CHAPTER IX 



Hotbeds and Cold-frames 



Plants can be advantageously started and even 

 grown on to the size for setting in open ground in 

 hotbeds. In building these of manure it is important 

 to select a spot where there is no danger of standing 

 water, even after the heaviest rains, and it is well to 

 remove the soil to a depth of 6 inches or i foot from 

 a space about 2 feet larger each way than the bed 

 and to build the manure up squarely to a hight of 

 2 to 3 feet. It is also very important that the bed of 

 manure be of uniform composition as regards mix- 

 ture of straw and also as to age, density and mois- 

 ture, so as to secure uni^'ormity in heating. This can 

 be accomplished by shaking out and evenly spreading 

 each forkful and repeatedly and evenly tramping down 

 as the bed is built up. Unless this work is well and 

 carefully done the bed will heat and settle unevenly, 

 making it impossible to secure uniformity of growth 

 in different parts. 



Hotbed frames should be of a size to carry four to 

 six 3x6-foot sash, and made of lumber so fastened 

 together that they can be easily knocked apart and 

 stored when not in use. They should be about 10 

 inches high in front and 16 or 18 inches at the back, 

 care being taken that if the back is made of two boards 

 one of them be narrow and at the bottom so that the 

 crack between them can be covered by banking up 



