66 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



Fire Hotbeds.— Horse manure will undoubtedly continue to 

 be used for warming- hotbeds, no matter how much greenhouse 

 construction or means for artificial heating may be cheapened, 

 but there are some situations where it may be more economi- 

 cal and convenient to use a forcing bed, or what is sometimes 

 called a fire hotbed. This closely resembles a hotbed in out- 

 ward appearance, but instead of being heated with manure a 



..---■**"""'***-.... nue is used to take its 



,.---'' "* — .^ place, and it is warmed 



by the smoke of wood, 

 coal or other fuel. In 

 this case a pit should 

 be excavated, fur- 

 nished with permanent 

 walls and a good 

 strong floor to support 

 the soil in which the 



Figure 26.— Cross section of fire hotbed. 



crops grow. Ten inch terra cotta or glazed drain tile is a cheap 

 material for the flue, or brick may be used for this purpose. 

 The furnace and the first eight or ten feet of the flue should 

 be made of common hard brick and have a lining of fire brick 

 set in fire clay. If the pit is not over thirty feet long the fire 

 box should be at one end and the chimney at the other ; but 

 if much longer it is better to have the chimney over the fire- 

 box and to run the tile to the end of the house and return 

 back to the chimney. This chimney should have dampers so 

 arranged that when kindling the fire a direct draft may be had 

 into it, and after starting the fire the heat and smoke can then 

 be forced to go through the whole length of the pipe. This 

 arrangement is desirable on account of the difficulty in getting 

 a draft through a long, flat, cold flue. In laying such a flue.it 

 should rise slightly throughout its whole length from firebox 

 to chimney. The furnace should vary in size according to 

 whether coal or wood is to be used for fuel. For wood the 

 furnace should be 18 inches wide and arched over the required 

 length, generally 4* feet, with cast iron grate bars set in the 

 walls. There should be an ash pit of suitable size, and both 

 it and the firebox should have suitable iron doors set in 

 brick. The illustrations herewith show the general arrange- 

 ment of such a house. It is a good plan to build a low shed 

 for fuel on the end where the furnace is located. 



