CANA DIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



79 



niaiiun; will be siiHicieutly iieatcd to 

 receive the loam upon its surface. The 

 depth of loam required, varies for the 

 purpose for which it is retjuired, but 

 six inches will be an average depth for 

 the amateur. If the hotbed is required 

 for f,'rowing lettuce, radishes, etc., for 

 early use in the house, three to four 

 inches of loam will be sufficient ; but 

 foi- general purposes, as growing plants, 

 etc., six inches of loam is better, as the 

 bed does not dry out so (|uickly, and 

 therefore does not require such repea- 

 ted watering. After the beds have been 

 sown they should be covered each day 

 with some matting during the hottest 

 portion of the day, say from ten to four 

 in the afternoon. At the time of cover- 

 ing, each sash should be shoved down 

 or tilted at one end to allow the bed to 

 air, at the same time prevent the 

 plants from damping otf. Water the 

 beds in the evening after taking the 

 matting off. If the hotbed is started 

 the Krst week in April, which is the 



Ix'st time for the amateur to commence, 

 the plants may be ready to set out by 

 the first of June. Ventilation should 

 be increased as the plants grow 

 stronger. Aljout the middle of May 

 the sash may gradually be taken off 

 altogether, after which thoroughly 

 drench the plants with water, as the 

 roots will giadually be approaching the 

 manure, and therefore dry out the 

 (luicker. I have endeavoured to be as 

 explicit as possible in explaining the 

 construction of a hotbed, but if there are 

 any little details that the amateur may 

 not exactly understand, the Question 

 Drawer of The Horticulturist may 

 l)e used, and I will only be too happy 

 to answer such questions. 



I must again say that any person 

 attempting a hotbed will find the ad- 

 vantages equally as great as I have 

 mentioned, and they may have their 

 gardens thoroughly stocked with either 

 flowers or vegetables, at but a trifling 

 expense. 



SEED SOWING. 



IIOHKKT.SON', SrrKRISTKNOKM' (iUVKR.N'MKNT OROl'NDS, 



THIS, if properly done, will often 

 save the cry that the seed was 

 bad. The fault lies more frequently 

 with the sower, and the attender, than 

 anywhere else. Last year, I sowed 

 many sorts, from different seedsmen, 

 and there was only one that I could 

 call bad. Another party sowed pretty 

 much tlie same varieties, and from the 

 .same seedsman : the seeds were in every 

 respect the same, his were nearly all bad 

 in his opinion, whil.st mine were all 

 good. In many years, I have but very 

 rarely got a packet of bad seed. I will 

 describe my mode of procedure ; it may 

 be useful to some one that is afflicted 

 in this way. In our latitude, about the 

 first of April is the best time to sow, 

 and seeds will come on at this time, and 

 l)e as early, as those sown earlier ; the 



weather being more favorable, unless 

 for some varieties that take a long time 

 to germinate. I shall suppose your 

 hotbed made of fair strength ; -if weak, 

 your seeds may rot. This done, put in 

 your soil. If in frozen lumps, I like it 

 all the better ; a day or two will soon 

 thaw it out, and you will have a nice, 

 free, pulverized soil. Avoid putting it 

 in wet, or it will become hard, and in 

 bad trim when thawed out. Level it 

 with your rake, as nicely as possible. 

 Pass a straight edge over it, and be sure 

 it is so. I make my little drills with a 

 straight piece of half-inch stufl", sharp- 

 ened on the edge, and if not level, some 

 parts will be too shallow and others too 

 deep. Before pressing this into the soil 

 to make your drills, sift some tine soil 

 evenh' over the surface, so that your 



