Jan.] THE KITCHEN GARDEN. j j 



of the best yellow pine, nine 1'wt two inches long, tour feet ten inches 

 wide, as high again in the back as in the front, to give the top a due 

 slope to the sun and a proper declivity to carry oft' the wet when 

 covered with glass lights, to move oft' and on occasionally; every 

 joint ought to be tongued, the better to prevent the admission of 

 cold air into, or emission of warm air out of the bed, but in such 

 manner as the Gardener may think proper. The back and front 

 are to be nailed to corner posts, so as to admit the ends to fit in 

 neatly, which ends are to be made fast to the posts by iron bolts 

 keyed in the inside, for the greater facility of taking the frame 

 asunder when necessary; each end must be made one inch and a 

 half higher than the back and front, so as that one half its thickness 

 may be grooved out on the inside, for the sash to rest and slide on, 

 and the other half left for its support on the outside; when finished 

 give it two or three good coats of paint before you use it, and with 

 a little care and an annual painting, it may last you twenty years. 



These frames will take three lights of three feet wide each, each 

 light containing five rows of glass panes, six inches by four, over- 

 lapping one another about half an inch, which of all other 

 sizes is the most preferable, on account of their cheapness in the 

 first place, the closeness of their lap, their general strength and 

 trifling expense of repairs; however, each person will suit his own 

 convenience as to the dimensions of glass. Where the sashes when 

 laid on the frame meet, a piece of pine about three and a half inches 

 broad and near two thick, should run from back to front, morticed 

 into each, for their support, and for them to slide on; in the centre 

 of which, as well as in the ends of the frame, it will be well to make 

 a groove five-eighths of an inch wide and near a quarter of an inch 

 deep, rounded at bottom to receive and carry oft' any wet which may 

 work down between the sashes. 



But with respect to particular dimensions of frames, they are dif- 

 ferent, according to the plants they are intended to protect, but ge- 

 nerally from nine to twelve feet long, from four feet eight inches to 

 five feet wide, from eighteen inches to three feet six inches high in 

 the back, and from nine to eighteen inches in front, being for the 

 most part twice as high in the back as in front, if not more. 



The common kitchen garden frames may be of three different 

 sizes, that is, for one, two and three lights; the latter of which, how- 

 ever, are the most material, and which are employed for general 

 use: but it is necessary also to have one and two light frames, the 

 former as seedling frames, and the latter as succession or nursery 

 frames, to forward the young plants to a due size for the three-light 

 frames, in which they are to fruit. 



Early Cucumbers and Melons. 



As it is generally the ambition of most gardeners to excel each 

 other in the production of early cucumbers, &c.,all necessary pre- 

 paration should be made this month for that purpose, by preparing 

 dung for hot-beds, in which to raise the plants; for they, beinu; 01 a 

 tender quality, require the aid of artificial heat under shelter "I 



