1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FAR.MER. 



143 



room, and a place for every tool, and when 

 not in use see that it is in place, and be par- 

 ticular after using to clean it dry belore 

 putting up. Try this and see the amount ot 

 time and vexation it will sa\e you in one short 

 season. Little else than a i'ew sinillar prepar- 

 ations to the above can be done in either the 

 vegetable, fruit or ilower garden, or lawn, so 

 long as the ground remains covered with snow, 

 unless it be to see that the trees, &c., are not 

 overloaded with ice or snow. 



1 omitted above to say glazed sash for hot- 

 beds and cold frames should be made ready 

 now, by obtaining new or repairing old 

 ones. Have them well glazed and painted 

 ready for use. Wji. H. White. 



South Windsor, Conn., Jan 16, 1867. 



The following cuts will serve to illustrate 

 our correspondent's directions, and may be of 

 service to those who wish to forward a few 

 plants a week or two earlier than can be done 

 in open cultivation. Great experience and 

 care are necessary to the successful manage- 

 ment of large and early-started hot-beds. But 

 if not started until after severe cold weather 

 has passed, some time may be gained with 

 much less trouble. 



A Clieap Hot-bed without Glass. 

 This bed may be "made up" in less than 

 half a day by any active, handy boy. Old 

 boards or plank, with a few stakes, are all the 

 material needed for the frame-work. It should 

 have a south-eastern or southern exposure, and 

 be protected from cold winds by a board fence 

 or building. It should be some 18 inches deep in 

 front and two feet at back. Fill to within six 

 inches of the top with fresh unfcrmented horse 

 manure, then to the top with good loam. Over 

 the cross poles an old blanket, or something 

 of the sort is to be thrown every night when 

 there is danger of i'rost. The cloth must be 

 removed in the morning. It may be well in 

 severe weather to cover with some old boards. 

 Seeds may be planted in pots made of birch 

 bark, pasteboard, or other material, or even 



between sods, placed in this primitive hot-bed, 

 or the seeds may be sown directly upon its 

 surface, in this way two or three weeks may 

 be gained for plants which require a long sea- 

 son. 



But if you wish to experiment a little with a 

 real "glass house," the following cut will give 

 an idea of the construction of perhaps the most 

 simple form. 



Simple Glass Hot-bed. 



To save all digging, it is placed directly on a 

 bed of manure, lying upon the ground. Inside 

 of the frame the manure must be of sufficient 

 thickness to generate the necessary heat, over 

 which, of course, there must be placed lioii as 

 directed above. 



AMERICA IN" MINIATURE. 



A great national park is to be established in 

 Washington. A correspondent says it is pro- 

 posed to make the park a "working modef ' of 

 the United States — "to delineate, if not to re- 

 product- in miniature, the topography of the 

 contlneni — to set Huron and Ontario in re- 

 duced scale upon a living map some two miles 

 long, not in water colors, but in the element 

 itseli^to lead a toy Mississippi, from its baby 

 nursery in the Rocky Mountains, of real rock, 

 through a little continent to a small Gulf of 

 Mexico. The St. Lawrence and the Colorado, 

 and all other great rivers are to be represented 

 by mimic streams ; and without intending any 

 allusion to the exclusion of the States lately 

 in rebellion, all the States and Territories are 

 to be represented, preserving their relative 

 position and proportion. It is proposed that 

 museums shall be erected upon each of these 

 little representative tracts, and that the States 

 and citizens shall be invited to contribute to 

 their cabinets specimens of the natural and 

 artificial productions oi'thc States represented.'" 



This is a grand scheme, and will require 

 considerable ingenuity anil labor to carry it out. 

 It would be altogether unitpie and a great ad- 

 dition to the attractions of the capital. 



