184 GARDENING FOR PLEASURE. 



satisfactory results can be expected. Careful attention 

 must be given to watering, which should be increased in 

 quantity as the season advances. In all cases, as the 

 tiny hot-bed plants are always tender, tepid water is pref- 

 erable to use, and it should be put on very gently with 

 a fine rose watering pot. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



GREENHOUSES OR PITS WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL 

 HEATING. 



THE directions given for heating greenhouses by hot 

 water or by flues apply, of course, only to sections of the 

 country where the temperature during the winter months 

 makes heating a necessity. In many of the southern 

 states there is no need of artificial heat. A greenhouse 

 tightly glazed, and placed against a building where it is 

 sheltered from the north and northwest, will keep out 

 frost when the temperature does not fall lower than 

 twenty-five degrees above zero ; and if light wooden shut- 

 ters are used to cover the glass, all those classed as "green- 

 house" plants will be safe even at ten degrees lower, 

 provided the conservatory is attached to the south or 

 southeast side of a dwelling or other building. An- 

 other cheap and simple method of keeping plants during 

 winter in mild latitudes is by the use of the sunken pit 

 or deep frame, which affords the needed protection even 

 more completely than the elevated greenhouse. This is 

 formed by excavating the soil to the depth of from eigh- 

 teen to thirty-six inches, according to the size of the 

 plants it is intended to contain. A convenient width 

 is six feet, the ordinary length of a hot-bed sash, and 

 of such length as may be desired. Great care must 

 be taken that the ground is such that no water will stand 



