VAH 



glea:nings ijv bee culture. 



Feb. 



CHAPTER X. 



By wisdom is a house builded.— Pkov. 24:3. 



Well, friends, veiy likely we shall need a 

 deal of wisdom in building some sort of a 

 stnicLuie to keep the frosts of March and 

 April away from our little boxes of plants, 

 even if we don't liave very many of them, 

 nor need very much of a protection. Your 

 l»lants are taken up from tlie seed- bed Avhere 

 tiiey grew, and planted two inches apart, ac- 

 cording to our directions in the last chapter; 

 and the next thing that comes up is, "Where 

 shall we put the boxesV" If you have plen- 

 ty of windows opening into a warm room, 

 they can be set around the windows or in 

 front of them ; that is, a certain number of 

 l»oxes can, and they will do this way tolera- 

 bly well mitil Avarm days come so you can 

 l)ut them out. Of course, you must turn 

 one side and then the other to the light, to 

 make them grow straight up. If you get 

 them very far from the window, you will 

 find that, in their efforts to get to the light, 

 they will not only tip over sidewise, but they 

 will stretch their necks, as it were, and thus 

 get long-legged, or "drawn," as gardeners 

 call it. Well, suppose the windows do not 

 answer for the quantity of plants you have 

 got nicely started, what then? Why, you 

 must put them outdoors in a hot-bed or cold 

 frame; and in making even a simple struc- 

 ture like this, we want to scrape up all the 

 knowledge we have gained in regard to heat, 

 light, ventilation, etc. Our cold frame or hot- 

 -bed must first have a sunny place— a south- 

 ern slope ; that is, a piece of ground sloping 

 f-1'ghtly to the south is what we want. Next 

 wc want to protect it from the winds by tall 

 buildings, if we can get sucli a place ; but if 

 not, a tall board fence, or something of that 

 soit. High hills and ovei hanging rocks are, 

 of course, better than buildings or any thing 

 else, if you can get them. Have the tall 

 buildings, overhanging rocks, or high fences, 

 on the nort^i and west, if possible. A similar 

 protection on the east will make it still bet- 

 ter, so you see a gully fronting south between 

 two hills would be about the thing. Of 

 course, you want a protection on the north 

 to keep the north winds from coming down 

 this gully. A building v/ould probably be 

 the best thing. 1 used to think, that under 

 an overhanging rock, or under a shed, would 

 be just the place— the shed, of course, front- 

 ing the south. The objections to a shed are, 

 that it cuts off the light, making the plants 

 have a tendency to turn off southward, and 

 stretch themselves up, as I said abqve. Froni 



this, we see that, whatever covering we 

 have, it must be glass so as to admit light. 

 Even the north roof, that*" the sun never 

 shines through, must be transparent, to get 

 the best results. 



Having chosen our location, we will con- 

 sider the simplest form of a plant-bed. The 

 smallest size usually made is that of a hot- 

 bed sash, generally 8 x(i feet. In order to 

 avail ourselves of the heat of Mother Earth, 

 we ^\ill dig down, say, 18 inches into the 

 ground. To keep the dirt from caving in 

 upon us, put in a wooden box 3 ft. 1 inch by 

 6 ft. 1 inch, say, outside measure. The 

 sides of the box may be, say, a foot high. 

 If the ground is frozen when you commence, 

 you will have to chop it out with a pick or 

 an old ax. When you get some fine dirt, 

 bank it up around your pit, but let the bank 

 be at such an angle that it shall not prevent 

 any of the sunshine going clear to the bot- 

 tom of the pit. These directions are for the 

 south side ; but if you have a slope around 

 the other sides about the same, it will be all 

 right. After you get it dug, put- on your 

 sash and wait until the sun shines enough 

 to thaw out the interior by going through 

 the glass. If the sash is placed at an angle 

 so that it faces the south, it will heat faster, 

 but this is not very material. The large 

 cold frames and hot-beds, at Jersey City, 

 near the city of New York, have the sides 

 almost level. Perhaps the south side is an 

 inch lower than the other — may be two inch- 

 es, but the slope is so little that I could 

 hardly notice it. They used plank for their 

 supports to the sash, and the plank were 

 planed on top so as to be perfectly level, so 

 the sash shuts down as nearly air-tight as 

 possible. When a sunny day comes, so that 

 the ground is thawed up inside, you can re- 

 move your sash and put in boxes of plants. 

 Now, then, you are to watch them and take 

 off the sash whenever it is not freezing weath- 

 er outside. Sometimes a cold wind will harm 

 the plants when it does not freeze. In such 

 cases, keep on the sash, tilting it up a little 

 to prevent the plants from getting too hot, 

 The temperature inside is best not lower 

 than 40^^. Peter Henderson gives the rule 

 for lettuce, cabbage -plants, radishes, etc., 

 as 50'-' at night and 7(P in the daytime; so 

 when your thermometer shows 70^' you want 

 to be on hand and tilt your sash. If the sun 

 is shining, and it is not freezing outside, 

 take the sash olf eijtirely. The clear rays o{ 



