68 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 



string. Next put on another whisk of straw, and continue 

 until frame is full, and the mat finished. The whole expense 

 connected with these handy conveniences and effective means of 

 protecting early tender plants in frames is a quantity of nice, 

 clean, bright rye straw and some tarred string. The labor 

 required in making them does not count for much as the work 

 can be done in a convenient outbuilding, or under a shed during 

 rainy days at leisure. In the course of a season a large supply 

 of such mats may be made, and as they can be rolled up, stored 

 and handled conveniently, and besides give the very best ol 

 protection against cold, they are greatly to be preferred to 



Frame for making Straw Mats. 



board shutters. Rye cut before the grain has formed makes the 

 best material for mats, and the gardener in need of them will find 

 it a good plan to have a piece of rye grown and cut at the period 

 named for this very purpose. 



Flats, etc. — When the plants are large enough — perhaps 

 in five or six weeks — they are transplanted in other newly-made 

 hot-beds giving space enough for their full development, or 2 to 

 4 inches square. This is often done (and a superior way it is) 

 by putting an inch or so of sand or soil upon the new manure, 

 and placing upon this foundation, close together, shallow boxes 

 called " flats " into which the plants are set at the proper distance. 

 If plants are to be retailed by the dozen, it is well to make the 



