Pipe - heated Frames 



63 



be used. The house may be covered with hotbed sash 

 held on a rude frame of scantlings. These manure- 

 heated houses are often very efficient, and are a good 

 make -shift until such time as one can afford to put in 

 flue or pipe heat. 



For starting plants in a small way, a glass -covered 

 box in the kitchen window may answer very well. An 

 incubator is useful for the germinating of seeds. 



Pipe -heated hotbeds. Hotbeds may be heated by 

 means of steam or hot water. They can be piped 

 from the heater in a dwell- 

 ing-house or greenhouse. 

 Exhaust steam from a fac- 

 tory can often be used with 

 very good results. Fig. 17 

 shows a hotbed with two 

 pipes, in the positions 7, 7, 

 below the bed. The soil is 

 shown at 4. There are doors 

 in the end of the house, 

 shown at 2, 2, which may be used for ventilation or 

 for admitting air underneath the beds. The pipes 

 should not be surrounded by earth, but should run 

 through a free air space. A flue -heated or pipe- 

 heated hotbed may be likened to a greenhouse bench, 

 and the arrangement of piping for the two should be 

 similar. From two to four steam- or water-pipes are 

 carried underneath the bed. If, however, one has 

 plenty of exhaust steam, which is usually under con- 

 siderable pressure, it may be carried directly through 

 the soil in ordinary drain pipes. It will rarely pay 



Fig. 17. Pipe-heated hotbed. 



