HOTBEDS 23 



the sides paddled, to press back any large stones and 

 fill any hollow places which may occur. Above the 

 surface of the ground forms will be needed to shape 

 the upper part of the frame which should be a foot 

 high in front and two feet high in the rear, the ends 

 sloping evenly from rear to front. A frame of wood 

 should be fitted to the top of the concrete on which to 

 rest the sash ; this may be of two-by-four or two-by- 

 six and should have long spikes driven through at 

 intervals of a foot to bind it to the cement wall. 

 When the cement has thoroughly hardened the inside 

 of the bed may be excavated — care being taken not to 

 injure the cement walls, and the walls given a finish- 

 ing coat of higher grade concrete. 



If a three foot bed is constructed and the regular 

 florist's sashes — ^three-by-six — are used, it will be 

 necessary to lay them lengthwise of the beds and they 

 may be arranged to slide in grooves, or if the bed is 

 against a wall or building, be fastened to the frame 

 with hinges which will be found very convenient when 

 it must be closed quickly in case of storm' or other 

 emergency. Old window sashes, if well glazed and 

 painted, make excellent hotbed sashes and on some 

 accounts are to be preferred to the longer florist's 

 sash, as they enable one to open a shorter section of 

 the bed at a time, which is often desirable where a 

 variety of plants grow in one bed. Florists usually 

 grow but one kind of plant in a bed ; hence all require 



