HOTBEDS AND COLD-FRAMES 57 



vative and to prevent mildew. Such covers, well 

 cared for, may last five years or be of little use after 

 the first, depending upon the care given them. They 

 can be made from 50 to 200 feet long and two men 

 can roll them up or down very quickly. 



When cloth covers are used the supporting cross- 

 strips should not be over 3 inches wide nor more than 

 3 feet apart ; sometimes the strips are made to bind the 

 sideboard and ridge together by means of short pieces 

 of hoop iron or of barrel hoop. These are so placed 

 and nailed as to hold the upper edge of sideboards and 

 of the central ridge flush with the cross-strips, thus 

 forming a smooth surface for cloth to rest on and 

 enabling one easily to "knock down" and remove the 

 frames to facilitate the taking of the plants from the 

 bed to the field and the storing of the frames for 

 another season. 



Flats for starting seeds. Any shallow box may be 

 used or the plants sown directly in the beds without 

 them, but flats of a uniform size are to be preferred 

 these will pack well on the greenhouse shelves ; or 

 in the hotbed we make them with % inch thick ends 

 and */2 inch thick sides and bottom, the latter if of a 

 single board having four half-inch holes for drainage 

 and in any case having two narrow strips about ^4 

 inch thick nailed across their bottoms so as to allow 

 drainage water to escape freely when the boxes are 

 set on hard, cool floors. Two or three such boxes, 

 35^ inches long, 12 inches wide and 3 inches deep, 

 will be sufficient to start plants enough for an acre. 

 I like to use similar boxes only 4 inches deep for grow- 

 ing the plants after they are pricked out, particularly 



