HOT-BEDS. 33 



Fourth. It must be near one's house or near his daily 

 work, so as to require the least possible time to look 

 after it. 



CONSTRUCTION. 



Glazed sashes are of great value in using a hot- bed 

 successfully, but they are not indispensable. These 

 sashes come set up and glazed in various sizes ; proba- 

 bly the most convenient is three by six feet, and can 

 be obtained in the market for about $1.50 apiece. In 

 the Lower South, only a few days occur during the 

 usual winters when the thermometer will remain be- 

 low freezing if the sun shines. When glazed sashes 

 are not used, some form of cloth will be required. 

 There may be found on the market now a cloth pre- 

 pared for that purpose ; this comes in three grades. 

 The best of these three grades will be found the cheap- 

 est in the end. By using a double thickness of the 

 best cloth, we were able to carry egg plants through a 

 freeze of 14 F., and the temperature remained below 

 the freezing point for several days. As egg-plants are 

 among the most tender plants, it will be readily un- 

 derstood that ordinary plants can be carried through 

 easily. During the same freeze, lettuce- plants came 

 through all right under a single thickness of cloth 

 over a cold frame. 



The best width for a hot- bed is six feet ; at this width, 

 all the cultivating and other attention can be given 

 without entering the frame, and lumber cuts econom- 

 cally to this length. The length of the hot- bed 

 must depend upon the individual desires and prepara- 

 tion. Beds made six feet wide are run east and west, 

 but if it is desirable to run them north and south, the 

 beds should be made twelve feet wide. In such a hot- 

 bed, the cloth is fastened to a pole along the middle as 

 a ridge-pole, and allowed to unroll roof-shape on each 



