CONSTRUCTION AND CARE OF HOTBEDS 



pit to work in, and will be found to require far 

 less labour than to attempt the excavation of a 

 number of small pits in restricted quarters. 



The pit should be about four feet deep and of 

 a size to readily receive the frame, and the sides 

 of the pit should be as firm and even as may be 

 practicable; the bottom, especially, should be level 

 and hard, but no artificial bottom is required or 

 should be made. In constructing the frame, four 

 corner posts, of any rough stuff, two by four inches 

 in diameter and long enough to reach from the 

 top of the frame to the bottom of the pit, should 

 be used, the posts for the back being six inches 

 longer than those for the front. Upon these the 

 planks, which should be of good size and of clear 

 lumber that is free from knot-holes, or, if these 

 cannot be avoided, they should be masked with 

 pieces of tin nailed over them, so as to effectually 

 shut out vermin of all kinds. The planks should 

 extend below the surface of the ground two feet 

 six inches according to the season, though, if pre- 

 ferred, they may extend to the bottom of the pit; 

 but this is not really necessary, as moles, and espe- 

 cially mice, rarely enter beds at a lower depth. 



The proper slant may be given the top by saw- 

 [55] 



