18 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



inches high at the back (for preserving garden plants, 18 

 is best), and 9 inches in front; for a two-sash frame, 4^ 

 feet from back to front, 7 feet from side to side, and the 

 same height as the smaller, with a good stont well fixed 

 bar in the centre, from back to front, to support the 

 sashes; for a three-sash frame, 4J- feet from back to 

 front, 10 from side to side, from 18 inches to 2 feet 

 high at the back, and 9, 12, or 15 inches in front; these, 

 of coarse, must have two cross bars. The larger frames 

 may be deeper, because they will need more depth of 

 earth. The woodwork should be of 1^-inch deal, planed 

 and neatly put together, that there may be no cracks to 

 hold wet or harbour insects. The cross bars should be 

 3 inches wide, and dovetailed in front and back, that the 

 sashes may shut down close, and a slat of wood should 

 be set on at the sides of the frame, for the sashes to drop 

 against, leaving the front and back without this addition, 

 for the convenience of drawing the sashes up and down. 

 The sashes should extend beyond the frame at the top, 

 and be made of IJ-inch wood, and should be 2^ 

 inches wide ; the cross frames should be an inch wide 

 and an inch and a half thick, as in this part it is not 

 good to interrupt the light more than necessary ; these 

 may be nine or twelve inches apart. The frames should 

 have three good coats of paint to begin with, and should 

 never be more than a yea? 1 without painting. Of course 

 the frame must be placed with the high back to the north, 

 so that it may slope towards the south. 



In sharp weather the sashes will want to be covered, 

 to keep out the frost. This is generally done with mats, 

 and other materials that absorb wet, which then lowers 

 the temperature of the air within the frame, instead of 

 retaining the heat. To obviate this, a framework may 

 be made to cover the lights in severe weather, and ward 

 off wet also. Make a lattice of stout laths the size of 

 the frame, or, if it be a large one, the size of the lights, 

 making one for each sash. The laths of the lattice may 

 be a foot apart. Lay on it a mat, and over the mat fix a 

 thatching of straw from three to six inches thick. These 

 may be put on and taken off as the weather renders pro- 



