HOTBEDS. 



260 



HOTHOUSE. 



mass. If, after a while, the temperature 

 again declines, the old coating must be 

 taken away and a similar one of hot dung 

 applied in its place. As the spring 

 advances, the warmth of the sun will com- 

 pensate for the decline of that of the bed ; 

 but as the nights are generally yet cold, 

 either a moderate coating, about 6 or 10 

 inches thick, is required, or the mowings 

 of grass, or even litter, may be laid round 

 the sides with advantage." 



Hotbeds, Making and Mainten- 

 ance of. 



The making and maintenance of hotbeds 

 may thus be summed up and set forth in a 

 few words, as follows : I. Choose a posi- 

 tion that is naturally dry, or can be ren- 

 dered dry, having a south aspect, situated, 

 if possible, on a slight incline, and sheltered 

 from cold winds in rear and at the sides. 

 2. The dung having been tempered, or 

 "sweetened," sufficiently by turning over 

 and wetting, mark out the space to be 

 occupied by the bed, making it larger by 

 1 8 inches every way than the frame that is 

 to stand upon it, or, in other words, that 

 there may be a margin of 18 inches every 

 way all round the frame when the frame is 

 placed on the hotbed. 3. In constructing 

 the hotbed, pile up the dung in such a 

 manner that the manure may be higher at 

 the back than in the front, and beat down 

 the dung with the fork when the bed is 

 made, in order to impart solidity to it. 4. 

 Put the frame on the surface of the manure, 

 but leave the lights off for three or four 

 days to allow the emanations of rank steam 

 to pass off. 5. Cover the surface of the 

 dung with mould in the proportion of 

 a barrow load of good loamy soil to each 

 light, and make the surface of the mould 

 level, covering the dung entirely ; or, if 

 preferred, form hillocks for the reception 

 of the plants. As soon as this is done put 

 on the lights. 6. Raise the plants required 



in pots placed within the bed under the 

 frame, and sunk a little in the mould. 

 When about a week old, turn out of pot? 

 and set the plants with the mould from the 

 pots undisturbed in the mould that covers 

 the manufe. 7. Maintain the temperature 

 of the air within the frame by mats placed 

 over the lights in frosty or windy weather 

 during the early stages of the bed's exist- 

 ence. 8. As the heat of the bed declines, 

 prevent its diminution by coatings of fresh 

 dung, technically called " linings," piled 

 up round the bed on all sides. 9. If 

 necessary, as time progresses, remove the 

 old linings and replace by fresh manure, 

 but if the roots of the plants in the frame 

 have penetrated into the old linings, they 

 must be allowed to remain where they are, 

 and fresh linings must be again piled up 

 outside the first set. 10. As the tempera- 

 ture of the hotbed should maintain an 

 average of 75, as soon as it is found to fall 

 below 70 lose no time in putting linings 

 round the bed. n. It is as well to place 

 mould on the surface of the hotbed outside 

 the frame, and to utilise it for growing 

 radishes, lettuces, or small salading, which 

 are all the better for quick growth in 

 a position of this kind. 



Hothouse. 



As it is not to be supposed that many 

 readers of this work will go so far as to 

 build and maintain a hothouse, it will be 

 sufficient to mention as briefly as possible 

 the purposes to which it is put and the 

 general principles which govern its con- 

 struction. The absolute line of demarca- 

 tion between the greenhouse and the hot- 

 house or stove, is as difficult to define 

 precisely as that between the conservatory 

 and the greenhouse. The chief points in 

 which the hothouse differs from the green- 

 house is that a higher temperature must be 

 sustained within it, and a moister atmo- 

 sphere must prevail, for it is devoted to 



