How to Have a Good Garden 235 



"harden" the plants. While in the hotbed the plants 

 should be thoroughly watered, but the water should not 

 reach the manure underneath. Early morning is the 

 best time for watering, so the plants will be dried before 

 night. 



An outdoor hotbed of this character should be started 

 in the early spring — February or March. 



A cold frame is useful for hardening plants which 

 have been started in the hotbed. It is built like a hot- 

 bed, but without the pit or manure. It is built on the 

 surface of the ground. Good rich soil should be used, 

 and the soil kept slightly moist. In mild climates the 

 cold frame may be used instead of a hotbed for starting 

 plants. It is also used in the fall and early winter for 

 growing lettuce, radishes, carrots, parsley, etc. 



Not many implements are required for home garden- 

 ing. The essentials are a spade or a garden fork, a hoe, 

 a rake with steel teeth, a trowel, a dibble, or pointed 

 stick, and a line such as is used by masons, or a piece 

 of common string or cord to stretch between two stakes 

 for marking off rows. In the case of hard-packed earth 

 a pick is useful for digging. For watering, a rubber- 

 hose is needed where pipe connections are available. 

 Lacking this equipment, a watering-pot should be pro- 

 vided. A hand-cultivator or wheel hoe is useful, espe- 

 cially in a large garden, and saves much time and labor 

 in turning small furrows. With simply attachments it 

 is used for stirring the soil and the removal of weeds. 

 The garden tractor is the latest implement, and seems 

 likely to go into very general use. It costs about $250, 

 but several families might cooperate in its purchase and 

 use. 



In laying out a new garden city, it might be feasible 



