six inches, packing and smoothing 

 it well. Cover the frame with glazed sash. 



If the manure is in good condition it will begin heating 

 almost at once, and will soon raise the temperature of the 

 soil. Do not plant the seeds until the heating has been 

 well tested and the temperature has begun to go down. 

 This will be in about three days. The hotbed is now ready 

 to receive the seed. 



In raising the hotbed crop care must be taken to lift 

 the sash during the warm part of bright days, and also 

 to water sufficiently. Watering should be done in the 

 morning on sunny days, else the cooling may chill the plants. 

 If the temperature grows too high the sash must be lifted, 

 or the plants will be destroyed. 



Transplanting. When the time comes for transplant- 

 ing to the open soil care must be used or the change may 

 kill the tender plants or greatly check their growth. To 

 avoid this hotbed plants are often transplanted to another 

 bed, called a cold-frame, covered with glass but not heated. 

 This is known as the "hardening off" process. Transplant- 

 ing almost any plant is of great advantage since it causes 

 the multiplication of many small roots which add to its 

 growth. 



Vegetables that require special treatment. The 

 larger and later varieties of peas grow so high that they 

 require support, else they spread out on the ground and the 



