56 GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES 



being heavy, with three long panes or six square ones ; 

 carry it home and repair the panes, if any are broken, 

 and put as much fresh putty into the headings as is 

 necessary to make them watertight. If you care to 

 give it a coat of white paint, both top-side and under- 

 side, so much the better. 



The next step is to construct a wooden frame to fit 

 around the window. The latter, we should remember, 

 must tilt forwards both to run off water and to catch the 

 oblique rays of the sun. Therefore, make the frame a 

 foot deep at the front, eighteen inches at the back, and 

 sides to accommodate the slope. Put four stout legs, 

 one at each corner, and make them run down about 

 twelve inches below the lower edge of the frame. Around 

 the upper edge of the frame put a flange of wood to 

 support the window. 



Having completed the frame, the bed must now be 

 constructed. About two cartloads of fresh stable 

 manure, containing a fair proportion of long straw will 

 be necessary. Heap it up close to a wall or other form of 

 shelter where the coldest winds will be cut off, but see 

 that the site is not near to your own or someone else's 

 dwelling-house. Once every two days during the course 

 of a week the material should be well turned and shaken. 

 If any leaves are handy, work them into the mass, for they 

 will make the heat more equable and lasting. When undue 

 dryness is observed in the heap, add water sparingly. 



The manure being well mixed, the bed may be laid out. 

 With a prong of the fork, scratch on the ground a 

 rectangle two feet longer each way than the wooden 

 frame. Then place little mounds of manure along the 

 sides of the rectangle and push the straggling pieces of 



