MANAGEMENT or HOT BEDS AND COLD FRAMES. 311 



planting in the frames about the 15th) that we have a continuation of 

 comparatively warm weather, which induces a quick and soft growth 

 in the plants, which, of course, renders them very susceptible of 

 injury from frost. When in that condition, we have seen them injured, 

 when the thermometer only marked twenty-seven above zero or but 

 five degrees of frost; while if gradually hardened by being exposed 

 to chilly nights, they would receive no injury, even when the ther- 

 mometer marks ten or twelve above zero. This will be well under- 

 stood when we remember that in midwinter, when covered with sash 

 alone, they sustain a cold often for days together of ten degrees 

 below zero, but then of course they have been gradually inured to it. 

 In sections of the country where the thermometer falls to fifteen or 

 twenty degrees below zero, it will be necessary to use straw mats or 

 shutters over the glass. At all times, from the time of putting sashes 

 on in fall until taking them off in spring (which is usually from 15th 

 March to April 1st), abundant ventilation should be given, so as to 

 render them as hardy as possible. The sure indication that they are 

 in the "frost proof" condition is when the leaves show a bluish color, 

 which they get when they have been gradually hardened off. Al- 

 though the most of the Jersey market gardeners still use the cold 

 frames for growing the bulk of their early cabbage crop, yet of late 

 years the system of spring sowing and transplanting, and sometimes 

 even without transplanting, is also used to a considerable extent. 

 This is usually done by sowing the seeds thickly (about one ounce 

 to three sashes) in hot-bed or green-house about February 1st and trans- 

 planting into a slight hot-bed about March 1st, placing about 600 or 

 700 in a three by six feet sash. The hot-beds must, of course, be 

 carefully protected by straw mats from frost, and with the proper 

 attention to ventilation and watering, fine plants can be obtained by 

 April 1st. We ourselves have grown nearly a quarter of a million 

 plants each spring in this manner for years with most satisfactory- 

 results. Another plan is to sow the cabbage seed in cold frames from 

 15th February to March 1st, or even later for second early. By this 

 method one ounce of seed is enough for five or six sashes, and it had 

 better be sown in rows at six inches apart, as thus sown the air gets 

 better around the plants, making them stronger. When the seed 

 is sown in the cold frames in this way, it is absolutely necessary that 

 the frost should be excluded by covering the glass with straw mats 

 and shutters, for, of course, unless kept above the point of freezing, 

 the plants cannot grow. The cold frames to be used for this purpose 

 should be placed in the warmest and most sheltered place possible, 

 the soil should be light and well enriched with short manure, nicely 

 dug, leveled and raked for the reception of the seed. If sown in 



