CULTIVATION. 47 



Obviously, no frost must be allowed to reach the seed- 

 bed when once sowing has taken place. To prevent this, 

 and for another purpose to be described presently, Perry 

 Hull advises the construction of a straw mat, as shown 

 in Fig. 4, which is very light to handle, easily made, and 



sufficiently strong to last one season. It is made " by 

 laying a scantling (6 feet long, 1^ inches wide, | inch 

 thick) upon the barn floor ; place a layer of good straight 

 rye-straw upon it, so that the scantling will come about 

 in the middle of the straw, then another layer with the 

 tips the other way, that it may be of uniform thickness 

 in all its parts (about 1^ inches thick). Place a similar 

 scantling exactly over it, and with sixpenny nails, nail 

 them tight ; with an axe trim both edges straight, and 

 to a width of 3 feet, and the mat is made. With these 

 the beds should be covered every night, cold or warm ; in 

 the daytime they should be set up at the north side of 

 the bed, at an angle of about 65 degrees, by driving 

 crotches just inside of the bed, for the end of the scant- 

 ling to rest in, the lower edge of the mat resting on the 

 ground, outside the bed. 



" The plants, as soon as they are out of the ground, 

 which will be in a few days, require strict attention. 



