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THE HOTBED AND THE COLDFRAME 



T7VERY garden beginner is eager to begin at once 

 JC-> to have things growing as soon as possible and 

 so, because a hotbed will advance the season anywhere 

 from eight to ten weeks, he will early wish to learn 

 something about making one. They are simple enough, 

 and plain directions, carefully heeded, will bring success 

 even to the novice. Do not hesitate to try one there- 

 fore you will surely resolve never to do without 

 such a simple and wonderfully useful aid to the pleasure 

 of planting. 



A hotbed is really a forcing house on a very small 

 scale a place where plants may be grown in advance 

 of the open season by means of heat artificially supplied 

 to them. This heat may be carried underneath the 

 bed by steam or hot water pipes, but that is the 

 bothersome and expensive way; or it may be furnished 

 by placing the bed upon a mound of fermenting manure. 

 This is the easiest and usual way, and the only one 

 that need concern the beginner. 



Fresh manure from the stables of grain-fed horses, 

 mixed with one-third bedding straw (this latter length- 

 ens the heating period), should first be piled in 



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