PREPARING FOR WINTER QUARTERS. 227 



oughly aired in mild weather. As spring ap- 

 proaches the sash must be pushed down or taken 

 off when the sun shines warmly, or the plants 

 will be rendered tender, and premature growth 

 induced. The earth should be heaped up 

 around the outside of the boxes, as this renders 

 them warmer and tighter. It is not necessary 

 that the earth in these frames should be very 

 rich, since they are used for storing rather than 

 growing purposes. Still, I make the most of 

 mine so, since early in spring I thin my lettuce- 

 plants out by setting them in the open ground, 

 or in frames prepared for forcing them. These 

 are cold frames made in the fall, like those de- 

 scribed above ; but the earth in them is very 

 rich, and designed to promote rapid growth. 

 No plants are put in them in fall, and as 

 winter approaches they are filled up witli leaves, 

 so that no frost can reach the soil. By the first 

 of March the leaves can be thrown out, and you 



