HOT 



[ 492 ] 



HOT 



longer, it is well to administer a liberal 

 amount of water on the top ; this will 

 wash out at the bottom of the heap 

 much of its gross impurities. In a j 

 few more days it must be again turned j 

 inside out, using water if dry in any | 

 portion, and after laying nearly a week i 

 it should be almost fit for use, but it is | 

 well to give it even another turn. If; 

 any tree leave-;, strawy materials, &c., | 

 or any simple vegetable matter is to be j 

 added to the mass, it may be added at 

 the last turning but one. The heap 

 ought now to be " sweet," and such 

 may be readily ascertained even by un- 

 practised persons, for a handful drawn 

 from the very interior, arid applied to 

 the nostrils, will not only be devoid of 

 impure smell, but actually possess a 

 somewhat agreeable scent, similar to 

 the smell of mushrooms. 



Beds. All things will now be in 

 readiness for building the bed, and one 

 necessary point is to select a spot per- 

 fectly dry beneath, or rendered so. It 

 must, moreover, be thoroughly ex- 

 posed to a whole day's sun ; but the 

 more it is sheltered sideways the 

 better, as starving winds, by operating 

 too suddenly in lowering the tempera- 

 ture, cause a great waste of material as 

 well as labour. The ground plan of 

 the bed, or ground surface, should be 

 nearly level; a good builder, however, 

 will be able to rear a substantial bed 

 on an incline, and such is not a bad 

 plan, so forming the slope as to have 

 the front or south side several inches 

 below the back; the front being with 

 the ground level, the back, raised above 

 it. By such means there will be as 

 great a depth of dung at front as back, 

 which is not the case when the base is 

 level ; for then, unluckily, through the 

 incline necessary for the surface of the 

 glass, the dung at back is generally 

 much deeper than the front, at which 

 latter point most heat is wanted. Good 

 gardeners not unfrequently use a por- 

 tion of weaker material at the back, 

 such as littery stuff, containing little 

 power as to heat. It is well, also, to 

 fill most of the interior of the bed, 

 after building it half a yard in height, 

 with any half-decayed materials, such 

 as half- worn linings, fresh leaves, &c. ; 



this will, in general, secure it from the 

 danger of burning, whilst it will also 

 add to the permanency of the bed. 



For winter forcing a bed should be 

 at least four feet high at the back if 

 five feet, all the better ; and as soon as 

 built let some littery manure be placed 

 round the sides in order to prevent the 

 wind searching it. As soon as the 

 heat is well up, or in about four days 

 from the building of it, the whole bed 

 should have a thorough watering. It 

 is now well to close it until the heat is 

 well up again, when a second and 

 lighter watering may be applied ; and 

 now it will be ready for the hills of soil 

 any time. 



In making the hills of soil for the 

 plants, in forcing melons or cucum- 

 bers, make a hollow in the centre of 

 each light, half the depth of the bed. 

 In the bottom of this place nearly a 

 barrowful of brickbats, on this some 

 half-rotten dung, and finally a flat 

 square of turf, on which the hillock is 

 placed. It is almost impossible for the 

 roots of the plants to " scorch " with 

 this precaution. 



As the heat declines, linings, or as 

 they might be more properly called, 

 coatings, are made use of, which con- 

 sist of hot fermenting dung laid from 

 eighteen to twenty -four inches, in pro- 

 portion to the coldness of the season, 

 &c., all round the bed to the whole of 

 its height, and if founded in a trench, 

 one equally deep must be dug for the 

 coating, it being of importance to renew 

 the heat as much as possible through- 

 out its whole mass ; if, after a while, 

 the temperature again declines, the old 

 coating must be taken away, and a si- 

 milar one of hot dung applied in its 

 place. As the spring advances, the 

 warmth of the sun will compensate for 

 the decline of that of the bed ; but as 

 the nights are generally yet cold, either 

 a moderate coating, about nine or ten 

 inches thick is required, or the mow- 

 ings of grass, or even litter, may bo 

 laid round the sides with advantage. 



Various structures have been sug- 

 gested, whereby the heat only of fer- 

 menting dung is employed, and its 

 steam is prevented from penetrating 

 within the frame. One of the best of 



