GARDENING OVER A WINTErv FIRE. 255 



out, but kept dry as possible, and fresh manure 

 from the horse stable mixed with them in equal 

 proportions, and all well shaken together in a 

 compact conical heap. In a few days it will 

 commence heating, as can be seen from the 

 vapor thrown off. It should then be shaken 

 out and piled up again, and after two or three 

 days a second fermentation will take place, and 

 now it can be placed evenly and tramped down in 

 the bottom of the pit to the depth of two and a 

 half feet, and seven inches of soil spread over it. 

 This brings the surface about two feet from the 

 glass. Before sowing the seeds it is better to 

 wait three or four days, as the manure may 

 heat so violently that it would destroy the ten- 

 der germs. When a thermometer placed in the 

 soil would recede to eighty-five, then seed can 

 be sown. The earth in the beds should be very 

 fine and rich, and may be kept in some cellar, 

 or more conveniently in a cold frame covered 



