70 The Principles of Vegetable -Gardening 



or straw may be placed inside the box, or a pane or sash 

 of glass may be placed on top of the box, to answer 

 the purpose of a coldframe. Rhubarb, asparagus, sea- 

 kale and similar plants may be advanced from two to 

 four weeks by means of this method of forcing. Some 

 gardeners use old barrels or half -barrels in place of the 

 box. The box, however, is better and handier, and the 

 sides can be stored for future use. 



Plants which require a long season in which to 

 mature, and which do not transplant readily, as melons 

 and cucumbers, may be planted in forcing-hills in the 

 field. One of these hills is shown in Fig. 21. The 



Fig. 21. Forcing-hill. 



frame or mold is shown at the left. This mold is a 

 box with flaring sides and no top or bottom, and pro- 

 vided with a handle. This frame is -placed with the 

 small end down at the point where the seeds are to 

 be planted, and the earth is hilled up about it and 

 firmly packed with the feet. The mold is then with- 

 drawn, and a pane of glass is laid on the top of 

 the mound to concentrate the sun's rays, and to pre- 

 vent the bank from washing down with the rains. A 

 clod of earth or a stone may be placed on the pane 

 to hold it down. This type of forcing -hill is not 

 much used, because the bank of earth is likely to wash 



