58 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



e table growth, and besides the rank steam given out by 

 the fermentation should be allowed to escape before 

 operations of sowing or planting begin. Beginners are 

 very apt to be impatient in the matter of hot-beds, and 

 often lose the first crop by planting or sowing before the 

 violent heat has subsided, which it generally will do in 

 about three days, if the heating material has been suffi- 

 ciently prepared. As soon as the thermometer in the 

 frame recedes to ninety degrees, soil should be placed on 

 to the depth of five or six inches. This soil must be 

 previously prepared, of one- third well-rotted manure (or, 

 if procurable, rotted refuse hops from breweries), and 

 two-thirds good loam, spread regularly over the surface 

 of the manure in the hot-bed. 



We use hot-beds for various purposes. One of the 

 most important uses is the forcing of Lettuce ; this is 

 planted in the hot-beds (from plants grown in the cold 

 frames), fifty under each sash, the first crop by second 

 week in January ; it is covered at night by straw mats, 

 and is usually marketable by the first of March. At that 

 season Lettuce is always scarce, and will average, if 

 properly grown, $6 per hundred, or $3 per sash. The 

 crop is cut out by the first week in March, giving plenty 

 of time to plant the same bed again with Lettuce ; but 

 now it is no longer a hot-bed, for by this time the heat 

 from the dung is exhausted, and it is treated exactly as 

 described in the chapter on Cold Frames. 



Another use for the hot-bed is the raising of Tomato, 

 and Egg, and Pepper plants. The bed should be pre- 

 pared for these not sooner than the second week in 

 March, with the temperature about the same as before 

 described. In sowing, it is well to cover the seed, not 

 more than a quarter of an inch, with some very light 

 mold ; nothing is better than leaf mold and sand, patting 

 it gently with the back of the spade. From the time the 

 seed is sown, attention to airing, during the hot part of 



