Feb.] The Kitchen Garden. S3 



tioned, to hang down before the place where the glaffes are 

 raifed. 



One great article to be attended to now, is to fupport a 

 conftant growing heat in the hot- bed, fo as to keep the 

 plants in a regular growing ilate. The firft thing to be ob- 

 ferved toward this, is that in fix or eight days after ridging 

 out the plants, provided the heat of the bed i'? become mo- 

 derate, it will be very proper to lay fome kind of dry long 

 litter, fuchaswafte hay, fern, draw, &c. round the bed, lay- 

 ing it near a foot thick, and as high as five or fix inches up 

 the fides of the frame : but this fnoukl be particularly prac- 

 tifed if it is very wet weather, but more efpecially if 

 driving rains, or fnow, as alfo if there be cold piercing 

 winds ; all of which would chill the bed, and, without the 

 above precaution, would fometimes occafion fuch fudderi 

 and great decay of the heat, as to prove the manifeil de- 

 flrudion of the plants : whereas the above lining of litter 

 will defend the bed, and preferve a fine heat till the dung 

 begins naturaJly to decline, or decay of itfelf, which is 

 generally in a month or five weeks after the bed is made, 

 when the warmth of it mufl be renewed by adding a lining 

 of frefh hot dung clofe to its fides. 



But for the iirfl week or ten days after the plants are 

 ridged out into this bed, you mull mind that their roots 

 have not too much heat ; for it fometimes happens that a 

 bed, after the moid and plants are in, will begin afrefh 

 to heat fo violently, as to burn the earth at the bottom of 

 the hills ; and, without fome precaution is taken, the burn- 

 ing will foon reach the roots of the plants : therefore, for 

 the firlt week or ten days, let the bottom of the hiirocks be 

 at times examined, by drawing away a little of the earth ; 

 and if any burning appear, remove the burnt eartJi, Ye"- 

 place it with new, and, by drawing fome of the earth away 

 quite round, let the hills be kept as narrow as they v/ill 

 juft fland, fo as to fupport the plants ; and fo let them re- 

 main till the danger of burning is over ; and then put the 

 earth round them again. 



When the great heat abates, or the roots of the plants be- 

 gin to appear through the fides of the hillocks, then begin 

 to add fome earth all round them ; about three days after, 

 you may lay fome more; and in two or three days after that, 

 you may earth the bed all over, to the full thicknefs, fo as 

 to be equal with the tops of the hillocks. But before you lay 

 9 3 the 



