CHAPTER XL 



MANURE HOT-BEDS. 



THEIR CONSTRUCTION AND USE. 



" A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." 



and under 

 or hedge, 

 wide (for 



N outward appearance and arrangement hot-beds resem- 

 ble the cold frames described in preceding chapter. 

 In the cold frames no artificial heat was employed, 

 while the hotbeds have what is called "bottom 

 heat." The material most generally used by gardeners 

 for producing this heat is fresh horse manure. 



The proper place for the hot-beds is in same 

 plot with the cold frames, near the water supply, 

 the shelter of a hill, building, or tight, tall fence 

 Make an excavation a little more than six feet 

 sash of common length), 24 inches deep, and as 

 long as needed to accommodate the desired number of sashes, 

 running east and west, or northeast and southwest. 

 Set stakes half a board length apart on each side, and enclose 



the excavation tightly 

 with boards clear from 

 the bottom up, to hinder 

 the intrusion of moles, 

 rats and mice. The north 

 side may be 12 or 18 

 inches high above the 

 surface, the south side 

 six inches lower, so as 

 to give the sashes the 

 needed slope to carry off 

 rain and snow water, and 

 the sun all the better chance to reach the soil, and stimulate plant 

 life under the sashes. When the frame is in place, a strip of 

 inch board, wide enough to serve as rest for the sash edges, and 

 having a two inch upright in the centre, as shown in illustration, 

 is then fastened across where each two sashes meet. 



The preparation of the manure, although quite a simple 

 matter, is still a mysterious subject for many gardeners, and the 

 knowledge of the simple principles involved in this question is 

 64 



Cross-bar for hot -bed. 



