USE AND MANAGEMENT OF COLD FRAMES. 53 



out of these cold frames by putting on three or four 

 inches of dry leaves or manure before the soil freezes up, 

 and placing the sash on the frames two or three weeks 

 before they are to be used. In this way they will keep 

 perfectly free from frost, and can be used at any time 

 during the winter. The boxes should be placed as close 

 to each other in the cold frames as they will stand ; 

 about eight boxes fills a sash, thus holding about 1,200 

 plants. If the sun is bright, it is well to shade them for 

 a few days until they take root ; but the most important 

 point of all is to cover the sashes with straw mats at 

 night so securely that no frost will reach them in the 

 cold frames. For the past three years we have each sea- 

 son grown about half a million of Cabbage, Cauliflower 

 and Lettuce plants in this way, and have had no trouble 

 to keep them from freezing by carefully matting up, 

 even when the thermometer has reached zero. 



Plants sown on the 1st of February are transplanted 

 into the boxes about the 1st of March, and are at once 

 placed in the cold frames, and will be fine to transplant 

 to the open ground anytime after the 1st of April if 

 they have been carefully attended to by watering, airing 

 and protection from frost. As I have before said, these 

 dates refer particularly to the vicinity of New York City, 

 where we can usually plant out in the open ground all 

 kinds of Cabbage, Cauliflower and Let.tuce plants about 

 April 1st. If in districts where they cannot be planted 

 out sooner than the middle of April, then the sowing 

 should not be made before the loth of February, and the 

 process of transplanting, etc., gone through as before 

 stated, so that the plants will be in condition to set in 

 the open ground by the 15th of April. If in sections 

 where Cabbages cannot be planted in the open ground 

 before the 1st of May, then the sowing should be delayed 

 until nearly the 1st of March, and the process of trans- 

 planting in the frames the same. There are some sec- 



