XIX 



COLD-FRAMES AND HOW TO MAKE THEM 



Cold-Fbames and Hotbeds 



Cold-frames and hotbeds are at once a delight to the fore- 

 handed gardener and a means of grace to the belated one, 

 for here one can repair one's last year's negUgences and ig- 

 norances and sow for summer-blooming those perennials which 

 might have been sown in the open of the year before — ^but 

 weren't. And here northern gardeners, who find the season 

 wofully short, can add cubits to the stature of their plants 

 by starting in the frames those annuals which do not object 

 to transplanting. 



As far as external appearances go, hotbeds and cold-frames 

 look precisely alike, but they differ in this: that in the hot- 

 bed bottom heat is provided by means of a pit dug under- 

 neath, some three feet deep, which is filled with fresh manure; 

 to plants in a cold-frame this extra heat is not furnished. The 

 cold-frame is simpler to make and simpler to manage. It can 

 be so constructed that it folds like the tents of the Arabs, and 

 is put out of sight when not in use. There are also small frames, 

 which can be carried about and set over young plants that 

 need a httle encouragement. 



Any one can make a cold-frame. Old window-sashes can 

 be utilized, and absent panes replaced by oiled paper or water- 

 proof muslin. One enthusiastic gardener borrows the storm- 

 windows, which are taken down in late March, and brings 

 •them into service in the garden, where, as sash for cold-frames, 

 they act as nurses for young plants before going into their 



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