62 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



place, and sash and shutters to cover the frame made. The 

 planks should be made into a box with its width equal to the 

 length of the sash and extending east and west. See figure 

 24. Those forming the north side should be six inches above 

 ground, and the top edge of the plank forming the southerly 

 side should be five inches lower. Thus when the sash is put 

 on. it will slope five inches to the south, as shown in figure. 

 The planks should be nailed to the stakes, and end pieces put 

 in. The earth inside the frame should be thrown out to the 

 bottom of the planks and used to bank up the outside of the 

 frame. If plants are to be grown in the soil of the frame, care 

 should be taken to see that it is- of the best quality. The 

 frame is now ready for the sash and plants. More durable 

 and expensive frames are sometimes made of brick or stone 

 for the sides, and sometimes four-inch strips are put on 

 wherever two of the sashes come together, to serve as a sup- 

 port. Frames are also, frequently, made several feet deep, 

 but the same general rules apply in the building of them 

 as are described. 



Cold frames are used in the middle states to winter over 

 cabbage and lettuce plants, which are started in September 

 and planted in them when grown to a good transplanting size, 

 but in severe climates this is not a safe method. 



Cold frames are used here in the spring for forwarding 

 lettuce and other early crops, and still later for melons, cu- 

 cumbers and other tropical plants. They are also used to ex- 

 tend the season of growth during the autumn months and to 

 protect some of the half-hardy plants, such as spinach, during 

 the winter. They require ventilation in mild weather 

 during the day, and on cold nights should be covered 

 with mats and shutters or shutters alone. They are very in- 

 expensive and very useful in the garden, but where the 

 materials for making them can be had at low cost hotbeds 

 are much more satisfactory for forcing vegetables. 



Hotbeds. — Hotbeds are made very much like cold frames, 

 only they are warmed by fermenting horse manure or other 

 material placed under the soil, and hence they must be dug 

 out deep enough to make room for it. The amount of manure 

 necessary to properly warm a hotbed will depend very much 

 on the season of the year at which the bed is made up and the 



