366 FORCING GARDEN. 



to rise, when the hot vapor is permitted to escape. Three 

 or four days after the bed has been formed, it is covered 

 over to the depth of three inches with earth prepared be- 

 forehand. Rich, light, dry earth, is best adapted for this 

 purpose; and, that it may be dry enough, it is proper to 

 use such as may have been protected from rain during 

 winter. A few small flower-pots are filled with the same 

 earth, and kept in the hotbed, that the soil in them may 

 acquire a proper temperature. The seeds are then sown 

 in the flower-pots, and covered half an inch deep ; after 

 which the pots are plunged a little way into the earth of 

 the bed. 



When hot vapor rises copiously, fresh air is admitted by 

 raising the sash a little. The frame is covered every even- 

 ing at sunset with mats, and is again exposed in the morn- 

 ing about nine o'clock, sooner or later, according to the 

 state of the weather. A single mat is sufficient at first, as 

 the heat in the bed is generally strong. In two or three 

 days after the seed has been sown, the plants appear, when 

 the glasses are raised a little, to admit fresh air, and per- 

 mit the escape of vapor. Unless this be done, the plants 

 are apt either to damp off or become yellow and sickly. 

 To guard against the casualties of the season, and the 

 chances of miscarriage, it is proper to make two other 

 sowings at short intervals, so that, if any accident befall 

 the first plants, the others may supply their place. Two 

 or three days after the plants have come up, they are 

 transplanted into other small pots, only two or three being 

 put into each pot. If the earth be very dry, it is now 

 moistened with a little slightly tepid water. The pots are 

 then plunged into the earth, and much care and watchful- 

 ness are employed to prevent the roots from being scorched. 

 When the transplanted seedlings begin to grow, they are 



