STAGING, BEDS, ETC. 93 
are usually made somewhat lower than the latter. Ash- 
beds for large or tall plants frequently do not exceed 
18in. or so in height, but stages should be higher, 23ft, 
being about right. In lofty houses very high stages 
are occasionally employed, in order to bring the plants 
up nearer the glass, but anything over 3ft. in height 
is exceedingly awkward, and even this height is rather 
inconvenient for any but a very tall man to work at. 
It may be mentioned, in passing, that when mounds, 
or a ridge, of soil have to be put down on an ordinary wood 
LE a 
FIG. 68. 
or other staging, according to a common practice in the 
culture of cucumbers and tomatoes, some ordinary or roofing 
slates ought to be laid down first; even where the staging 
is surfaced with iron this had better be done, as the roots 
dislike contact with this or any metal, while slate is very 
agreeable to them. Such ridges or mounds of soil may 
be kept in place by means of a few loose bricks. 
Fig. 68 shows the section of a very well-arranged and 
useful structure for the culture of specimen or large plants 
