598 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



long as is necessary to furnish sufficient seedlings for the field. They 

 are usually laid out from east to west. 



The framework of the seed bed is usually made of 2 by 12 inch 

 boards, set in the ground from 3 to 4 inches, one side being sunk 2 

 inches lower than the other in order that the sash may lie over the 

 top of it in a slanting position, so that the plants will receive all of 

 the sunlight possible. 



The best method of covering the bed is by means of glass in 

 sash about 3 feet wide by 8 feet long. These sash are laid over the 

 top of the framework and of course can be removed at any time when 

 it is necessary. In some cases heavy cheese-cloth or tobacco cloth is 

 substituted for the glass covering, but the temperature of the beds 

 can not be regulated so well as with the glass cover, and the cloth 

 should not be used where very early plants are desired. It is claimed 

 by old tobacco growers, however, that the plants raised under cloth 

 are more hardy than those raised under glass, and it is a frequent 

 practice to grow the early plants under glass and the later seedlings 

 under cloth. 



When it is necessary to water the seed bed the sash are removed 

 temporarily and the water is applied in the form of a fine spray. 

 As soon as the watering is completed the sash are replaced in their 

 original positions. If it becomes necessary to air or cool the beds 

 one or more sash can be raised until the desired object is accom- 

 plished. 



The soil for the seed bed should be a light sandy loam, as free 

 from weed seed, fungous diseases, and insect pests as possible. It has 

 been found that by sterilizing the soil used in the seed bed the ex- 

 pense of weeding the beds can be done away with. The sterilization 

 of the seed-bed soil results in the production of better plants than are 

 grown in soil which has not been sterilized and also destroys the fun- 

 gous spores which frequently interfere with the successful raising 

 of young plants. The upper 6 inches of the soil in the seed beds is 

 removed and placed in an ordinary wagon box, in the bottom of 

 which three perforated pipes are laid and attached to a steam boiler. 

 The sterilization process requires about 40 minutes for each wagon 

 box of soil, the time being determined by placing a potato in the soil 

 and supplying steam until the potato is baked. A large quantity 

 of surface soil in the seed beds can be sterilized in this manner in a 

 comparatively short time with little expense. 



A successful method of heating seed beds is by the use of fresh 

 horse manure. In this case the beds should be dug out 2 feet deep 

 about a week before the time for sowing the seed. The fresh manure 

 should be packed in this space to a depth of 1^2 feet and covered 

 with 6 inches of the sterilized soil. Another successful method of 

 heating the seed bed is by the use of hot-water or steam pipes, laid 

 around the sides of the bed or under the surface of the soil. General 

 experience has proved, however, that the manure beds are equal in 

 value, if not superior, to the artificially heated ones, mainly from the 

 fact that the heat is distributed evenly through the soil in the seed 

 bed, while in the case of hot-water or steam pipes the surface of the 



