196 How to Make a Flower Garden 



will be found beneficial to plant a crop of potatoes in them occasionally, also 

 to seed them down to a green crop, such as red clover or millet. These can 

 be dug in later in the season, and will be valuable to renovate the soil. 



The uses for coldframes are many, and are indicated in the short list of 

 plants given to be grown in them. Before violet culture reached the high 

 state in which it is now, violets were very largely grown in coldframes for the 

 New York market. One florist in Jersey City, who had an exceptionally 

 favourable location, a sharp southern slope protected from the north, made 

 a very comfortable living from about five hundred sashes entirely devoted to 

 violets. Greenhouse culture of violets has, however, practically forced the 

 abandonment of coldframes by florists. They can be and are still used by 

 amateurs for their own use, and possibly to market the flowers if a surplus 

 is produced. If violets are to be grown in coldframes, they must not be 

 allowed to freeze hard at any time. Care must be exercised, therefore, to 

 cover the frames during cold weather at night with straw mats or the new 

 burlap mats, and over them close board shutters made out of half -inch pine 

 boards, and the size of the sash. Heavy weights should be put on these 

 to keep them from blowing away. These coverings will be found useful, 

 but not indispensable, for plants in coldframes which are simply being 

 carried over the winter. If care is taken to properly temper the plants 

 in the early part of the winter, no covering but the sashes will be necessary. 

 When snow covers the glass it should be removed as soon as possible, pro- 

 vided the ground in the frames is not frozen hard and the plants are 

 consequently growing. If it is frozen hard, the snow may be allowed to 

 remain on for weeks. 



The most important point in handling coldframes is ventilation. With a 

 frame tightly closed and the sun shining, the temperature in the frame, even 

 in the coldest weather, will rise rapidly, and air must be admitted. The usual 

 way is to have small blocks of wood prepared and laid on the sashes ready for 

 use. With the wind blowing briskly from the north and the thermometer 

 showing twenty degrees or less, give ventilation on the southern side of the 

 frame. The blocks should be about four inches high, sawed out of furring 

 strips. By inserting these flat, on edge, or upright, three gradations of ven- 

 tilation can be given, as desired. Sometimes it will be found desirable tc 

 ventilate by tilting the entire sash and inserting the block either flat or 

 edgewise at the middle of the sash, the block resting on the adjoining sash. 

 With a strong wind blowing along the frame, this method is desirable, as 



