382 



HORTICULTURAL MANUAL. 



ordinary hot-bed sash, gives a handy, permanent, yet very 

 cheap structure that will prove very useful for the starting 

 of the tender vegetables and flowers. The hot-bed repre- 

 sented has the space below the soil filled with manure. 

 The only change needed for hot-water or steam heating is 

 putting in boards or slate to support the soil, which in 

 the figure rests on the manure. The management is 

 given in section (65) with manure heating. 



In growing tomato, egg-plant, or other plants in hot- 

 beds they should be transplanted in ' l flats," Fig. 105, or, 



FIG. 105. A "flat "planted with lettuce to be held in the cold- 

 frame for early family use. (After Green.) 



better yet, in pots. A main element of success is a supply 

 of stocky, well-rooted plants, and a potted plant with roots 

 encased in a ball of earth can be transplanted safely at any 

 time. But the most favorable time for all vegetable or 

 flower transplanting is on cloudy days, or after four 

 o'clock P.M. in clear weather, as after that time the air is 

 not so dry and the plants have the benefit of the cool night 

 to become established. The novice usually fails in 

 properly firming the soil about the roots and crown so 

 well that the plant cannot readily be pulled. The drier 

 the soil the more firmly plants should be set. 



