How Early to Sow 77 



danger of sun -scalding ; but after a long period of 

 cloudy weather, this danger is very great and the 

 operator must watch his beds closely. 



Hotbeds are more difficult to manage, as a rule, 

 than forcing -houses, since the operator can be inside 

 the forcing -house whatever the weather may be. In 

 very cold and windy weather, hotbeds cannot be 

 opened. The operator works from the outside rather 

 than from the inside. In many of the plains regions, 

 the strong winds make it difficult to handle the hot- 

 bed sash. In such case, the cheap forcing -house 

 structure made of frames and heated either with fer- 

 menting manure or with pipes is more advantageous 

 (page 62). 



Beginners are likely to start a hotbed too soon. It 

 must be remembered that the age of the plant does 

 not count for so much as its stockiness and vigor. 

 If, therefore, the hotbed is started so early that the 

 plants have to be "slowed up" and stunted in order to 

 hold them until the field is ready, very little is 

 gained. In the northern states, it is usually thought 

 that cabbages and cauliflower may be started with 

 profit about six weeks before the field is expected to 

 be ready ; tomatoes, six to seven weeks ; onions and 

 beets, four to six weeks. 



Wintering fall-sown plants. It has been said 

 (page 67) that one use of coldframes is to carry 

 fall- sown plants over the winter and to have them 

 ready for transplanting into the field very early in 

 the spring. The plants are not to grow during winter: 

 they are only protected. Having become inured to 



