HOTBEDS 35 



plants unless protection from frost is required by a 

 fall in temperature, and to avoid this it is better not 

 to be in too much haste to set out plants, for it is far 

 easier to protect plants in a compact mass in a hotbed 

 than when distributed over several hundred feet of 

 outdoor planting. 



Should a rain follow a planting and this be fol- 

 lowed by sunshine, the beds should be gone over as 

 soon as practicable to restore the dust mulch. A sea- 

 son of clear, bright weather is always best for trans- 

 planting} hot, muggy weather with frequent showers 

 followed by hot sun the very worst, but a spell of wet 

 weather with a grey sky is a very good condition, as 

 there will be no steaming of the plants under those 

 circumstances. 



It is a good plan to keep back a part of the plants 

 in the initial planting so as to have a reserve to call 

 on in ease of accident to those already planted ; espe- 

 cially is this desirable in the case of vegetable plants 

 from which the cut worm takes so large an annual 

 toll. Cosmos, gourds, and succulent stemmed plants 

 are especially desired by the little brown and red 

 woims that hide away so coyly in the daytime and 

 work such havoc at night. Gourds, especially, should 

 be protected by a collar of stiff paper or tin. Tin cans 

 with the bottoms removed may be pressed into the 

 ground around the plants, half the tin being beneath 



