. COLD FRAMES AND HOT BEDS. 163 



frame" because no provision is made for bottom-heat. 

 There are many modifications of the cold frame ; lath or 

 slat houses or lath covers for beds with raised edging 

 boards, etc., are all on the cold frame principle, and in this 

 climate, where so little increment of heat is required and 

 where shade is often desirable, the arrangement serves an 

 excellent purpose. 



The Hot-bed. The hot-bed consists of a box like that 

 described for a cold frame placed above a mass of ferment- 

 ing manure which supplies bottom heat. The old regula- 

 tion style of hot-bed was made by digging out a pit the 

 size of the frame, throwing out the soil to a depth of 

 eighteen inches or two feet. Fill in the excavation with a 

 foot depth of fresh horse manure mixed with straw as 

 it comes from a stable where the animals are well bedded 

 with straw. Tread the manure down firmly; put on the 

 frame and cover the manure with eight to ten inches of 

 good light and rich sandy loam that will not bake or 

 crust over when sprinkled with water. Bank up the 

 outside of the frame with the same kind of manure used 

 inside, and cover with window sashes of the proper length 

 to reach across the bed and rest on the sides. The sashes 

 should not be too wide as it is desirable to uncover part 

 of the bed at a time. As soon as the manure begins to 

 ferment and heat the bed is ready for use. Sow seeds 

 in rows from front to back of the bed, and germination 

 will be very rapid. On warm days the cover should be 

 lifted a little or partially or wholly removed, according 

 to the heat of the day and the activity of the bottom heat 

 in the bed. Water freely with water from which the chill 

 has been removed. 



This old style of hot-bed is contrived to freely employ 

 the heat 'of the fermenting manure and to push plants 

 during zero temperatures in the outer air. Of course^ 

 where winter temperatures but rarely fall to the freezing 

 point, and where the winter day heat often runs at shirt 

 sleeves and sun-bonnet degrees, such a hot-bed is as ex- 

 cessive in the garden as a feather-bed is in the house. For 



