HOT-BEDS, COLD FRAMES AND PITS. 



93 



Frames of all kinds should be painted of a light color, 

 every year, both for the preservation of the wood and for 

 the destruction of insects and their eggs, that are con- 

 cealed in their crevices and angles. A frame for raising- 

 seedlings or striking cuttings need not be over eighteen 

 inches deep at the back, to nine inches in front, as it is 

 important to keep the seedlings near the glass. 



Pits. — Figure 6 shows a section of a lean-to pit, in 

 which tall plants may be set upon the bottom, while a 

 stage may be put in to bring small plauts near the glass. 

 All pits should be built of brick, and those with the walls 

 built hollow above the surface are preferable. In a pit 

 six feet wide the back should be about fifteen to eighteen 

 inches higher than the front. Pits are also useful in pro- 

 tecting delicate plants in summer, from heavy rains and 

 scorching suns, and for bringing up many seedlings in 

 the spring that do not require artificial heat. In all cases 

 ample provision must be made for drainage, as plants 



will not flourish in 

 damp, confined air. 

 When a pit is de- 

 sired merely to pre- 

 serve plants during 



Fig. 6— Section of Pit. 



should face rather 

 to the north, that is 

 from north-east to north-west, in order that growth may 

 not be excited, and the plants thus kept perfectly at 

 rest during the winter. If the pit faces any other quar- 

 ter the air within gets heated, and the plants keep on 

 growing late in the autumn, are stimulated into tem- 

 porary growth too early in the spring, and are much more 

 in danger of destruction by frost. The pit should be kept 

 as dry as possible and .ventilated daily when the frost is 



