44 



GARDEN FARMING 



frame, opposite the furnace, erect a board flue which will act as a 

 smokestack to remove the excess combustion. This should be 

 provided with a damper. The floor of the hotbed is then con- 

 structed so as to be about I foot from the ground at the flue end 

 and about 3^ feet from the ground at the furnace end. The 

 frame may be made from 12 to 18 feet wide and from 60 to 

 100 feet in length. In some instances such beds have been made 

 200 feet long, but it is usually 

 better to limit the length to 100 

 feet or less, as there is a better 

 distribution of heat at this 

 distance. About 4 inches 

 of clean sand should be 

 placed on the floor, 

 and in this the 

 seed potatoes 

 should be 

 bedded 

 so 



FIG. 10. Fire-heated sweet-potato bed 

 Showing general plan and detail of construction 



that they will not touch each other. All that is necessary is to 

 have the roots actually separated from one another. 



Rafters with a ridgepole, or a ridgepole with thin sawed strips 

 sprung over to form a support for muslins, will be sufficient to pro- 

 tect the sweet-potato bed. Manure hotbeds for sweet potatoes are 

 covered with sash the same as hotbeds intended for the germina- 

 tion of ordinary garden seeds. It is necessary to provide slightly 

 more head room in the case of beds built for starting sweet-potato 

 plants than in those intended for garden vegetables. 



