Hotbedsy Cold Frames and Flats 



initial cost would have been that of a few packets 

 of seeds. Purchased plants are by no means 

 immune from late frosts or the assaults of cut 

 worms and not infrequently demand successive 

 replantings before a satisfactory stand is secured. 

 With a well stocked hotbed this does not spell 

 so great a disaster, as only the labor of resetting 

 is demanded and this is not of much moment as 

 the lines and points of setting are already laid 

 down and the hills of tomatoes, egg plants and 

 peppers already supplied with their spade full 

 of manure. In a generous sized garden where 

 perhaps a hundred plants of a kind are gi^own 

 the saving in the cost of plants will cover the 

 construction 'and maintenance of an ordinary 

 hotbed and the cost of a bed of the best con- 

 crete construction, which will last ahnost a life- 

 time, will be covered in a reasonably short time. 

 There is nothing about the construction or care 

 of a hotbed that offers any obstacles to its posses- 

 sion and I have about come to the conclusion that 

 the only reason more gardeners do not have them 

 is because they cannot borrow them ; they are the 



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