Fire Hot-Beds. 65 



" The trench was boarded up as high as the ground level, 

 and the bottom floored over, a few inches above the flue, thus 

 forming a passage between the beds. The beds were covered 

 with boards, and on these were placed our seed and plant boxes. 

 In the hot-bed frame the floor made of inch-boards was laid 

 level, being close down to the flue near the chimney end, and 

 nearly two feet above it at the other end. The sides were ex- 

 tended above the floor 14 inches in front and 18 inches at the 

 back,giving slope sufficient to carry the water off the sashes. 

 At intervals of six feet, and alternating from side to side, spaces 

 were left between the floor and the sides for the passage of warm 

 air to the plant space above. 



" On a portion of this floor earth was placed to the depth of 

 eight inches, and some seeds sown here, but nearly all our 

 plants were started in the forcing house in boxes, and as it be- 

 came crowded, the boxes were transferred to the hot-beds, placing 

 the tender sorts at the end nearest the furnace, but cabbage and 

 similar plants near the chimney. 



" The tool room, used also for the storage of coal, potting 

 soil, etc., was walled with brick and covered with a shingle roof. 

 The furnace was built of brick. A frame with doors to fire box 

 and ash pit formed the front, and was set even with the inner face 

 of the tool room wall, and held in place by rods built into the 

 furnace wall. The fire box, lined with fire brick, was 30 inches 

 long, 15 inches wide, and 18 inches high in the centre. The ash 

 pit, 8 inches deep below the grates, had same width and length as 

 fire box. We used a single flue of 6-inch sewer pipe running 

 straight from furnace to chimney. This was supported on brick, 

 four inches from bottom of trench, and the joints were made 

 tight with fire clay and mortar. 



" On starting the hot-bed we found a difficulty in the 

 excessive radiation from the flue joints nearest the furnace. 

 This was obviated by encasing the first twelve feet in an outer 

 brick flue, which was allowed to open into the air chamber under 

 the hot-bed. The dryness of heat obtained by this method of 

 heating renders necessary the maintenance of pans of water over 

 the furnace, and at intervals along the flue. The experience of 

 the year proved so clearly the utility and convenience of our 

 forcing house that we removed the hot-bed frame and converted 

 the whole length into forcing house, excavating full width of 

 eleven feet, and running two flues, one under each trench." 



" Plants can be successfully grown in fire hot-beds, and in 

 many cases at less expense than in manure-heated beds. For a 

 forcing house, such as I have spoken of, the same sashes, the 

 same furnace and flues required for a hot-bed can be used. The 

 only difference is in the additional lumber necessary for the 

 frame, and the extra labor of construction. So I would suggest 

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