CONSTRUCTION AND CARE OF HOTBEDS 



returned when the beds are made. All the subsoil 

 removed may be used to raise the grade of the 

 land if necessary, and where the same site is used 

 for the beds from year to year, the handling of the 

 soil as it is thrown in each year will aid in raising 

 the soil in the vicinity of the beds, until in time a 

 good natural drainage is established. 



The construction of the hotbed may be of any 

 building material, ranging from the inexpensive 

 frame contrived from the waste lumber about the 

 place and old window sash to florist's sash and 

 walls of concrete, brick, and cement blocks, the last 

 three being permanent and highly satisfactory. 

 These permanent frames are the cheapest in the 

 end. 



For the temporary home or the small city lot, 

 where it is desired to use the ground for other 

 purposes, once the hotbed has served its purpose, 

 the frame construction will be preferable; in the 

 latter case it may consist merely of a frame set on 

 the surface of the ground and removed when its 

 usefulness is past; this forms the cheapest and 

 also the least satisfactory of beds, for, while it an- 

 swers the practical purposes of a hotbed, there is 



nothing below the surface of the ground to protect 



[53] 



