ii8 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



of moisture, but this might be at the cost of 

 the little plants never being able to pene- 

 trate to the surface, or if they did they 

 would be so enfeebled as never to become 

 strong. The aim, therefore, in covering 

 seeds should be to cover so lightly that air 

 and warmth can readily reach the seed 

 while the seedling may easily penetrate up- 

 wards through the mellow soil at the same 

 time having the cover thick enough to pre- 

 vent the seed from drying out needlessly. 



The illustration on preceding page (Figure 

 59) is designed to show at a glance some of 

 the more essential points to be observed in 

 covering seeds as well as some aids to pro- 



Fig. 60. must rating the Construction of a Hotbed 

 Sash and Frame. Figures indicate inches. 



mote germination. As regards the depth 

 of covering no fast rule can be laid down 

 but the old one of covering to the depth of 

 the seeds' diameter will .seldom lead one far 

 astray. In the figure four seeds, n to d, are 

 shown as thtis covered, the consistency of 

 the method being (juite apparent. It is easy 

 to see how by transposing the depths, that is 

 covering the little seed d to the depth of o 

 and ulcc versa, the former would be buried 

 too deeply and the latter would lie so near 

 the siu'face that it might not be able to ab- 

 sorb sufficient moisture to induce complete 

 germination. Sowing in drills either with 

 a machine or by hand is always to be recom- 

 mended because the depth of covering may 

 thus be more easily adapted to the size of 

 the seed, than by broadcast sowing. 



Aside from covering seeds the proper 

 depth some assistance to germination may 

 be variously provided after sowing. In 

 operations on a large scale the most import- 

 ant one of these is to properly firm the soil 

 by passing over it with a heavy roller, or 

 what is no doubt better, passing along the 

 row and treading with the feet, placing one 

 foot closely ahead of the other along the 

 line. If the soil is in a condition to work up 

 finely such a course is one of the very best 

 for insvjring free germination, as drying 

 out will be largely prevented and the firm- 

 ness secured should prove no hindrance to 

 the seedling finding the light above. 



In small operations to cover the surface of 

 the seed row or bed with a light mulch of 

 straw, hay or other similar substance until 

 the young plantlets appear, is one of the 

 best of courses. Almost as well in the case 

 of drills is it to lay a board over the line of 

 seeds until these are sprouted and starting 

 upward, but the greatest care must be ob- 

 served to not allow the board to remain on 

 too long otherwise the seedlings will be 

 tender of the light and unshapely. 



Hothrclg and Frames ((.« Aids in Raising 

 Plants f mm Seeds. As a means of advanc- 

 ing the season of vegetables and flowers, 

 desirably, hotbeds and frames are used in 

 nearly all well managed gardens. The prin- 

 ciple of the hotbed is that of a close frame 

 protected by sashes of glass (or sometimes 

 cloth) overhead for admitting light and 

 sun heat, and then having a bed of horse 

 manure mainly beneath to provide heat by 

 fermentation. By this means the seeds of 

 many plants can be sown fully a month 

 earlier than it would be safe to sow them in 



the open ground, bringing them along to a 

 fine size by the time the season is sufficiently 

 advanced to trust them out doors. The hot 

 bed is also useful for starting cuttings of 

 pot and bedding plants, starting bulbs, 

 growing on young pot plants of all kinds 

 and for raising early Lettuce, Radishes, etc. 

 In short it might be termed a miniature 

 greenhouse suited to the early spring 

 months and gotten up cheaply. Its atmos- 

 phere, with careful attention to ventilation, 

 is wonderfully congenial to plant life, 

 being somewhat moist. 



As the subject of the hotbed is one of wide 

 interest to gardeners I will bestow some 

 attention to describing its make-up and 

 uses. In figure fiO is shown the shape 

 of the sash, with the dimensions of some 

 of its parts, the sash bar, etc. a repre- 

 sents a sash with some of the parts broken 

 out to show its construction, h gives the 

 shape and dimensions of the side bars 

 and the upper end bar, the latter having a 

 tenon on each end which enter mortises in 

 the side bars. Usually the side bars are 

 extended a half inch beyond the end bars 

 for greater strength to the mortises, c rep- 

 resents a center bar, giving dimensions. 

 In this sash the glass used consists of 8x10 

 inch panes and these being placed length- 

 wise with the sash, it brings the bars a trifle 

 over eight inches apart between grooves. 

 The lower cross bar is % of an inch thick, 

 being equal to the other bars from the 

 groove down, so as to permit the lower 

 panes of glass to rest on top of it for shed- 

 ding the water from the sash, d represents 

 the side of the bed in this case double with 

 an air space in the center, as the writer 

 always prefers to have them, e is the cap of 

 the frame on which the ends of the sash 

 rest when the bed is closed. / represents 

 the bar that supports the sash, consisting of 

 a 1% inch piece of planed Pine 3J3 inches 

 wide with a 1x1 inch strip along its center on 

 the upper side, against which the sash 

 slides, fl above shows a lengthwise section 

 of a portion of the sash with the manner of 

 laying, lapping and tacking the panes of 

 glass, the black tapering lines underneath 

 representing the putty into which the glass 

 is bedded. Each pane should be lapped not 

 more than }{ of an inch on the pane next to 

 it^less than this down to say >i of an inch 

 being even preferable. The tacks the writer 

 has used in recent years for holding the 

 glass in place are shoe nails % of an inch in 

 length. Besides using nails as shown at r/ 

 it is a capital plan to drive one against the 

 pane at the bottom end to keep it from 

 sliding. No putty is placed on the upper 

 side of the glass. A sash such as is here 

 illustrated would be about 3 feet 5 inches 

 wide and fi feet 2 inches In length. 



Figure 61 shows across section of a double 

 line of hotbeds as used by the writer with 

 much satisfac- 



tion in the satu, 



past. The beds 

 were located 

 between two 

 walks and a 

 space of the 

 width of one 

 bed (about 

 six feet) was 



provided between the two beds. The beds 

 slope towards the south, as always is desira- 

 ble. The sash bars are 13 feet long and 

 extend beyond their respective beds into the 

 space between as shown by the figure, those 

 of the south bed to be considerably above 

 those of the other one. The advantage of 

 this arrangement is that the sash need never 

 be handled beyond sliding them and when 

 they are oft' the bed they are entirely out of 

 the walks and out of danger from breakage 

 thus obviating the greatest evil of movable 

 sash. The frames here shown are double 



walled as referred to at d, figure 60. A more 

 common kind of frame is made of a single 

 thickness of plank. As regards length a 

 hotbed may be made of any size from one 

 sash upwards. 



With fi'ame and sash provided, there are 

 two common ways in which the manure for 

 heating is applied to the bed. One is by 

 having an excavation, as shown in figure 61, 

 the other by forming a mass of manure to 

 extend a foot beyond the bed on all sides 

 and on this to set the frame. The kind of 

 manure preferred for supplying heat is that 

 from the horse and such as has not been 

 "spent" by heating. As a number of loads 

 will be requu'ed lor a bed of even ordinary 

 size it may be necessary to gather up the 

 dung for some time previously to using it in 

 which case the accumulation should be kept 

 from getting wet and be frequently over- 

 turned and to lay loosely to check its heat- 

 ing before it is needed. For most uses a 

 portion of the manure may be from other 

 animals without detriment, for In this 

 shape the heat will be less intense but 

 longer enduring. The mixture of leaves 

 with horse manure has a similar efl:ect. 

 Whatever the ingredients are they should be 

 thoroughly mixed, attention being paid also 

 to working the older and the fresher manure 

 well together. In placing the manure into 

 position it should be done in a succession of 

 even layers over the entire surface, tramp- 

 ing each layer with the feet well and uni- 

 formly all over the bed. The object of this 

 is both to promote uniform heating and to 

 prevent the bed from settling unevenly. 



On top of the manure should be placed 

 enough fine rich loam to make a seed bed 

 about four inches deep. A thermometer 

 placed into it to reach the manure ought 

 soon to show near 100° of heat^ — when this 

 has fallen about 30° it will be safe to start 

 on sowing seeds, putting in cuttings, trans- 

 planting from other beds and the like. The 

 main points to be observed in attending the 

 hotbed is to admit air in the day time, and 

 especially during sunshine, and to keep 

 properly closed and sheltered in case of 

 hard frosts at night. 



Most of the advantages of a hotbed are 

 secured in the cold frame, the difference 

 between the two being that the latter 

 depends only on the glass and frame for 

 warmth and shelter. It cannot be started 

 by some weeks of as early as a hotbed. A 

 very common use of the frame is, after the 

 hotbed has been planted for three or more 

 weeks, to receive some of the plants of the 

 latter as they require more space. 



For economy sometimes both the hotbed 

 and cold frames are protected with sash that 

 are covered with factory or specially pre- 

 pared muslin, instead of with glass. Indeed, 

 for protecting the seed beds of some of the 

 hardier plants, such as Cabbage, Lettuce 



Fig. 61. Ai-rangementof the TFriter's Double Lime of Hotbeds. 



and Celery, the cloth sash is really by some 

 preferred to those of glass as producing 

 more stocky and robust plants. 



In sowing seeds in the hotbed and frame 

 the directions given above will in general 

 apply but the drying out will be far less 

 early in the season when the bed is kept 

 closed most of the time, than it would be 

 out of doors, hence it is not necessary to 

 cover the seeds quite so deeply as a rule. 

 My favorite method of sowing seeds in the 

 hotbed or frames is in driUs. 

 (To be Continued.^ 



