30 AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



be banked around as directed for the pit (page 27), and is used 

 for the same general purposes where depth is not required. 



HOT BED. 



Take fresh stable manure that is ready to heat or already 

 4. heating, and spread a thin 



layer of it upon the ground, 

 of the size and form of the 

 bed you wish to make, cal- 

 culating this always full one 

 foot longer and wider than 

 the frame you intend to set 

 upon it. On this spread 

 other layers, mixing the 

 long and short manure to- 

 gether, and shaking it perfectly out of all large lumps or bunch- 

 es in the process. Keep it equally packed and level by beating 

 it over regularly, but not heavily, with the back of your four- 

 pronged fork at about every third layer, filling up any soft 

 spots or hollows you find. 



Keep the edges true and the corners firm, and when it at- 

 tains the desired height, shovel up the loose fine manure around, 

 and spread it evenly over the top. Set on your garden-frame 

 with care, and fill in with rich earth, not throwing it in heav- 

 ily or in heaps, but spreading it lightly and evenly to the depth 

 of four or five inches. Rake the surface, sow your seeds in 

 drills about four inches apart, and put on the sashes. Some 

 defer sowing until the bed heats, but it may be safely sown at 

 once ; and when the heat rises give plenty of air, not by sliding 

 your sashes down, but by raising them at the back, having a 

 longish triangular block or piece of plank to tilt them upon, so 

 that you can open them with it two inches or five. 



In sowing your hot bed, let peppers, egg-plant, and other 

 tender plants be sown together or under the same sashes, and 

 cabbages, lettuces, &c., under others, so that they can receive 

 more or less airing as they may require ; or set a thin board, as 

 a temporary partition, between them, under the cross-bar of the 

 frame. Shade the bed until the plants are well up, and water 



