he obviated by building a double or hollow brick wall. When it is not convenient to build a stone 

 or brick wall, or where lumber is cheap or easily to be obtained, the walls may be built by taking 

 pieces of two-by-four studding and nailing to them on each side rough boards, so as to form a 

 double wall of boards with an air chamber (fig. 3.) These may then be 

 slipped into their places at the sides and ends of the pit and fastened 

 together. The front wall should not rise over six inches above the sur- 

 face of the ground, and the rear wall only enough higher to give the sash 

 sufficient slope to carry off the water easily. The back side can be banked 

 up with earth within a few inches of the upper edge. A pit of small 

 size may be made not more than six feet in width and six, nine or twelve 

 feet in length, and it may then be covered with common hot-bed sash> 

 which are usually made about three feet by six feet. Of course it can be 

 made as large as desired, even so large as to require a span roof, which 

 may be made stationary or with moveable sash, at one's option. In stormy 

 FIG - 3- weather it is necessary to furnish better protection than that afforded by the 



glass, and this is secured usually by heavy straw matting, and it is well to have narrow board 

 shutters that can be handled easily, to cover the glass, and over these the matting is placed. 

 The two will secure exemption from frost in 

 the worst possible weather. 



The straw mats, which we have referred 

 to for covering the pit, are also very useful 

 articles for the gardener in shading his forcing 

 frames or protecting them from the cold in 

 nights of early spring. These mats are easily 

 made and one can employ his time upon them 

 in very cold or stormy weather, when nothing 

 can be done to advantage outside. In order 



to make a good article and to work to best advantage it is best to employ a frame, such as shown 

 in fig. 4. This frame may be made of two pieces of two-by-four stuff for the sides, of the length 

 required for the mat, and of two transverse pieces morticed into them at the ends. Four feet 

 will be found a very convenient width for the frame. This frame work can rest upon a pair of 

 wooden horses, about two feet in height, in which position the labor can be most easily performed. 

 In the engraving we have shown only two strings, but a mat of four feet width should have at 

 least four strings, which will make the spaces between them about nine and one-half inches in 

 width ; closer tying than this even would be preferable. Screws are inserted 

 at the proper distances on the cross pieces, to which the strings are attached. 

 The straw is placed on the strings so as to have all the butts or lower ends 

 come against the sides of the frame, with the tops meeting in the middle, 

 and so thin as to have the mat not more than three-quarters of an inch in 

 thickness when finished. The stitches should not be more than three-fourths 

 of an inch in width. The tieing string should be wound on a reel, and 

 FIG. 5. there should be one of them for each stationary string. The method of tie- 



ing is shown in the illustration, fig. 5. Take a little of the straw with the left hand and work 

 the reel with the right, first over the straw and then under the stationary string, bringing it back 

 between the two strings, pulling tightly and pressing the straw so as to have a flat stitch. In this 

 way the work is continued until the mat is finished. During the daytime, except when the 

 weather is very severe, the matting and shutters should be removed and the plants exposed to the 

 full light, and, when the temperature will admit of it, as it often will at mid-day, even in some 

 of the more Northern States, the sash should be removed partially to allow the moisture to 

 evaporate, and thus secure the plants from mildew, which is the result of dampness in a low 

 temperature. Great care should be exercised about giving the plants any water, as it is desirable 

 to keep them as nearly as possible in a state of rest, and, if it were not for the ventilation, the 

 moisture in the pit would be quite sufficient. Pits in different localities will vary considerably in 

 this respect, some being much drier than others. Such pits may also be used for germinating seeds, 

 striking cuttings, and rearing young plants in the spring and summer, with proper ventilation. 



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