34 VEGETABLE GEOWING. 



side. All materials used in their construction may be 

 one inch thick. The back or north sides should be 

 twenty- six inches high, and the south sides ten inches 

 high. When glazed sash are used, a pitch of four 

 inches is sufficient that is, the front is made ten 

 inches high and the back fourteen. But experience 

 has taught us that this pitch is not sufficient for 

 frames covered with plant-cloth. The sides are nailed 

 to four-inch boards that are driven into the ground 

 six feet apart. The ends of the frame are trimmed to 

 an even slope. At intervals of six feet, three-inch 

 pieces are dove tailed into the front and back, to 

 steady the sides, and to hold the protecting cloth from 

 bagging. 



The protecting cloth is sewed into a sheet large 

 enough to cover an entire frame. The seams run cross- 

 wise for obvious reasons. The sheet is fastened to the 

 back and then stretched over the frame ; and just far 

 enough over the front to press the cloth down tightly, 

 a strip is nailed to serve as a roller for a curtain. By 

 turning at one end, the whole curtain may be raised 

 and fastened at the top ; when it is wanted for use, the 

 fastening is loosened and the curtain unrolls itself, at 

 the same time shutting the whole frame up for the 

 night. The wood work and cloth for a frame six feet 

 wide and thirty feet long should not cost more than 

 $2.50. 



USING THE MANURE. 



When the frame for the hot-bed has been completed, 

 the undecomposed manure is placed in it to the depth 

 of six to ten inches. It is usually necessary to remove 

 some of the earth inside the frame ; this can be used 

 to bank it on the outside. As the manure is placed in 

 the frame, it should be thoroughly soaked and tramped 

 clown. In two or three days this will begin to heat, 



