1886 



GLEANI^^'GS IN IJKK CULTdJJK. 



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the sun, without any sash at all, are always 

 better, if the plants do not get too cold. If 

 unusually severe weather should occur, and 

 continue for some time, you will need to put 

 a shutter or straw mat over your sash. If 

 that does not do, cover the joints with coarse 

 stable manure— straw or litter of any kind. 

 Leave this on until the weather moderates, 

 and then gradually take it oft". After yoiu- 

 plants have become a little used to frost and 

 cold air, after being taken out of the house, 

 they will stand quite a freeze without in- 

 Jury ; that is, even if the ground should be 

 frozen over the surface, you will lind the 

 plants will come out all right. In fact, what 

 are called cold-frame cabl)age-plants are 

 raised in the fall, and wintered over without 

 injury, even where the thermometer goes 

 down to fifteen or twenty degrees below zero. 



As a rule, there is very little if any growth 

 with any of these plants Avhile the tempera- 

 ture is 40'-' or lower. Some plants will make 

 some growth at 45-, and others will make a 

 slow growth right along at 50°. Plants that 

 are accustomed to grow at 50° become very 

 hardy, and will stand severe freezes without 

 injury. When it comes time to raise toma- 

 to-plants, peppers, and other tender vegeta- 

 bles, you will need what is called a hot-bed. 

 This is simply a cold frame, just such as I 

 have described above, with the addition of 

 heat obtained from stable manure placed 

 underneath the plants. Get stable manure 

 that has begun to heat, or while it is hot. 

 Fork it over and break it up fine, then put 

 from one to two feet in your pit, under the 

 boxes of plants. This will give heat enough 

 to start seeds, even in the month of Febru- 

 ary, in our locality ; but the cold frame will 

 also start seeds without much trouble, in the 

 month of March, say during ordinary seasons. 



If you want a larger cold frame, of course 

 all you have to do is to use more sash. In 

 the figure below, we show you one we use 

 with great satisfaction, composed of four- 

 teen 3x6 sash. The sash is called 3x6, but 

 it really measures 3 feet and 4 inches in 

 width, from outside to outside. 



Its location is on a level piece of 

 ground, Mith our factory buildings on the 

 north and east side. On the west we put up 

 a tight board fence seven feet high. The 

 outside of the frame is simply 2-inch joists 

 about six inches wide, set up edgewise, 

 and held in place by oak stakes two inches 

 square, driven in perhaps two feet. We 

 used about five stakes on a side. The iii- 

 closure is 11x23^ feet. Inside, the ground 

 is made rich to a depth of perhaps 18 inches, 

 with stable manure, peat from the swamp, 

 and good rich soil. We found it not only 

 laborious business to handle so many sash, 

 but somehow or other, every time the sash 

 were taken off and put back again, more or 

 less glass was broken. It occurred to me that 

 some arrangement might be made, obviating 

 the necessity of taking off the sash ; and at 

 this date, Feb. 10, it seems as if my plans 

 were a perfect success. The cold frame is 

 full of beautiful cabbage, cauliflower, and 

 lettuce plants, and not a plant has died. 

 Shall I tell you how I manage it ? You will 

 notice the gable end is made like a door, 

 hinged at the bottom, so it tips back. Well, 

 when it gets too hot inside we open the doors 

 at each end. This lets a draft of air right 

 through ; and even during very hot days the 

 draft keeps the plants cool enough, even 

 though the sash are all left in their places. 



Of course, there must be some kind of a 

 ridge-pole to support the sash at the top, 

 and this is simply a strip of I board about 4 

 inches wide, supported by rafters made of 

 pieces ripped from a two-inch plank. These 

 pieces are about 2A inches wide, set up edge- 

 wise. This makes the rafters 2x2* inches, 

 and the stout oak stakes driven into the 

 ground prevent them from spreading. When 

 in place, each sash laps one inch on to a 

 rafter. Well, we found by trial that a heavy 

 wind would blow the sash over and break 

 the glass. To prevent this, we attach each 

 pair of sashes to each other at the top, by a 

 hook and staple made of galvanized iron. 

 This allows them to be quickly moved and 

 quickly fastened when put back in place. It 



A COI-D-KUAME lOH WINTE;iUNO OVEH CABBAOE, C'AUMFI.,')XVJ^H, J-ETTUCE, ETC. 



