414 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



pit, when it should be a steaming mass. Care must be taken not to let it 

 overheat and burn, as this would reduce its value. When the pit is dug 

 and the manure ready it should be placed in the pit a few inches at a time 

 and evenly tamped. From one to two feet of solid manure is essential for 

 best results; the greater amount being needed for the growing of heat- 

 loving plants and for other plants as well in the colder sections of the 

 country. Rich garden soil, preferably from a compost heap, should be 

 placed over the manure to a depth of about six inches. The sash should 

 be placed on the frame as soon as the manure and soil are put in to prevent 

 the heat escaping too freely and to keep off the rain or snow. If the manure 

 is well prepared it will raise the temperature of the soil so high at first that 

 it will not be safe to sow seeds until several days later. The temperature 

 of the soil should not be over 85° F. when the seeds are sown. 



A Double Sash Steam-Heated Hotbed. 



The Greenhouse. — Greenhouses are glass-covered structures, so built 

 that the person who grows crops in them can work inside with ease. They 

 are heated with hot-air flues, hot water or steam. When properly con- 

 structed it is possible to grow many kinds of crops to maturity in them at 

 any season of the year. They are even more satisfactory than hotbeds for 

 the starting of plants for early crops outside. It is possible for the gardener 

 not only to give the plants better care in bad weather in the greenhouse, 

 but he is not so much exposed, and thus can work more comfortably and to 

 better advantage. The combination of a greenhouse, hotbeds and cold- 

 frames is desirable when possible. 



Growing Plants Under Glass. — The growing of plants under glass is 

 very different from growing them in the open. To the inexperienced, it 

 might seem easier to grow them inside than outside, because conditions are 

 more nearly under the grower's control. This is not true, hoAvever, as the 



