398 GARDEN FARMING 



Soil for the cold frame and hotbed. In the case of the cold frame 

 or hotbed the soil used should be of the nature described for field 

 culture, and the precaution of using only soil enriched by the use 

 of thoroughly decomposed stable manure should be strictly ob- 

 served. A soil containing from 7 to 10 per cent of clay, and about 

 one third its bulk of well-decomposed stable manure, will be found 

 satisfactory. The soil in the frames should be sufficiently deep to 

 prevent the roots of the radish from reaching either the hardpan 

 underneath the cold frame or the manure that is used as the base 

 of the hotbed. This will require a soil from 4 to 8 inches deep, 

 according to the type of radishes grown. Soil for the hotbed or 

 cold frame should be prepared in a compost before it is needed. 

 The manure should be thoroughly composted for at least a year. 

 A most satisfactory soil may be found in sods from an old pasture 

 which have been piled with manure for at least six months before 

 the soil is to be used in the hotbed or cold frame. 



Seed for the cold frame and hotbed. The same precautions as 

 to the selection of seed should be observed in planting the hotbed 

 and cold frame as in field culture, for the even maturity of the 

 crop is of greater importance here than in field culture. 



Seed sowing in the cold frame and hotbed. In protected areas, 

 like hotbeds and cold frames, seed need not be planted as deep as 

 in the open, because the variations in soil moisture are less. A 

 covering of J- inch will be sufficient. In growing radishes for local 

 market it will undoubtedly be best to treat them as a main crop, 

 but even under these conditions they can be used as a catch crop 

 between lettuce. Rigid care in thinning should be observed in 

 field, hotbeds, and cold frames. The preparation of the forced 

 product for market does not differ from the methods followed in 

 handling the field-grown crop. 



Requirements of the greenhouse. While the radish is very easily, 

 and usually very successfully, cultivated in the open during the 

 cooler portions of spring and autumn, it is somewhat exacting under 

 greenhouse conditions. It is a cool-season crop, and the soil and 

 atmospheric conditions of the early spring months should be imi- 

 tated as far as possible in the houses devoted to its cultivation. 

 A temperature ranging from 45 to 55 F. at night, and from 60 

 to 65 F. during the day, should be maintained. 



