HOT-BEDS, COLD FRAMES AND PITS. 



95 



not too severe, and to protect the roots of plants from 

 frost and to prevent the necessity of frequent waterings, 

 the pots should be plunged in some dry material, as sand 

 or tan-bark. Very little water should be given to plants 

 in their dormant state, for they cannot assimilate it. 

 Many plants, as geraniums, etc., in such a pit will require 

 but one or two waterings during an entire winter. Plants 

 thus managed will endure a very low temperature, and 

 start into more vigorous growth in spring. 



At night, if cold, and during severe weather by day, it 

 will be necessary to cover the glass with mats or shutters, 

 to prevent the frost from penetrating and the heat from 

 being lost by radiation. 



Greenhouse. — In most cases, persons who are finan- 

 cially able to equip a large garden are also in position to 

 desire and secure a greenhouse, which is far preferable to 

 hot-beds, pits or other like devices for protecting tender 

 plants. An economical house can be constructed in ac- 

 cordance with the plan recommended by Peter Henderson 

 some years since, and thus concisely described by W. F. 

 Massey, horticulturist of the North Carolina Experiment 

 Station. 



This style of greenhouse is made with the same kind 

 of sash which is used in the construction of hot-beds and 

 cold frames. The house is made by setting posts in line, 

 four feet apart to make the side walls. These side walls 

 are four feet high and ten feet apart, this being the width 

 of the house. The tops of the posts should be cut to 

 the slope of the roof, and a plate nailed thereon, on which 

 the sashes are to rest. This plate should project inside 

 and out, so as to allow of a gutter being formed on its 

 outer edge, for it is desirable to have a tank inside to 

 catch the rain water from the roof for watering purposes. 

 The ridge pole of the roof should be cut so that the ends 

 of the sashes which are to form the roof will rest on a 



