HOTBEDS. 



259 



HOTBEDS. 



frame is put on, the mixture of dung and 

 leaves is thrown in and well beaten down ; 

 but the job of building a hotbed is dis- 

 pensed with. The dung is piled nearly up 

 to the glass to allow for sinking ; otherwise, 

 the management is the same as for an ordi- 

 nary bed. The advantages of this plan 

 are, first, it requires a trifle less manure ; 

 secondly, the heat from the linings pene- 

 trates through the faggcts under the bed, 

 and is found more effective. The treat- 

 ment after the frame and lights are put on, 

 and the first emanations of steam are 

 allowed to escape, is the same for a bed 

 made on this principle as for any other. 



Hotbeds, Hints and Suggestions 

 on Making. 



A writer in the "Cottage Gardener's 

 Dictionary" has given the following direc- 

 tions for making the hotbed, which are 

 well worthy of attention. Having de- 

 scribed the preliminary treatment of the 

 manure as detailed above, he continues : 

 "All things will now be in readiness for 

 building the bed, and one necessary point 

 is to select a spot perfectly dry beneath or 

 rendered so. It must, moreover, be 

 thoroughly exposed to a whole day's sun ; 

 but the more it is sheltered sideways the 

 better, as stormy winds, by operating too 

 suddenly in lowering the temperature, 

 cause a great waste of material as well as 

 labour. The ground plan of the bed or 

 ground surface should be nearly level. A 

 good builder, however, will be able to rear 

 a substantial bed on an incline, and such is 

 not a bad plan, so forming the slope as to 

 have the front or south side several inches 

 below the back, the front being with the 

 ground level, the back raised above it. By 

 such means there will be as great a depth 

 of dung at front as back, which is not the 

 case when the base is level, for then, 

 unluckily, through the incline necessary 

 for the surface of the glass, the dung at 



back is generally much deeper than at iff 

 front, at which latter point most heat L- 

 wanted. Good gardeners not unfrequently 

 use a portion of weaker material at the hack, 

 such as littery stuff containing little power 

 to heat. It is well also to fill most of the 

 interior of the bed after building it half 

 a yard in height with any half-decayed 

 materials, such as half-worn linings, fresh 

 leaves, etc. This will, in general, secure 

 it from the danger of burning, whilst it 

 will also add to the permanency of the 

 bed. 



" For winter forcing, a bed should be at 

 least 4 feet high at the back if $ feet, 

 all the better ; and as soon as built, let 

 some littery manure be placed around the 

 sides, in order to prevent the wind search- 

 ing it. As soon as the heat is well up, or 

 in about four days from the building of it, 

 the whole bed should have a thorough 

 watering. It is now desirable to close it 

 until the heat is well up again, when a 

 second and lighter watering may be 

 applied, and now it will be ready for the 

 hills of soil at any time. 



" In making the hills of soil for the 

 plants, in forcing melons or cucumbers, 

 make a hollow in the centre of each light 

 half the depth of the bed. In the bottom 

 of this place nearly a barrowful of brick- 

 bats, on this some half-rotten dung, and, 

 finally, a flat square of turf, on which the 

 hillock is placed. It is almost impossible 

 for the roots of plants to " scorch " with 

 this precaution. 



"As the heat declines, linings, or, as 

 they might be more properly called, coat- 

 ings, are made use of, which consists of 

 hot fermenting dung, laid from 18 to 24 

 inches, in proportion to the coldness of the 

 season, &c., all round the bed to the whole 

 of its height, and if founded in a trench, one 

 equally deep must be dug for the coating, 

 it being of importance to renew the heat as 

 much as possible throughout its whole 



