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Gardening 



FIG. 108. Planting the seeds and marking the rows. Here the seeds are be- 

 ing planted directly in the soil of the hotbed, but usually it is better to plant 

 them in flats and set the flats in the hotbed. 



a pit hotbed. Manure is packed in the frame, and sand 

 added as in the pit hotbed. If kept well banked, the 

 surface hotbed is very satisfactory. 



Management of the hotbed. To use a hotbed success- 

 fully, the amount of moisture and the temperature within 

 it must be properly regulated. Water should always be 

 applied in a fine spray from a sprinkling can or a hose. 

 The soil in the flats should never become dry, but too 

 much water is to be avoided. On cool, cloudy days very 

 little or even no water is needed. On bright, sunny days 

 the flats should be watered in the early forenoon and the 

 bed ventilated (unless the air outside is very cold) so 

 that the leaves of the plants will become dry before night. 



Ventilation also is needed to regulate the temperature. 

 On warm, sunshiny days the hotbeds may become too 

 warm in the middle of the day. To reduce the warmth, 

 raise one edge of the sash on the side away from the wind 

 and place under it a block of wood or a brick to hold 



