128 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 



Boxes in the kitchen windows will do their work, but a hot-bed is by 

 all odds the easiest method of forcing plants for early vegetables. 



Directions for Making and Planting a Hot-bed. 



Horse manure is the best for this purpole, because its heating proper- 

 ties are more intense; cow manure will do, but the growth of the plants 

 will not be as rapid. For a week before using it, turn it over every two 

 or three days, and if the sun is not hot enough to cause it to ferment, 

 pour pailsful of hot water over it, the first time it is stirred up ; the next 

 time throw out all the coarsest part of the litter. When the whole heap 

 smokes like a river on a frosty morning, it is ready for use. 



Select a southeastern exposure, where the north wind will not strike 

 upon it; a board fence at the north is a good protection. Build up the 

 manure two or three feet in depth, and from four to six inches longer 

 and wider than the frame. This can be made of boards fastened tightly 

 together, and should be higher at the back than in front, so that it will 

 present a slanting surface. Set the frame securely into the manure, 

 leaving enough outside to bank it up well from the frost. Add four to 

 five inches of sandy loam, thoroughly pulverized. If it can be baked in 

 the kitchen oven, and then sifted, it will be in a perfect condition, and 

 no weeds will grow in it. Place the sashes over it, and let it heat up 

 for two, three or four days, according to the warmth of the sun. Put 

 your hand in to test the soil ; if it feels warm it is ready to receive the 

 seeds. The glass is now-a-days fitted into side sashes, lapping at the 

 edges, without transverse sash; one pane covers the other half an inch. 

 This gives less shade upon the plants from the sashes. 



Have your papers of seeds in a basket, with little sticks split at the 

 top to hold either the printed papers or written labels ; thus, when your 

 seeds are up, you can tell an early or a late cabbage, tomato, etc. Also 

 have a pan of common or scouring sand, well warmed in the oven. This 

 is to scatter over the seeds, and it will make them grow more quickly 

 than loam. 



Plant your seeds in regular rows, an inch, at least, apart. Thus 

 planted, you need not transplant all of them, some can grow in the bed 

 all summer. Eadishes should be planted three inches apart. Scatter 

 the warm sand over the seeds, water thoroughly with a fine rose sprink- 

 ler, with warmish water ; don't use cold at any time, always treat your 

 plants to a slightly warm shower. Rain never falls chilly cold. 



