JAN.] THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 19 



ought to be made of inch and half, or rather two inch plank, of the 

 best yellow pine, nine feet two inches long, four feet ten inches wide, 

 as high again in the back as in the front, to give the top a due slope 

 to the sun and a proper declivity to carry off the wet when covered 

 with glass lights, to move off and on occasionally; every joint ought 

 to be tongued, the better to prevent the admission of cold air into, 

 or emission of warm air out of the bed, but in such manner as the 

 Gardener may think proper. The back and front are to be nailed to 

 corner posts, so as to admit the ends to fit in neatly, which ends are 

 to be made fast to the posts by iron bolts keyed in the inside, for the 

 greater facility of taking the frame asunder when necessary ; each 

 end must be made one inch and a half higher than the back and 

 front, so as that one-half its thickness may be grooved out on the 

 inside, for the sash to rest and slide on, and the other half left for 

 its support on the outside ; when finished give it two or three good 

 coats of paint before you use it, and with a little care and annual 

 painting, it may last you twenty years. 



These frames will take three lights of three feet wide each, each 

 light containing five rows^of glass panes, six inches by four, over- 

 lapping one another about* half an inch, which of all other sizes is 

 the most preferable, on account of their cheapness in the first place, 

 the closeness of their lap, their general strength and trifling expense 

 of repairs ; however, each person will suit his own convenience as to 

 the dimensions of glass. Where the sashes when laid on the frame 

 meet, a piece of pine about three and a half inches broad and near 

 two thick, should run from back to front, mortised into each, for 

 their support, and for them to slide on ; in the centre of which, as 

 well as in the ends of the frame, it will be well to make a groove 

 five-eighths of an inch wide and near a quarter of an inch deep, 

 rounded at bottom to receive and carry off any wet which may work 

 down between the sashes. 



But with respect to particular dimensions of frames, they are dif- 

 ferent, according to the plants they are intended to protect, but gene- 

 rally from nine to twelve feet long, from four feet eight inches to five 

 feet wide, from eighteen inches to three feet six inches in the back, 

 and from nine to eighteen inches in front, being for the most part 

 twice as high in the back as in front, if not more. 



The common kitchen garden frames may be of three different 

 sizes, that is, for one, two, and three lights ; the latter of which, how- 

 ever, are the most material, and which are employed for general use : 

 but it is necessary also to have one or two-light frames, the former 

 as seedling frames, and the latter as succession or nursery frames, to 

 forward the young plants to a due size for the three-light frames, in 

 which they are to fruit. 



EARLY CUCUMBERS AND MELONS. 



As it is generally the ambition of most gardeners to excel each 

 other in the production of early cucumbers, &c., all necessary prepa- 

 ration should be made this month for that purpose, by preparing 

 dung for hot-beds, in which to raise the plants ; for they, being of a 



