80 CALIFORNIA GARDEN FLOWERS. 



they stand in permanent place and a degree of forcing secured after 

 which the frames are removed and the plants allowed to make their 

 later growth in the open air. Violets, etc., are often profitably forced 



Fig- 3- Portable Cold Frames to Use on Plants Growing in Place. 



in this way. One of the pictures shows cold frames placed in this way 

 on a sloping piece of ground, the natural earliness of such a slope 

 being hastened by such slight protection. 



COVERING FOR HOT-BEDS AND COLD FRAMES. 



Glazed sashes are best for covering hot-beds and cold frames 

 though white cloth is used with great satisfaction. The glass in 

 California even in the winter should be whitewashed to prevent too 

 great concentration of sun heat, or too great radiation of heat at 

 night; or a lath or cloth cover should be at hand for day or night use. 

 It is often desirable to remove the sash during the day time and 

 cover with the lath frame. In exceptional cold spells an old carpet or 

 burlap cover may often be used to advantage at night. When covers 

 are used which are tight like glass or cloth, great attention must be 

 given to ventilation for it is very easy to allow the heat to run high 

 enough to kill the plants or to produce conditions favorable for 

 "damping-off." 



In the case of lath covers or of lath-houses which are often used 

 as shelters for seed beds and seed boxes, the space between the laths 

 should be the width of the lath which gives a half-shade. The lath 

 should run diagonally, whether the cover be used nearly flat or stand- 

 ing upright like the side of a lath-house, for this tends to shorten the 

 exposure at particular points. Sometimes the lath can be a little 

 wider spaced and on one edge of each lath tack cheesecloth in strips 



