Cold Frames — 59 



glass, next to the bars ; allow it to harden and you have a neat 

 and tight joint. 



Use of Frames.— Let us suppose that the cold frames are 

 available in the autumn for regular work. The first use to be 

 made of them is in wintering cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce 

 plants for the extra early crops. Some gardeners sow the seed 

 directly into the frames in rows a few inches apart and thin 

 afterwards. A better way, undoubtedly, is to sow the seed in 

 open ground, about 15th of September, and transplant four weeks 

 later to the frames. It is of greatest importance that each plant 

 should have its just allowance of space. Cabbage and cauliflower 

 plants should have 5 or 6 square inches each (plant in rows 

 3 inches apart and 2 inches apart in the row), and lettuce plants 

 somewhat closer ( I J^ inches apart in the rows). The general 

 tendency with gardeners is to plant too thickly — and this is a 

 prolific cause of failure, or of poor plants. A good practice, also, 

 is to make two sowings in open ground, about September 1 5th 

 and 20th, to be sure of plants. If the first sown get too large, 

 the others will be just right. Cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce 

 plants are quite hardy, and can endure considerable cold weather 

 without injury. The sashes must be put on by the time winter 

 sets in, and the chief point of importance afterwards is unceasing 

 and untiring attention to proper ventilation. We should bear in 

 mind that the object is not, to grow plants during the winter, but 

 to keep them on a perfect stand-still (dormant), and make them 

 so hardy that they will at once start into lively growth when 

 planted out in spring, even in rather cool weather, and be able to 

 endure late severe freezes without check. For this reason a 

 moderately low, not a warm temperature is required in the 

 frames, and also a considerable amount of exposure. On cold 

 but clear winter days, and when the temperature is not lower 

 than within a few degrees of zero, the sashes should be partly 

 raised, by tilting at back or front, or by partial removal, or in 

 any other convenient way. This requires considerable attention 

 and good judgment. During moderate weather the sashes had 

 best be removed entirely. Constant watchfulness, and doing the 

 right thing at the right time, will insure good plants. Only in 

 a climate with severe winters are shutters or mats required for 

 additional protection. What they are, and how made, is told in 

 next chapter. Deep snow should not be left very many days 

 upon the sashes, unless the ground in the beds was frozen at the 

 time of its fall. Early removal is the safer treatment. 



With all the progress that we have made of late in horti- 

 cultural art, and in spite of all the efforts put forth by good 

 writers and publishers in behalf of the distribution of horticultural 

 knowledge, it is a fact that the production of good plants is the 

 exception, and that failure, wholly or in part, is the rule. Hence 



