460 



Improved Frame for forcing Cucumbers. 



or Is. a. yard if of an irregular form, or triangular, measured 

 only to tile square, exclusive of carriage ; and plenty of lime- 

 stone or freestone to make the pillars. 



Where the advantages of stone and slate flags do not occur, 

 the most ready substitutes are stone flags or w^ooden planks 

 for the kerbs, bricks for the pillars, iron rods for joists or 



bearers, and large roof slates, 

 wooden stakes, or strong sticks 

 laid across the bearers, for the 

 platform. Upon the platform a 

 thin layer of muck is to be put, 

 then some turfs laid upside down, 

 and lastly the mould. Fig. 84?. 

 shows the narrow kerbs and the 

 tops of nine hollow pillars. 



An excellent substitute for 

 solid pillars would be something 

 like the pipes used for the tops 

 of chimneys, large at the base and 

 smaller at the top(^^. 85. a) ; and if short pipes ^py 85 

 of small diameter [b) were introduced into the 

 hollow pillars, and brought up through the 

 mould under the glass, a plentiful circulation of 

 warm and pure air would be furnished to the. 

 plants. 



The mould being nearly level with the top of the kerbs, 

 the morning and evening sun has uninterrupted access to the 

 plants, while its meridian heat is moderated by the upright 

 gable end to the south. 



To facilitate the rotting of raw stable muck for horticul- 

 tural or agricultural purposes, the litter is turned over, or 

 generally moved to another place, and the labour of making 

 a hotbed is little more than that. The weight of the hotbed 

 is supported above the stable muck, and the muck, from not 

 being pressed down, undergoes a brisker fermentation, and 

 gives out the more heat. The small pipes communicating 

 with the hollow pillars may be opened or stopped at pleasure, 

 and a heat free from impurities may be communicated to the 

 mould and the air around the plants, and regulated to a 

 nicety which could not be obtained, as I believe, so completely 

 in any other manner, not even by ho . water within metal pipes. 

 I mention 6 ft. square in the clear as small dimensions for 

 a hotbed ; but the same plan is applicable to a wider frame 

 from east to west, and the extent from south to north might 

 be limited only by the means of suj")plying the heat required. 

 The slope of the sashes being quicker or less flat than in 



