Hotbeds for Early Flowers 



205 



after transplanting, and shade them with dampened sheets of paper for a few 

 days until they have taken root. Tepid water, say 90 degrees F., can be 

 used with benefit in watering plants in hotbeds, for the reason that the heat 

 in the bed must be conserved. When the season's work is done, take out 

 the manure and soil, which now has little value except, perhaps, to lighten 

 heavier soils used for potting. 



II. How TO Make a Hotbed 

 By W. C. Egan 



Choose a sunny position protected from the prevailing spring winds 

 by a fence, building, or hedge, where the surface drainage will be away from 

 the site of the hotbed. Have the lower side face south, if possible. 



For a permanent frame, excavate from two to two and a half feet deep, 

 and tile-drain the bottom. For sides use a brick or cement wall, one or more 

 feet thick, or plank from two to three inches thick. A hollow wall in either case 

 will retain the heat longer; and if it is floored with wood, so much the better. 



View in a greenhouse. Persons who raise quantities of melons often plant all their seeds in splint forms or baskets 

 made for the purpose, but the same kind of boxes may be used in a hotbed 



Remember that a single sash is three feet wide and three long, slanting 

 lengthwise, so that the inside measurements must be multiples of these 

 figures, first allowing a three-inch lap at all the four sides on which the sash 



