86 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



ticable for use in midwinter, but may be made as early as 

 March for the starting of early tomatoes, cabbage plants, etc. 



In starting a hot bed, fresh, rather strawy manure is used. 

 Horse manure is preferable for this purpose, but sheep manure 

 is sometimes used; that from highly fed animals is best. The 

 manure should be placed in large piles as taken from the stable 

 and turned occasionally to prevent overheating. When the 

 bed is started a layer of manure about six inches deep is placed 

 at the bottom and thoroughly tramped. Then another layer is 

 put in in the same way and so on successively until the pit is 

 full. In case there is not much straw or litter in the manure, 

 alternate layers of leaves may be used to good advantage. This 

 will prevent too rapid fermentation and will make the bed last 

 much longer. 



When the pit is filled, a frame similar to the one already 

 described is placed over it and from four to six inches of rich 

 soil are added. The pit for the manure is made about six 

 inches wider than the frame in order that the soil may be heated 

 evenly clear to the edges of the boxes. 



In the management of hot beds and cold frames great care 

 is necessary or damage will result from fluctuations in temper- 

 ature. The volume of air is so small that the atmosphere is 

 quickly affected by outside conditions. 



After making the frame a thermometer should be placed 

 within the frame and no seed should be sown until the tempera- 

 ture of the soil has receded to about 8o°. In sunny weather con- 

 stant care is necessary to prevent the burning of the plants. An 

 hour's neglect will sometimes ruin a season's work. It is a 

 good plan to have shades of light cloth to put upon the beds 

 in April and May to avoid this danger. These are best made 

 by tacking pieces of light cotton cloth, which has been soaked 

 in linseed oil, upon wooden frames the same size as the sash. 

 Heavy straw mats are also necessary to protect the beds from 

 cold at night. 



Sometimes instead of the single frames described, hot beds 

 are made double, the center being somewhat higher than the 

 sides. In this case, bottom heat is often supplied by means of 

 a flue or hot water pipes instead of fermenting manure. In 



