FOR YOUNG GARDENERS. 43 



soil have fallen to 90° F. begin using the bed. If the 

 weather is cold, bank the outside of the frame with strawy 

 manure. For low plants, like lettuce and radishes, the 

 soil may be as near as six inches to the glass. The soil 

 will always settle from two to six inches. 



The hotbed is generally started in February or March, 

 but can be started earlier by using more manure. It must 

 always be in a well drained location. 



THE CARE OF THE BED. 



The hotbed needs good and regular care. It is the 

 farmer's greenhouse and in it can be grown a large vari- 

 ety of vegetables or flowers. After the ist of April the 

 hotbed should generally be watered early every pleasant 

 morning, and whenever dry before then. If the weather 

 is cold the bed should be watered in the middle of the day, 

 when the sash can be lifted for a few minutes. 



Much care is needed in ventilating the bed as the de- 

 composing mantire will use up the air, and plants cannot 

 make good growth without fresh air. The sun, also, 

 causes intense heat on fair days. Hotbeds should have 

 a little air on fair days even in winter. Generally how- 

 ever, keep the temperature, during bright days, between 

 6o° and 8o°, and cloudy days between 50 and 70 . A 

 temperature of 90 or 100°, with the sash partly open, 

 would do no harm, while a temperature of 75 in sunlight, 

 with the bed closed tight, might do harm. On cold and 

 cloudy days only open a very little, for a very few minutes 

 in the middle of the day. A thermometer should always be 

 in every bed. 



Cotton Shutters are cheap and nearly or quite as 

 good as sash after the danger of heavy frost is past. 

 They are made by tacking cheese cloth over a frame made 

 the same size as the sash. These frames are easily made 

 from planed furring strips. Cold nights the hotbeds 

 should always be covered with mats. In winter, shutters 

 should be placed over the mats. The bed without (heat) 

 manure is called a cold frame. 



