HOTBEDS AND COLD-FRAMES 



53 



but the sash can be built into the form of a house 

 at but little more expense, and it has the great advan- 

 tage of enabling one to work among the plants in any 

 weather, while, if properly built, any desired degree 

 of heat and ventilation can be easily secured. Except 

 when very early ripening fruit is the desideratum, 

 plants started with heat but pricked out and grown 

 in cold-frames without it, but where they can be pro- 

 tected during cold nights and storms, will give better 



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FIG. 14 CROSS-SECTION OF HOTBED 



results than those grown to full size for the field in 

 artificial heat. 



Cold-frames. In locations where tomatoes are much 

 grown large areas are devoted to cold-frames covered 

 either by sash or cloth curtains. Sash give much bet- 

 ter protection from cold and on this account are more 

 desirable, particularly where very early fruiting is 

 wanted, but their first cost is much greater and the 

 labor of attending to beds covered by them is much 

 more than where cloth is used. Sash-covered beds 

 should be of single width and run east and west, but 



