The Canadian Horticulturist. S3 



it a guild idea to print cards with the name of the grower, his farm, and a descrip- 

 tion of the fruit, and to place one of these in the bottom of each basket of small 

 fruit. This would produce inquiry among the consumers for the fruit grown by 

 such a shipper. He was decidedly in favor of using chemical manures for small 

 fruits, because the barnyard manure encouraged too rank a growth of foliage. 

 The chemical fertilizers give a firmer, a more highly-color d, and better flavored 

 berries. 



MAKING A HOT-BED. 



' HE situation for a hot-bed should be well sheltered from the north 

 and north-west, and the beds should face the south or south-east, 

 in short it should be a warm sheltered spot. Hot-beds are of 

 two kinds, namely, above ground and under ground. A pit in 

 the ground is a saving of manure and also of surface covering, 

 but in the case of low or heavy lands where the water would be likely to drain 

 into the pit and cool the manure, the hot bed should be made entirely above 

 ground. Where the land is sandy, gravelly, or otherwise well drained, and there 

 is no probability of the water lodging in the hole, the pit is the most economical 

 method and the easiest worked. 



As fermenting material there is nothing better than good fresh horse 

 manure, well wetted in the stables. Throw it into a pile in a sunny place o r 

 under a shed to heat, and when it has got well warmed up turn it over, shaking 

 it loose and mixing it well and see that it is all moist. Then pile it up till it 

 again gets hot throughout. Now make up the beds. Throw the hot manure 

 into the pit, shaking it up and spreading it evenly as you go along, and tread it 

 down firmly, especially under the rafters along the sides of the pit and in the 

 corners. Fill to within 10 or 12 inches of the surface. Now put on the sashes 

 and keep them tight till the heat again gets strong ; cover up with mats, straw 

 or shutters at night, but let the sun shine on the sashes in the day time, it will 

 get up the heat quicker. When the heat is well up throw in the soil spreading 

 it equally all over the bed and four to five inches deep, and neither sow nor 

 plant in it till the heat of the soil three inches under the surface has declined to 

 ioo°. Then all is safe. 



Points to observe in making a hot-bed : Select a warm, sunny, sheltered 

 place : make provisions for quick and effectual drainage from the beds both 

 under ground and from the surface; never put in the manure till it is quite hot ; 

 when the pit is filled with manure and it is packed down, never put on the loam 

 till after the manure has again become quite hot ; don't sow or plant till the 

 heat is on the fall ; and so long as " steam " gathers in the frame ventilate a 

 little day and night to let the " steam " escape, else the ammonia will burn the 

 plants. But you can cover these ventilating apertures with straw or matting in 

 such a way as to let the ammonia escape, and at the same time keep ou 

 the cold. 



